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case study Bartolome de Las Casas

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Introduction: During the late 15
th
century Spain was a nation that struggled not only with the spiritual
mandate to spread Christianity, but also with the desire to acquire wealth. The Spanish conquest of the
Americas raised great moral problems, not only for the conquistadores, but also for the imperial
government. Spain was unique in that it wrestled openly and publicly with these issues, opening an
arena for discussion which scholars used to debate spanish presence and purpose in the new world.
Bartolome de Las Casas
Thirty Very Juridical Propositions (1552)
Bartolome de Las Casas:
Born in 1474. Died in 1566.
In 1502 he sailed to the West Indies and was ordained a priest. Like any other Spaniard of
distinction, he received an allotment of indians for labor under the encomienda system which
could very much be equated to a system of slavery.
In a sudden conversion in 1514, he found using such labor repugnant. He grew increasingly
upset over the Spanish treatment of Indians. He then devoted the rest of his life to the Indian
cause, writings treatises and histories in their defense, making repeated appeals in person before
the king and his counselors, consequently earning the name “Protector of the Indians”
He was also a Dominican friar, and a bishop of Chiapa, Guatemala
Introduction to the text: The Thirty Very Juridical Propositions was published in 1552. These very
condensed statements represent De La Casas' views regarding Spain's jurisdiction in the New World.
He explains how the Spanish Christian monarchs have digressed from the original purpose of their
presence in the New World, which was to spread the Christian faith among the Indians.
Proposition 1: The power which the Pope holds from Jesus Christ extends over all men, whether they
are Christians or infidels. However, he states that the Pope's power should be exercised differently over
the unfaithful than over those who are already faithful or once were so.
Proposition 2: The primacy of the Pope imposes upon him the obligation to spread the Christian
religion throughout the world
Proposition 4: Effective way to complete that task is to choose people to preserve and spread the
Christian faith, so this makes Christian kings necessary for the Church
Proposition 7: The Pope can, by divine authority, distribute evenly the lands of the infidels among
Christian kings so that they may expand the Church and the Christian religion
*Proposition 8: The main purpose of all this: to ensure the spread of faith and the conversion of the
unfaithful but not at all to increase the territories of the Christian kings or to augment his revenues,
titles, and honors.
Goes on to say how the Spanish don't have the right to punish Indians for their practice of
idolatry or for any sins at all, no matter the severity of the sins.
Proposition 10: Among the infidels who have kingdoms, legitimate kings and princes exist. Their
dominion derives from natural law and law of nations, insofar as that dominion is confirmed by divine,
evangelical law.

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Proposition 11: Whoever believes otherwise is guilty of heresy....
Proposition12: Neither the indians worship of idols nor any kind of sin justifies Christians in usurping
the authority of native rulers or in seizing the lands and goods of their subjects
Proposition 13: Those who have not heard of the Christian faith and have not opposed the spread of the
Gospel may not be punished by any Christian judge for their practice of idolatry or for any sins, no
matter the severity.
Proposition 19: He also states that once the native rulers have voluntarily and freely accepted the Faith
and been baptized Christians, they become bound by another title than before to acknowledge the
Spanish sovereignty. If they don't want to recognize this then they still shouldn't be punished or judged.
Proposition 22: The natives are submissive, docile people, who may be won by kindness, charity, and
good examples of holy living. They should be given gifts so that they will see the God of the Christians
as a good god. How has this not been fulfilled? (Prop 23 + 28)
Proposition 23: Natives should not be conquered by warlike means. It is tyrannical and it goes against
the Christian religion. He further states that the way in which the Spanish have handled relations with
the Indians have pushed them further away from Christianity since they now associate the Christian
God with cruelty and injustice. Therefore, less conversions are being made due to the cruelty of the
Spanish.
Proposition 28: De Las Casas condemns the encomienda system established by the Spaniards. He
states that the devil himself could not have worked greater harm than have the Spaniards, by their
tyranny and cruel greed; he describes how they have treated the Indians like beasts, worked them to
death, so much so that large and once-populous lands became depopulated due to so many deaths.
Proposition 30: He ends by saying that...it follows, therefore, from these propositions that all the
conquests, acquisitions of territory, and invasions are illegal, because all have been accomplished
contrary to the orders of the Spanish sovereigns and in defiance of their authority
Apologetic History of the Indies
Background on the text: De Las Casas began compiling the Apologetic History of the Indies in 1527,
and finished it in 1550. It was first written as the 68
th
chapter of another work, General History of the
Inidies,but he ended up changing it into a volume of its own. He states that the purpose of this work is
to “gain knowledge of all the many nations of this vast new world.” He says that many have argued that
the people of the Indies do not have the power of reason to govern themselves. In line 12 he writes..”
“So, it is in essence a comparative ethnography comparing practices and customs of European and
American cultures and evaluating them according to whether they are good or bad, seen from a
Christian viewpoint.
Chapter 127: The Indians Possessed more Enlightenment and Natural Knowledge of God than
the Greeks and Romans
States that Indians surpass Greeks and Romans in their selection of gods because whereas Greeks and
Romans chose sinful men as gods, the Indians chose virtuous men to idolize, proving that they had a
better concept of God.

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Introduction: During the late 15th century Spain was a nation that struggled not only with the spiritual mandate to spread Christianity, but also with the desire to acquire wealth. The Spanish conquest of the Americas raised great moral problems, not only for the conquistadores, but also for the imperial government. Spain was unique in that it wrestled openly and publicly with these issues, opening an arena for discussion which scholars used to debate spanish presence and purpose in the new world. Bartolome de Las Casas Thirty Very Juridical Propositions (1552) Bartolome de Las Casas: Born in 1474. Died in 1566. In 1502 he sailed to the West Indies and was ordained a priest. Like any other Spaniard of distinction, he received an allotment of indians for labor under the encomienda system which could very much be equated to a system of slavery. In a sudden conversion in 1514, he found using such labor repugnant. He grew increasingly upset over the Spanish treatment of Indians. He then devoted the rest of his life to the Indian cause, writings treatises and histories in their defense, making repeated appeals in person before the king and his counselors, consequently earning the name “Protector of the Indians” He was also a Dominican friar, and a bishop of Chiapa, Guatemala Introduction to the text: The Thirty Very Juridical Propositions was published in 1552. These very condensed statements represent De La Casas' views regarding Spain's jurisdiction in the New World ...
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