Bartolome De Las Casas Book Review Essay examples

Convinced of the superiority of Catholicism to all other religions, Spain insisted that the primary goal of colonization was to save the Indians from heathenism and prevent them from falling under the sway of Protestantism. The aim was neither to exterminate nor to remove the Indians, but to transform them into obedient Christian subjects of the crown. To the Spanish colonizers, the large native populations of the Americas were not only souls to be saved but also a labor force to be organized to extract gold and silver that would enrich their mother country. Las Casas’ writings and the abuses they exposed contributed to the spread of the Black Legend-the image of Spain as a uniquely brutal and exploitative colonizer. This would provide of a potent justification for other European powers to challenge Spain’s predominance in the New World.

de la Casas describes the second voyage that he embarked upon with Columbus. He described how each island was depopulated and destroyed. His observations of the land were no so descriptive of the native people and the land, but of the gruesome images the Spanish painted upon the Indies. de la Casas says, “…the Indians realize that these men had not come from Heaven (9).” He goes into detail about how the Christians would take over villages and had no mercy describing one particularly crude act to show how ruthless the Spanish were. He says, “Then they behaved with such temerity and shamelessness that the most powerful ruler of the islands had to see his own wife raped by a Christian officer (9).” The Spanish were so coward and angry anytime an Indian was actually capable of slaying a Spanish man that a rule was made; for every Christian slain, a hundred Indians would die. Natives were captured and forced to work jobs like pearl diving where they would very rarely survive due to man eating sharks or just from drowning and holding their breaths

Casas starts off by identifying that even before the arrival of Spaniards, the Indians had a proper way of living, where they had laws, religion, and unique customs. In addition, Casas argues that the Indian race is actually not barbaric as to what Sepulveda had thought. Not only are the Indians quick in learning new arts, they were also willing to accept the new religion of Christianity, and confess to God for their sins. Moreover, the Indians are skillful in various kinds of arts, where amazing buildings, paintings and needleworks have been produced. Even Hernan Cortes mentioned that building built by Indians should be respected. All these facts justifies Casas point that Indians are not

Casas has a positive attitude towards the natives although it is extremely apparent that those around him do not feel the same. He wants to improve the relations between them and the so – called Spanish Christians, which is why he is writing about these horrors. His approach in improving the relations is to write a brutally honest account of what he witnessed to share with others. He wants the Spanish to realize the brutality they have bestowed upon the natives is unsettling and barbaric for people who call themselves civilized. In this writing, he doesn’t outright tell anyone what to do, but it is implied that he wants the murders and slavery of the natives to end. His story portrays the negative relations between the natives and Europeans from the very beginning of the discovery of the New World.

On November ninth Cabeza De Vaca and part of his crew who survived the trip reached a new land.”[This was Galveston Island.] He also said that the ground looked as if cattle had trampled it and therefore that this must be a country of Christians.” On this island they landed on, they encountered Native Americans. Their first thought was that they might be hostile, but contrary to their beliefs the natives were both hospitable and compassionate. The Native Americans are actually sympathetic and give the Europeans food. The Native Americans take De Vaca and his men. The Europeans are frightened because they think the natives are going to sacrifice them. But they accept the hospitality of the natives in hopes they might live. “All but 16 of them

Spain sought out to colonize the New World and, most importantly, influence Christianity. This writing is historically significant because it validates the interactions of the aggressive Christians doing and the innocent Indians, which is eventually revealed to the Spanish public. Certain use of pathos in Cabeza de Vaca’s perspective is the most persuasive tool in his journal. His own experience in land where he too was enslaved, like how the Indians were to the Spanish, justifies his own thoughts and empathy for the victims. His accounts as a witness prompt readers to believe his word. Cabeza de Vaca’s insight onto how the foreigners treated the natives and why they were inclines to retaliate, was intended to reveal the truth. This line stated directly to his audience explains his betrayal, lastly exposing the Spanish men: “This clearly shows how the design of men sometimes miscarry. We went on with the idea of insuring the liberty of the Indians…when we believed it to be

separate how De Las Casas might have been an outspoken critic of the Spanish’s treatment of indigenous people, and how he was still a part of a repressive institution. Finally, I

