In his writing, entitled The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies, De Las Casas illustrates the atrocities done to the natives of the land by the Spaniards, a group of people who claimed to be Christians. The work reflects a tone of remorse and repentance. A repentance that the author feels must be repaid by a change in treatment towards the Indians. An American theme is reflected here, the question of equality, love, and compassion for other human beings. The American nation has bestowed upon itself a responsibility to flee from injustice. There is a paradox that is borne to America, the fact that justice emerged later on through history, but the growth sprouted from a time where injustice abounded. Furthermore, a question that I continued to ask myself throughout the reading was, why does the author continue to repeat and label the Spaniards committing the acts against the Indians as Christians? Anyone who has a solid foundation in Christian thought will know that the acts committed against the Indians were contrary to Biblical doctrine. The question still lingers… There were a couple reasons De Las Casas continued his rhetoric in the fashion he did. The writer knew that the Spaniards claimed to be Christians, and in an attempt to open their eyes from a viewpoint of faith, he was reminding them that what was occurring was not Christ like. The actions taken place can not be justifiable by the Spaniards by merely proclaiming that they are Christians. In addition, he wanted to share his conviction with fellow believers. He wanted to shed light upon the truth of their actions, which were, quite frankly, barbarous. If the foul treatment done to the Natives was done to fellow Spaniards some type of judicial action would have taken place. He was trying to instill compassion, a Christ like love for all mankind, by challenging their standings through their claimed faith in Jesus.
-William Castro
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I was equally appalled when I read Bartolome De Las Casa's writing. Through my history courses, I was aware of the suffering that the Indians went through at the hands of the Spaniards. I was not aware of the extent of the suffering. I was deeply disturbed to read of the rapes, the killings, and the throwing of the children into the rivers. These people truly lacked a soul. The fact that these Spaniards considered themselves to be Christian is laughable. Christianity does not promote the slaying of people for land or for human slavery.
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ReplyDeleteIn many ways, this passage was the most difficult of all to read. The description of the atrocities was so very graphic, as opposed to the attitudes of the Christians which came across very cold. It was such a dichotomy, as previously pointed out, to see the word “Christian” followed by such gruesome activities. However, I noticed in the latter part of the tract, “Christian” was replaced by “Spaniard.” I also think that de las Casas made the descriptions so bloody on purpose. He wanted to wake people up. He wanted to get their attention. He wanted to say, “We must stop this!”
ReplyDeleteIn order to commit these murderous acts, it was necessary that the Spaniards view the natives as sub-human. These acts were commited with such hatred. And it is said that you hate what you don’t understand, so obviously the Spaniards had no frame of reference to understand the natives and their way of life. But it begs the question: was de las Casas the only person who recognized the brutality of the Spaniards? Were the ones he mentioned only a select few, or was that behavior typical of everyone? It brings to mind Abu Ghraib. Those American soldiers lost their humanity somewhere along the way, never to be found again.
Another thought: Were those “Christians” a good, God-fearing people before coming face to face with the natives? Or were they sadistic even before? And did de las Casas risk his life writng this tract? Because it is said that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Mindy Pigue
Just a quick note. Very disturbing piece. I got a migraine after reading it. I get sick when hearing seeing or reading anything that has to do with human or animal suffering. Unfortunately, we must be subjected to these types of things to get a better understanding of history and how the historians are the reasons we live and learn from our past. Just think, people who rape, pillage and plunder get punished by going to jail where they play basketball and are allowed conjugal visits. some people do horrific things to go to jail b/c less responsibility and they can eat and sleep for free (except our tax dollars pay for it)
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Jen Marchese
De Las Casas’s account of his experience is so vivid and by far the most detailed account of such inhumane acts that I have ever read. It is truly amazing to me that one could withstand witnessing these vicious acts and then return with a detailed report. I completely agree with William’s explanation of why De La Casas did this in order to highlight the ungodly acts that these Spaniards were enforcing on these innocent people.
ReplyDeleteI did find that this piece, though riveting, extremely difficult to read, not because of comprehension, but because of the intolerable acts that these people experienced. It is unfathomable to me that people, especially people who are Christians, could dream up ways to make innocent lives miserable and unlivable. I was appalled at the notion that the people were used as pearl divers for benefits of the Spaniards and how many never returned to the surface because they perished to the sea creatures below the surface of the water. The fact that they were punished for just wanting to gain a few breaths of air is disgusting and then after a hard day’s work, they are then chained like animals.
