Bartolomé de las Casas and the defense of Amerindian rights: a brief history with documents

In: Atlantic crossings

Abstract

"At two hours after midnight the land appeared" : Christopher Columbus's first voyage to America, 1492-1493 -- "Everyone was amazed to catch sight of ... things they had never dreamed or heard" : History of the Indies, 1493 -- "The Spaniards were guilty of the very same thing they accused the Indians of" : History of the Indies, ca. 1503-1509 -- "There I saw such great cruelties" : An account, much abbreviated, of the destruction of the Indies, 1542 -- "And so he had them burned alive" : An account, much abbreviated, of the destruction of the Indies, ca. 1540s -- "My one motive in dictating this book" : prologue to the History of the Indies, 1552 -- "Enslavement of blacks was every bit as unjust as that of the Indians" : History of the Indies, ca. 1550-1560 -- "By what right and with what justice?" History of the Indies, 1511 -- "The preservation ...of the Indians, has always been the primary purpose of our policy" : New Laws of 1542, Council of the Indies -- "For everyone to accept our faith, he or she must have ...a clear liberty of choice" : Twenty reasons against the Encomienda, 1552 -- "Our Christian religion is equal for all ...and does not deprive any of their liberty" : History of the Indies, 1527-1561 -- "The one and only way" : The only way of attracting all peoples to the true religion, ca. 1534 -- "If they refuse to listen, we must go to other places" : In defense of the Indians, 1550-1552 -- "All humankind is one" : Apologetic history, 1527-1561 -- "Those Indians ...should not be deprived of freedom" : Sublimis Deus, Pope Paul III, 1537 -- "Good-bye, Aristotle!" In defense of the Indians, 1550-1552 -- "Every nation ...has the right to defend itself" : In defense of the Indians, 1550-1552 -- "Liberty is an innate right of all human beings" : On royal power, ca. 1560s -- "Infidels rightly have ownership of their goods" : Certain principles, 1552 -- "The same right" : On the treasures of Peru, 1563 -- "War of this kind is unjust" : The only way of attracting all peoples to the true religion, ca. 1534 -- "Those peoples had never attacked, nor committed injury, nor war" : History of the Indies, ca. 1550-1560 -- "Every single person has to give consent" : On the treasures of Peru, 1563 -- "It is not my business to pass judgment on those outside" : In defense of the Indians, 1550-1552 -- "Help to the oppressed against their oppressors" : On the treasures of Peru, 1563 -- "Those Indians whose rights I have defended till my death" : Petition to His Holiness Pope Pius V, 1566