The dominant portion of the excerpt is Bergreen's exposition of various historical arguments against Columbus, his foremost example being the works of Bartolomé de Las Casas. He integrates much of de Las Casas' work through the use of direct quotations, which helps to maintain a rigorous and analytical tone. This serves to improve Bergreen's credibility and reinforce the reader's initial impression of him as a rigorous and learned historian—an appeal to ethos. Through the use of direct quotations such as "Las Casas championed the nearly extinct victims of this outrage—'the simplest people of the world,'" (Par. 3) he is able to provide the reader with historical knowledge without directly taking a stance on the underlying divisive issue of the moral qualities and actions of Columbus. This extremely objective tone pervades the rest of the essay, and ultimately makes any moral judgement difficult to discern which would detract from the focus of the Bergreen's ultimate

The role of the Roman Catholic Church in Spain’s conquest and colonization of continental America was a two-fold process whereby under the façade of conversion and control lay the primary goal of gaining wealth, enforcing laws and the inevitable extension of control while condoning the beginnings of European slavery in the Caribbean.[i]

In the book The Conquest of America by Tzvetan Todorov, Todorov brings about an interesting look into the expeditions of Columbus, based on Columbus’ own writings. Initially, one can see Columbus nearly overwhelmed by the beauty of these lands that he has encountered. He creates vivid pictures that stand out in the imagination, colored by a "marvelous" descriptive style. Todorov gives us an interpretation of Columbus’ discovery of America, and the Spaniards’ subsequent conquest, colonization, and destruction of pre-Columbian cultures in Mexico and the Caribbean. Tzvetan Todorov examines the beliefs and behavior of the Spanish conquistadors and of the Aztecs.

This shows the Spaniards being cognizant of the Native struggle and being advantageous (Document B). In document E, according to Duarte Barbosa, a Portuguese merchant, The King of Portugal believes that anybody who doesn't believe or obey him will be destroyed and taken over. In 1514, the King of Portugal took over a proud king from the East coast of Africa by force and killed and captured many people. In 1519, Hernan Cortes wrote to King Charles V of Spain saying that he stumbled across a large town filled with innocent women and children and he proceeded to do them harm and treat them like animals and take over the town with the help of God. This lead to the people recognizing the power of God, leaving them hopeless and hostile (Document F). In 1494, Christopher Columbus stumbled upon a new land called Hispania, which is an Island located in present day Haiti and back then, just a land in the New World. Columbus describes to the to the Spanish Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, that this Island is filled with products that can benefit the Spanish such as honey, iron, plains, fields, and land for building houses (Document C). This message presents the ambition that the Spanish had only two years after

Early on, some opposition against the actions of the Spanish in the New World where the priest, Bartholome de Las Casas, denounced the harsh treatment of natives in the 1530s stated, "From the beginning until now, Spain’s entire invasion of the New World has been wrong and tyrannical. And from 1510 on, no Spaniard there can claim good faith as an excuse for wars, discoveries, or the slave trade.” which portrays the Christian aggression against a race of people who are innocent. Thier only crime was being non-Christian.

Dating back in 1552 the discovery of the Indies was made by the Spaniards. Order by the king of Spain, their main focus was to settle on the land and to convert the people already there to Christianity. However, the Spaniards that did go had different intentions. For one, they massacred millions of natives to deplete the land of gold and other valuable materials. Secondly, they used the native’s hospitality against them by enslaving them and using them build villages and cities. However, a man by the name of De Las Casas, who was also a Spaniard, who witness the slaughter of the natives; decided to write a short story about the experience he had encountered and dedicate his life to protect the natives.

The last element to take in consideration when comparing these two perspectives is the validity of them. Often, when writing, personal opinions and biased inter the paper. According to the introduction, Las Cases was a conquistador how converted to the priests hood after having a revolution. When writing A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies he was trying to persuade the monarch that something need to be done about the Spaniards treatment of the natives. To prove his point Las Casas more than likely over exaggerated the truth to make the atrocities look worse than they were. For instance, the mascara of Cholula was actually instigated by the Tlaxcala, another tribe of natives, to prove the Spaniard loyalty and in return; they would

La novela “Cien años de soledad” fue una obra escrita por Gabriel García Márquez durante dieciocho meses entre 1965 y 1966 en Ciudad de México y publicada por primera vez en 1967 en Buenos Aires. El ingenio para la redacción de esta obra surge en 1952 durante el viaje que ejecuta Gabriel García Márquez a su pueblo natal, Aracataca. No cabe duda que el lugar ficticio de Macondo, ambiente donde se desarrolla la obra, refleja muchas de las costumbres y anécdotas vividas por Gabriel García Márquez durante su infancia en antedicho pueblo, mostrando así un contexto histórico y social que se analizará a continuación.