Bartolome de Las Casas

A detailed Summary of Bartolome de Las Casas


At first glance, this vivid portrayal of the "Columbian Encounter" as seen through the eyes of Bartolome de Las Casas, is a ruthless realization to the brutality and callous behaviors exhibited by the Spanish conquerors in the New World. After further reading and continued analysis, it can be found that the audience is the populous that are unbiased to the cruel devastations Las Casas has personally witnessed. The officer of the King and later a Dominican friar, he uses written word to condemn and denounce his fellow Spanish Christians for their exploitation of the Native Americans. Although he as well does not regard the natives as equals, he considers them as human beings and believes they should not be the subject of these mistreatments. Therefore, he writes these essays to sway the public in Spain, even if he had to over exaggerate the circumstances in Hispaniola and other islands, so that his message is fully received and contemplated by the masses.

When explaining a situation as ghastly and horrifying as the maltreatment of the natives, one must understand the view. As a Dominican friar, Las Casas viewed the natives as children in the eyes of God, ripe for converting to Christianity. He views them as simplistic pe


ople, incredibly humble and peaceful. He says they are without malice or hatred, and that the natives are weak, feeble, and they easily die at the very sight of sickness. This is all more then likely a ploy by Las Casas to show the natives as completely innocent victims of the Spaniards ignorance and incompetence. The audience of these writings plays a huge roll as to how he writes those words. Las Casas understands that no one in mother Spain can even comprehend the atrocities occurring in Hispaniola. He uses that to his advantage. He calls the natives "very poor" and have "neither pride, nor ambitious, nor avaricious" (p.17). Las Casas seems to describe them as children, not yet open to the ways of the world, and it his job as well as the other Christians and friars to open their eyes and show them the ways of the world as they see it.

In retrospect, Las Casas uses his word as a Dominican friar and officer of the state to promote his idea and thoughts on the mistreatment, rape, and murder of the Native Americans on the islands of the West Indies. He vividly depicts the cruel beatings and murder of these "delicate people" by the Spanish Christians, while probably withholding possible reasons behind them. It is more then likely that Las

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Approximate Word count = 847
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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