We can estimate very surely and truthfully that in the forty years that have passed, with the infernal actions of the Christians, there have been unjustly slain more than twelve million men, women, and children. In truth, I believe without trying to deceive myself that the number of the slain is more like fifteen million. DefinitionĪs for the vast mainland, which is ten times larger than all Spain, even including Aragon and Portugal, containing more land than the distance between Seville and Jerusalem, or more than two thousand leagues, we are sure that our Spaniards, with their cruel and abominable acts, have devastated the land and exterminated the rational people who fully inhabited it. This gave rise to the Black Legend, a legend that Protestant nations such as England and the Netherlands used as propaganda to denounce the imperial system of Catholic Spain and promote their own means of settlement, which they viewed as more peaceful and benevolent. He blamed the depopulation of the Native American populations on Spanish brutality rather than on the spread of disease. In 1552, Las Casas published a shocking account of Spanish cruelties, A Very Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies. In 1550, the crown abolished the encomienda system, which had allowed the Spanish to seize Native Americans’ lands and force their labor. The Spanish crown also agreed and banned in the 1542 New Laws the enslavement of Native American. Pope Paul III agreed and issued an edict in 1537 banning the enslavement of Native Americans. Las Casas worked for the conversion of Native Americans to Christianity and for their better treatment. He argued for the equal humanity and natural rights of the Native Americans. After participating in the conquest of Cuba, Las Casas freed his own slaves and spoke out against Spanish cruelties and injustices in the empire. Introductionīartolomé de Las Casas was a Dominican priest who was one of the first Spanish settlers in the New World. To learn more and to receive updates, visit our website. history framework, and is available for use this school year. This free online resource covers 1491 to the present day, is aligned to the College Boards AP U.S. History resource entitled Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: A History of the American Experiment. Note: This lesson is adapted from materials contained in the Bill of Rights Institute’s U.S.
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