The contribution of religion to the animosity that subsisted between the Spaniards and the Indians in the 1540’s was massive. The Spaniards were mostly Catholics led by a Catholic King while the Indians were Christians who upheld strict religious practices. It has been severally argued that the religious practices built the values of the Indians and increased their vulnerability to slavery. The religious differences between these to groups led to unfairness in the slavery market. This, in turn, led to a lot of mistreatment of Indian slaves and it too led to war between the Indians and the Spaniards. The Spaniards had more superior weapons than the Indians and although they faced major drawbacks, they eventually won the war. On the other hand, the animosity brought about by the slave trade and the resultant war had a tremendous effect on religion. Many regions were depleted of their populations by the war and fellowship and administration of compliance to religious laws was compromised. Therefore religious growth was indubitably affected by the war and the slave trade. Although Bernal Diaz del Castillo and Bartolome were handling the same issue, their evidence about the religious aspects of these happenings was very different (Casas, 1992, p. 12).
According to Bernal Diaz del Castillo, in the Conquest of New Spain. the issue about the heroism of Spaniards is unanimous. He argues that with superior weapons and problems of gun powder, their heroism was not guaranteed but they had to sweat for it. Bernal was among the people who discovered and conquered New Spain and a governor. AT the time in which Bernal watched this war, there were catholic kings who helped in the administration of the country. He argues that most of the conflict was occurred due to the slave trade. The slave trade brought about a lot of animosity between the Spaniards and Indians that led to counter measures by the Indians. The Catholic religious rules also affected the relationship between the Spaniards and the Indians. In fact it was the existence of religious infrastructure that led to the start of the slave trade. Even in his book, Bernal gives some credit to God for the successes that they saw. He says, “… let praise be to God, all things prospered with us” (Castillo, 1963, p. 27). In his story, there is also evidence of superstitious beliefs from the way the soldiers behaved. At one point Bernal’s captain kissed the earth and perfumed the others. This is a sign that these people were deeply religious (Castillo, 1963, p. 33).
Bartolome de las Casas wrote this account after witnessing the animosity that was directed towards Indians by the Spanish. His work was a meant for the King to show him the way diplomats abroad had lost focus on the objectives that were laid down for them. This period of colonization that was marked by these genocides was characterized with evangelism arguably brought about by the cruelties of the colonialism. Bartolome preserved and edited the diaries of the evangelist Christopher Colombus. The work of this great missionary, according to Bartolome, was discredited by the colonial genocides ad slavery inhumanities that took place at the time of Christopher Colombus. In his account, he advocates for the respect of the rights of Indians and argues that they ought to be taken as humans (Casas, 1992, p. 15).
Bartolome de las Casas, in an account of the destruction of the Indies, explains the problems that led to the murdering of millions of people by Christians. His short account of the events and circumstances that surrounded these gruesome acts reveals a lot of religious influence on the action of these Christians. He apparently has a religious explanation for every circumstance surrounding this issue. He argues that the victims were created with simple, open and innocent. He describes them as very obedient and submissive to Spaniards who are their masters. The praise that Bartolome gives these people is only comparable with the ideals of religion. For instance, he says that “… revenge, rancor and hatred are quite foreign to them” (Casas, 1992, p. 9) He argues that this is the reason these people are able to accept and quickly understand the ideas of the Catholic faith. Thus, their values, physical weakness and the problems they face give them a very strong grasping power for religious ideas. He argues that God created them this way with limited problems related to the incorporation of the rules and ideas of religion in their lives. These people are evidently passionate about God. The Spaniards are thus said to have taken advantage of the gentleness of these people when they attacked them. These killings led to a serious depopulation of Hispaniola, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. His discussion also evidences a lot of religious influence at the time ranging from its influence in the killings that occurred to the influence that was characteristic of some individuals at the time. One individual is said to have roamed the environment after the terror carried out by the Spanish to save the people who could have possibly escaped the Spaniards. After a search period of approximately three years, the only survivors who were found were eleven in number. Bartolome blames the death of these people to the behavior of Christians. He argues that after the adoption of queer behaviors by Christians, the Spaniards could easily operate under the masquerade of Christians and thus their mobility and ease of operations was increased by behavioral problems of the Christians. Thus religion had a very key contribution to the murders that occurred (Casas, 1992, p. 17).
These two stories differ in almost every aspect. This is inclusive of the fact that the two people who wrote them were very different and had different levels of literacy. Bernal Diaz’s story is based on the idea that religion is the one that brought about slavery and the resultant effects of slavery which included the mentioned massacres. On the other hand Las Casas, is of the opinion that the effects of slavery are the ones that brought about religious differences leading to the genocides that followed. The stories are however similar in that they were written by people who had first hand information about what they were writing about. This similarity, however reminds of the fact that the stories told by these people should have been almost the same. Most remarkably, the story by Bartolome revealed that missionary work was developed from the crisis that subsisted at the time (Casas, 1992, p. 17).
Bartolome was a very resourceful individual who cared for the welfare of his fellow kinsmen. He wrote down this account meant for the King to help him in making decisions concerning the Indian-Spaniard conflict and the mistreatment of Indian slaves. In his account, he puts a lot of emphasis on the effect of religion on the inhumane treatment of Indian slaves and the resultant war. He cites a lot of religious reasons that include the nature in which the Indians were created that made them vulnerable to slave trade and inhumane treatment in the same. He also cites the contribution of the combination of slave trade with religion in which he argues that their religious believes prompted them to be submissive to their masters and thus this way they became more vulnerable to unfair treatments. The bureaucracy of the Catholic faith coupled with the determination of the Indians to learn this new religion made it easy for them to learn the catholic faith and thus they bound themselves with the rules that are behind the faith. This way they could be easily be manipulated religiously by their masters who had stayed in the catholic faith for very long (Casas, 1992, p. 21). On the other hand, Bernal Diaz del Castillo also cited some religious reasons for the conquest of the New Spain. This was, in a way, in disagreement with the ideas of Bartolome due to the fact that Barholome was analyzing it from a loser’s point of view while his counterpart was analyzing the events from a winner’s point of view. Some of the religious reasons he cited include the contribution of religion to the slave trade that engineered the war and subsequent massacres (Castillo, 1963, p. 13).
Reference
Casas, Bartolome. 1992. A short account of the destruction of the Indies. London: Penguin Classics.
Castillo, Bernal. 1963. The conquest of New Spain. London: Penguin Classics.