Tiffany Smith
After reading Bartolome De Las Casas’ letters, I reacted the same way as you. The margins of my book are noted with “!!!”, “total mockery!”, “cannot be ‘Christians’!”, and “out of context” when the Spaniards used passages from the Bible to subjugate the Indians. I have heard and read of true Christians who came to America upon meeting Indians, and lived peacefully among them like Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca. It irritates me when people try to justify their own agendas and gain (murder, injustice, etc) for “the sake of Christ” because they have absolutely no idea who He is.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your comment about De Las Casas using the rhetoric he used, calling the Spaniards “Christians”even though he knew they weren’t... I don’t think that it strengthened his message. I mean, people can respond in a few different ways. One person can read his letter and respond like, “This is terrible! They are not Christians.” Another person can respond, “Christians are terrible!” (and maybe another can respond like, “That’s what Christians do.”) Who knows. But, I think it would have strengthened his message more if he clearly said “People who claimed to be Christians” or “Christians”--- because it could be possible that they were simply ignorant of the crimes they were committing because it was for “holy” reasons.
My opinion is, if De Las Casas wanted to be courageous and put the Spaniards in the spotlight, he should have just gone through with it completely, openly blasting the hypocrisy of their actions.
I do keep in mind though that the church at that time was in its height of corruption. People were totally deprived of reading the Bible themselves and issues like keeping tradition and buying salvation was probably hindering them from the Truth. They were always to do as the Pope and clergy had told them. The church was the law, and not the Word.
Anyway, to clarify- I don't know what they believed or who they believed in, but they were NOT true Christians.
-Jane Hwang
Bartolome de Las Casas did a denouncement of the atrocities committed by Spaniards on the Native Americans is his most important writing “The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies.”. Indeed he was an enslaver in his first arrival to America, and later on he repented and became a priest. As a priest his vision is under the umbrella of the Christian faith and all of his denouncements is regarding to “to be or not to be Christian.”
ReplyDeleteIt is very important to indicate that human beings since old times have committed atrocities in the name of religion. And currently exist those religions wars in the world. Spaniards justified their cruel action in America under the guise that the Native American were not Christians. In 1478 the Spanish Inquisition was established by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille., the Spaniards established this tribunal in Peru in 1535 where they eliminated whoever were not converted into catholic, they applied the most serious atrocities on the native Peruvians into the name of faith. In Lima, Peru there still remain this tribunal as a museum which was a few blocks from my house which I visited every few. From Peru Spaniards exploited most of the gold that was sent to Spain through the Caribbean route.
The king Charles V gave a decree to eliminate the enslavement of the Native Americans, but he rescinded this order later. The main reason was the richness mainly in gold that Spaniards found in America. Henceforth in the name of wealth he allowed conquerors and colonizers continuing their inhumane practice. The religion was the latter reason, since Native American were not Christian, they could be subjugated and decimated. Even though De Las Casas denounced this atrocities, nothing could stop the ambition of the crown of Spain for the riches of America., and gave to the conquerors and colonizers “carte blanche.”
Ysidoro Q.
To be honest, I do not have the textbook, and I did not read de Las Casas's piece for this class. However, I had the chance to read his piece on Columbus when I was in high school, and like everyone else, when I first read it, it was quite an eye opener.
ReplyDeleteAs children, we were taught to love and revere Columbus as a hero- a brave man who followed his convictions, an adventurer, an explorer. Because of our tender ages, teachers would gloss over the horror stories. It makes me wonder what they were thinking about when telling us these stories. Did they feel guilty for hiding such truths? Did they feel correct in withholding these important parts of history, because they were "protecting" us?
It is said that history is written by the winners. Accounts such as de Las Casas' are welcome, even if they are horrific, because they allow us to see the reality of past events. To have this truth is valuable, because it allows us- the readers- to understand the history of a people, and give us insight on how far we have come in the name of humanity, and how much further we have to go.
Umbreen
William makes a good point in his post: “There is a paradox that is borne to America, the fact that justice emerged later on through history.” This is quite true and awful — the fact that America originated in many acts of cruelty and injustice — something not recognized by most Americans. This is evident from de Las Casas’s works, in the barbaric manners in which history tells us that the Puritans treated those who dissented from their view of life and religion, and the slave trade (engaged in by Casas himself, as noted by the short biography at the beginning of the piece, prior to his realization that “black slavery was as unjust as Indian slavery, and was no remedy at all”).
ReplyDeleteWilliam notes, too, “The American nation has bestowed upon itself a responsibility to flee from injustice.” Yet this injustice was rampant, too, in the early history of the United States as a political entity. Such offenses as the legalization of repression of speech against the government occurred under Adams’s presidency and onward, under the guise of protecting the new country against treason, but in fact a way of quashing criticism from the rival political party.
Casas, too, may have been the first “American” human-rights activist, arguing against oppression of the Native Americans, slave labor, and the time’s equivalent of sweatshop labor.
-Yehoshua N. Laker