Excerpts from “In Defense of the Indians”

Context

By 1550, the Amerindian populations of Central and South America lay decimated by diseases imported from Europe. However, for the multitude that remained, their nightmare was not over. Though the Aztec and Incan empires had fallen to Spanish hands, their peoples still inhabited the lands the Spanish had colonized. As historian John Chasteen argues, it was not long before the Spanish had put these groups to work in mines or otherwise exacted tribute from them, just as the indigenous empires had before them (Chasteen 44). The source in question is from Bartolomé de las Casas, a Spanish priest from Andalusia who was horrified by the inhumanity he witnessed towards the Amerindian populations.

Summary

De las Casas approaches the brutality he witnessed in several ways. Firstly, he appeals to the Spanish desire to convert the natives. In an English translation of his writings, he wonders “what will these people think of Christ…when they see Christians venting their rage against them with so many massacres”, and in this we see a powerful appeal to faith (Starn 119). Next, he argues in favor of the humanity of the native populations, noting that the societies were “wisely ordered by excellent laws, religion, and custom” (Starn 120). This demonstrates that the Spanish were well aware of the complexity of the native societies and that some, like de las Casas, believed they were worthy of some degree of respect. The final argument of Bartolomé de las Casas is that such warlike and violent behavior on the part of the Spanish is un-Christian. He likens it more to the actions of “Moslems” and argues that the Spanish must instead “convey the attitudes of Peter and Paul” (Starn 122). Perhaps the most impactful question of de las Casas, though, is when he evokes the age-old golden rule, asking if the Spaniards would want to be treated the same way they had treated the native populations.

Conclusion

Today, Bartolomé de las Casas is a figure that is viewed as having been somewhat ahead of his time, and yet he did little more than acknowledge the basic humanity of the native populations the Spanish encountered in the New World. In regions such as the Caribbean, the native populations would largely die off, to be replaced by African slaves and some Europeans as well. However, in the future nations of Mexico and Peru, his writings would resonate across centuries. In Peru, there was already a large population of Amerindians, so the decimation of their population did not completely wipe them out. Instead, they were forced to work in mines or were otherwise left out of society. The mistreatment of native populations continued into the modern age, and there is an argument that it exists to this day in certain less overt but still existing forms. As for de las Casas himself, he certainly viewed Europeans as superior, noting that the Amerindians were “simple, moderate, and meek”, but his compassion towards them was a level above the ruthlessness shown by the Spanish conquistadors (Starn et al., 122). It is this unique compassion that guarantees he will be a cited source for generations to come.

Works Cited

Chasteen, John Charles. Born in Blood and Fire: a Concise History of Latin America. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2016. 

Starn, Orin, Carlos Iván Degregori, and Robin Kirk. 2005a. The Peru Reader : History, Culture, Politics. Durham: Duke University Press.

By Matthew Akins