Bartolomé de las Casas

All these experiences made him understand the horrible conditions under which the natives were forced to live, and the significant disruption their life had suffered because of the Spanish enslavement. The author Lawrence A. Clayton claims that this was the basis for his life work as defender of the Indians within his growing comprehension of biblical, legal and ethical principles. Bartolome de Las Casas returned to Spain in 1506 where he was ordained a deacon and continued his studies to become a priest; subsequently, he traveled to Rome in 1507 where he finally achieved his goal. After Christopher Columbus’ death, Las Casas helped his son, Diego Columbus, get the inheritance that had been promised by King Ferdinand and Queen…

While most Spaniards believed that the harsh treatment of the natives during the conquest of the Americas was necessary to accomplish the Spanish Imperial objectives in the region, there were many who opposed those treatments. Bartolomé de las Casas a Catholic priest, was the most eloquent critic of Spanish mistreatment of the New World’s native population (de las Casas, p.7). In his document, History of the Indies (1528), de las Casas aimed to inform the public back in Spain of the atrocities…

they were in a situation where they first hand witnessed horrific brutality and inhuman actions done to others? A type of slavery that without a doubt every human would find disturbing and difficult to imagine. It is just such a man—Bartolomé de Las Casas— who has experienced these exact chilling effect perspectives. Bartolome de las cases was born in 1484, and grew up during the same time that the exploration of the New World began. It was during the finding of the new world and the voyages,…

The Tale of the Innocent Natives According to Bartolome De Las Casas, a priest and a retired spanish soldier, the Old world (Europe and Asia) was drastically different to the New world (North and South America). The New world was non polluted peaceful and the natives were friendly and giving. However, havoc and chaos proceeded the peaceful natives of the New world with the arrival of Columbus in 1492. All the native people ever did was treat the Spaniard better than royalty. The natives treated…

Bartolomé de las Casas was born in 1484 in Sevilla, Spain and died July 1566 in Madrid. He was a very famous Spanish historian, social reformer, and Dominican friar in the 16th-century. He became the first resident Bishop of Chiapas, and the first officially elected “Protector of the Indians.” His most famous writing is the excerpt A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies and Historia de Las Indias. Las Casas objected to the Spanish treatment of the natives, and in 1542 he wrote an…

Bartolomé de las Casas who was also known as the “Apostle of the Indians,” was an early Spanish historian, Spanish Catholic priest, and Dominican missionary, who was the first to expose the oppression of native peoples by Europeans in the Americas. Written in 1528, his document titled “History of the Indies” which took place in Hispaniola outlined the appalling treatment of Indians and the greed and cruelty of the Spanish. Although the original document had been translated from Spanish to…

Bartolome de Las Casas’ A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies provides a first-hand account of the effects of Spanish colonisation on the native population of the Americas. The excerpt summarises Las Casas’ perspective of the colonisation of New Spain and the violent aspects of Spain’s colonial practices. This essay will examine the degree to which A Short Account is a valuable piece of historical evidence in relation to unit themes – specifically, imperialism and colonialism – and…

The Bartolome de las Casas document, “The Devastation of the Indies”, written in 1565, says many things regarding both the Indians and the Spanish Christians. Bartolome de las Casas describes a number of events that took place between the Indians and the Christians who settled in the Indies, many of which were not respectable events. In “The Devastation of the Indies”, Bartolome writes about his view on the way the Indians were, on the way the Spanish were, and on the way the Spanish treated the…

Bartolomé de las Casas, also known as the “Apostle of the Indians,” was an early Spanish historian, Spanish Catholic priest, and Dominican missionary, who was the first to expose the oppression of native peoples by Europeans in the Americas. Written in 1528, his document titled “History of the Indies” which took place in Hispaniola outlined the appalling treatment of Indians and the greed and cruelty of the Spanish. Since then, the original document has been translated from Spanish to English.…

The Opposing Beliefs of Bartolome de Las Casas and Juan Gines Sepulveda The Spanish began colonizing the New World with the intent of spreading Christianity and obtaining land to expand the Spanish Empire. The Spanish explorer Bartolome de Las Casas and humanist Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda had differing beliefs upon how Natives within the Americas should be converted to Christianity and how they should be treated once their land was colonized. Bartolome de Las Casas believed that the Spanish…