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On the Inland of Hispanolia [9]
Story behind the "The Inland of Hispaniola"
Bartolome De Las Casas, the protector of the Native American Indians, was born in Seville on 1474. In 1502 he traveled to America working as a conquistador under Christopher Columbus, and was granted a share of land
as well as Indian
slaves to work
it [for him].
During the time he spent in America, Las Casas was an eyewitness to the constant, brutal
mistreatment of the Indians
in America.
Finally,After
he observedobserving the most disturbing scene
concerningaboutan Indian Chief refus
eding to accept Christianity because he was told "White men go to heaven", Las Casas realized
just the Spanish significantly influenced the Indians to hate them.
how far the Spanish had gone in turning the Indians' hate towards them.He dedicated his life to end the Indian's prosecution OR slavery after he retired as a solder.After retiring as a soldier because he desired to end Indian slavery and work towards ending the Indians' persecution.(both mean the same thing, remove one to avoid redundancy) Las Casas also wrote "On the Inland of Hispaniola that revealed the progressing cruelty of the Spanish
soldiers.
Ever since Christopher and his men arrived to America and contacted
with the Indians, it was evident that the Spanish were far more superior to the Natives in both military strength and intelligence. The Spanish believed
As with keeping in the belief that almost all of society had at that time, the Spanish saw that people respected and followed individuals who possessed power and intellect.
the worth of a human was based almost exclusively on the power and intellect an the that individual possessed to have to control and respect. Thus,
when the Spanish soldiers manipulated the Indians to obey them because
saw that they could easily cheat and do whatever they wanted to do to the Indians, and even reasoned that it was in their rights to do so, for they saw that they were of a much higher class and superior
thanto the Indians.
Thus,Eventually, the Spanish were able to
continuing in that belief there were able to openly justify the unspeakable cruelties
and wrongs that they had
donecommitted tothe Natives without being rebuked or feeling remorse.
However, Father Las Casas and others like him
howeverthey did not
perceivedthat the Indians
aswerestupiddim-witted, so that the priests educated and protectdas in their lack of ability to learn, but, saw the Indians, as uneducated sheep, in need of a shepherd, or a educator to guide and protect them as America grew more
and more populated with the more advanced and sophisticated Spanish colonies
who were settling their land . Although Father Las Casas had seen that the Naitives were inferior in strength and knowledge, he did not believe that they were any less human then any other human being.
Supporting the view that the Spanish had concerning the Indians, Catholic theologian, Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda,
opposed Las Casas theory that he supported the notion of Indian slavery and said atLas Cassas's complete opposite spoke the following in engaging Las Cassas in a debate that took place in King Jame's court
that would decided the future of Indian slavery :
"Being slaves by nature, [the Indians], uncivilized, barbarian and inhuman, refuse to accept the rule of those civilized [the Spaniards] and with much more power than them."
This
perfect example
displaysportraysthe most common view
ofthat the Spanish
'shad concerning their "rights" to dominate the Indians.
Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda proclamation demonstratedBy stating that the Indians were barbarians and inhuman, and that they themselves were Civilized and had much more power then them, displays just how the Spanish came to the conclusion of how to determine one's humanity. Las Cassas also wrote of this view by his analogizing the Indians as "Sheep" and the Spanish as "Wolves":
"Among these gentle sheep, gifted by their Maker with the above qualities, the Spaniards entered as soon as soon as they knew them, like wolves, tiger and lions which had been starving for many days..."
This
analogy
that Las Cassas used perfectly illustrates the relationship between the Spanish and the Indians
such thatBeing that the Indians were both the weaker and less educated
, and they were preyed upon by the Spanish.
"Wolves."Many people
think believed that the Spanish
soldiers who mistreated the Indians were a group of godless brutes who, going against all forms of conscience,
dealt such treacheries to the Indians, that they could never justify themselves for
their actions,
what they had done and were thus,
they were condemned by
God and the government when news of their brutality reached Spain. This, although it is true to a certain extent, is for the most part, wrong. It is surprising how, after a time a horrid act can be manipulated into something that becomes completely justifiable to a person.
(what??? the soldiers justified their acts and did not face consequences???) Las Casas wrote of one such practice describing the incorporation with religion into their terrible practices
(??? unclear): "They made a gallows just high enough for the feet to nearly touch the ground, and by thirteens, in honour and reverence of our Redeemer and the twelve Apostles, they put wood underneath and, with fire, they burned the Indians alive." The passage reveals
From this passage, it is quite clear that the Spanish considered themselves
to be good Christians, and
that not only did they think
their actionsthat what they were
doing was expectable, but
also incorporatedby incorporating religion into their massacres,
in which they showed that they thought it was in their rights to do so.
Everyone believed the popular assumption that the Indians were
Although everyone who knew that Indians existed knew that they were uncivilized,
and uneducated and
it was also a popular belief that the Indians did not have the ability to learn, being as they were nonhuman. Father Las Cassas,
did not, however believe that that was the caseopposed this belief. In "On the Inland of Hispaniola," Las Cassas wrote:
"God has created all these numberless people to be quite the simplest, without malice or duplicity, most obedient, most faithful to their natural Lords, and to the Christians, whom they serve..."
This statement is often interpreted
Although at first glance it appears that Father Las Cassasis writingwrote that God
has created them
(who are them??) to be "stupid".
(use another word for stupid and use active voice, don't use "to be")Further readings of this book indicate otherwise (avoid using first narrative )I do not think that this is the case, being that later on in this document , (The unabridged version) Las Casas wrote the following:
"They are innocent and pure in mind and have a lively intelligence, all of which makes them particularly receptive to learning and understanding the truths of our Catholic faith and to being instructed in virtue; indeed, God has invested them with fewer impediments in this regard than any other people on earth."
Thus,
it would appear that Las Casas meant to say that
did not mean to say that they were
created stupid, but were made capable of being educated, but remained uneducated.
Although Las Casas and Juan Ginés were quick to defend the group that they were supporting, and to point out the wrongs of the other, each side failed to recognize the weight of the injury that their own side had done. The Indians were
inaccurately portrayed bynot really the way Las Casas h
ad portrayed them to be in his writings, and
as a result, theyhehad damaged the Spanish a great deal more th
an
hethe priest would have liked to admit. Nevertheless
But even though the Indians afflicted the Spanish a good amount of damage in which the Spanish undoubtedly had done much greater harm to the Indians then they had received from them.
Along with Spanish's belief that they were far more superior then the Indians,
there were manyother factors
that contributed to
why the
reasons why the Spanish were
so cruel to the Indians. To start with
(use another sign post), the Indians were constantly attacking and destroying their settlements at random,
and the Spanish returned the favourso it would only be natural for the Spanish to do the same to them .
To add to thisAdditionally, the Spanish tried
when the Spanish did wish to have a civilized peace treaty with the Indians, but
the Indians backstabbed the Spanish because theyit was common for the tribe in which they had made an alliances with to attack them, being that each Indian had greater alliances
withwithin his family and network of other tribes.
The Spanish were unaware ofSo, for the Spanish who did not know about the Indian's separate alliances,
and the peace treaty became complex.it must have greatly complicated things when an Indians from a tribe that they were at peace with would suddenly attack them. This would have given the Spanish the impression that the Indians were
indeed, the untrustworthy
anduncivilized savages
that they thought them to be .
Oh by the way, Titles are
italicized not "quoted".