Questions about Bartolomé de las Casas
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who was Bartolomé de las Casas and why is he historically significant?
Bartolomé de las Casas (the 11th of November 1484 - the 18th of July 1566) was a Spanish lawyer, clergyman, writer, and activist who became the first officially appointed Protector of the Indians and the first resident Bishop of Chiapas. He spent fifty years fighting against the enslavement and colonial abuse of Indigenous peoples in the Americas, and his writings directly contributed to the passage of the New Laws of 1542, which were the first European colonial legislation to abolish native slavery.
What was A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies by Las Casas?
A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies was written by Las Casas in 1542 and published in Seville in 1552. It documented the atrocities committed by Spanish colonizers against Indigenous peoples during the early conquest of the Greater Antilles and was sent to the then-Prince Philip II of Spain. The book was translated into Dutch, French, English, and German between 1578 and 1599 and became a foundational text in what historians call the Black Legend against Spain.
What was the Valladolid debate and what role did Las Casas play in it?
The Valladolid debate took place in 1550-51 between Las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda before a council of jurists and theologians. Sepúlveda argued that some Native peoples were incapable of self-governance and required Spanish masters; Las Casas argued that Indigenous peoples were fully human, possessed their own political structures, and could only lawfully be brought to Christianity through peaceful means. The council reached no conclusive verdict, and both sides claimed victory.
Did Las Casas advocate for African slavery?
In his 1516 Memorial de Remedios para las Indias, Las Casas suggested importing enslaved Africans to relieve the suffering of Indigenous laborers, believing at the time that African enslavement met the legal standard of a Just War. He later retracted this position entirely, writing in his History of the Indies that he had repented and judged himself guilty of ignorance, and that black slavery was as unjust as Indian slavery. Sylvia Wynter argued that his 1516 memorial directly caused Charles V to authorize the transport of the first four thousand enslaved Africans to Jamaica in 1518.
What were the New Laws of 1542 and how did Las Casas contribute to them?
The New Laws, signed by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V on the 20th of November 1542, abolished the encomienda system, prohibited taking new Indian slaves, banned using Indians as carriers except where no other transport existed, and mandated that existing encomiendas revert to the Crown upon the death of their holders. Las Casas presented the hearings council with a detailed account of colonial atrocities that he had been compiling since 1542, and that testimony was a primary driver of the legislation. The laws were repealed on the 20th of October 1545 following riots and armed resistance by encomenderos across the Americas.
What happened to Las Casas's History of the Indies after his death?
Las Casas finished his History of the Indies in 1561 and signed it over to the College of San Gregorio, stipulating it could not be published for forty years. In fact it remained unpublished for 314 years and did not appear until 1875. The work is also significant for containing Las Casas's copy of Christopher Columbus's 1492 diary from his voyage to the Bahamas, the original of which was subsequently lost.