Introduction
Bartolome de las Casas was a historian of Spanish origin who lived in the 16th century. He documented the history of colonization of West Indies, highlighting the crimes of colonies against indigenous peoples. After witnessing with his own eyes what Europeans did to them, he changed his views on colonization and slavery becoming an advocate of equality of all people. He freed all of his slaves in the colonies and organized missions to lobby for the abolition of slavery. He dedicated almost 50 years of his life to the abolitionist movement. As a result of his advocacy, laws pertaining to the indigenous populations became stricter to abuse. In addition, his work became key to establishing ethics of colonialism and the concept of human dignity.
Events, Changes, and Conflicts in the Early Americas
Chapter 1 of American Yawp describes the first efforts of European settlers to establish a new home in Americas and what was life like before. Native Americans had a rich culture the legacy of which is documented in writing and pictography. The traces of the first native settlements can be identified as early as 15,000 years ago across North and South Americas. Like many other primal tribes, Native Americans were gatherers and hunters. According to Richard Diehl, around 1,200 BC a major change occurred in their lifestyle with the emergence of agriculture.1 The population started to grow and settle around cornfields uniting into communities. Yet with bonuses such as the development of craftsmanship due to the increased free time of certain people, came harms such as health decline.
Further growth of production power and diversification of labor marked the sophistication of political structure, culture, architecture, and other things. Native Americans were not a united and homogenous tribe, yet a set of location-based communities that developed separately but effectively. American Yawp historians state that the variety of languages amounted to hundreds.2
An era of peace and thriving soon ended with the discovery of American lands by Europeans. After the discovery of the “New World” in 1492, Europeans started colonizing it in order to grow sugar cane and find other riches. In West Indies, as described by Columbus, Spanish people started torturing indigenous people cutting off the parts of their bodies for no particular reason. Yet Columbus himself was eager to strike a deal with Spanish Crown to bring slaves back to Europe in exchange for gold, declaring it a will of God.3 In addition to cruelties of colonists, indigenous people suffered from diseases brought by Europeans.
A full-scale occupation of the land by Spanish Empire in the middle of the 16th century brought an end to Aztec empire, and all the people’s they conquered before Europeans came. Essentially, most of the South American tribes became slaves and property of Spain, which was marked in encomienda and later in repartimiento. As a result of slavery, military conflicts, and epidemics, 95% of the Native Americans died.4
Relation to Primary Document
In his writing called A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies Bartolome de las Casas describes the atrocities of Spanish colonists and mercenaries inflicted on the native people. The events as they are described in the American Yawp do not focus on describing the horrors of colonization but also mention them in detail. The latter document aims to describe the prehistory of West Indies before it was ravaged by Europeans. In their essence, both documents capture the unfair and grim fate of native tribes. In American Yawp, historians describe events mentioning their meaning and producing logic behind them to create a comprehensive picture of what happened. Bartolome de las Casas, on the other hand, targets the aftermath while briefly describing what was there before Europeans.
Importance of the Document in its Time
Bartolome de las Casas wrote A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies to notify the King of Spain, Charles the First, whom he describes as a protector of justice.5 At that time, the author was already preaching equal rights and was an active advocate of slaves’ rights acting to stop violence and horrors he witnessed in the West Indies. Therefore, the highest authority to which he could appeal was the King himself. In this document, he argued that if the atrocities were not stopped the wrath of God would come upon Spain.
The document was of utmost significance in the 16th-century world ruled by active colonist Empires. Bartolome de las Casas was one of the first who raised the issue of humanity, unlawful and immoral nature of things done to native people.6 There were also other scholars that wrote about slavery and the need for humane colonist policies. However, de las Casas reinforced the existing arguments with extensive proof. In addition, he expressed his ideas from historical perspective emphasizing the fact that it was not only people who were destroyed, it was nations and civilizations. On the whole, the document was revolutionary for abolitionist movement as it firmly placed the question of slavery and colonization in the political discourse.
Bibliography
“A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies.”University of Michigan. n.d. Web.
Diehl, Richard. The Olmecs: America’s First Civilization, London: Thames and Hudson, 2004.
Dobyns, Henry. Their Number Become Thinned: Native American Population Dynamics in Eastern North America. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1983.
von Vacano, Diego. “Las Casas and the Birth of Race”. History of Political Thought 33, no. 3 (2012): 401–426.
“The New World.”American Yawp. n.d. Web.
Footnotes
- Richard Diehl, The Olmecs: America’s First Civilization (London: Thames and Hudson, 2004), 25
- “The New World,” American Yawp, n.d. Web.
- “The New World.”
- Ibid.
- “A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies,” University of Michigan, n.d. Web.
- Diego von Vacano, “Las Casas and the birth of race”, History of Political Thought 33, no. 3 (2012): 401.