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Tom
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Bartolomé de las Casas Among those gentle
sheep [the Indians], the Spaniards entered like
starving wolves, tigers, and lions. For the last forty
years the Spanish have done nothing but slay,
torment, and destroy the Indians with strange and
new kinds of cruelty never before seen, nor heard of.
To such extremes has this gone that, whereas once
there were more than three million
Indians in Hispaniola, there are
today fewer than two hundred of
the native population left.
The island of Cuba is now
almost entirely deserted. The
islands of Puerto Rico and Jamaica
are both empty. The Lucaya Isles
[Bahamas] contained more than
500,000 Indians, but today not a
single one remains. All were killed
in transporting them to Hispaniola to work, because
the native population there was disappearing.
The Christians have killed so many Indians solely
because they have made gold their final aim, seeking
to load themselves with riches in the shortest time.
Question
Recognizing Ideologies What beliefs do you
think may have motivated Las Casas to take this
stand? How might other Spanish clergy and
officials have responded to his point of view?
Answer?
Bartolomé de las Casas Among those gentle
sheep [the Indians], the Spaniards entered like
starving wolves, tigers, and lions. For the last forty
years the Spanish have done nothing but slay,
torment, and destroy the Indians with strange and
new kinds of cruelty never before seen, nor heard of.
To such extremes has this gone that, whereas once
there were more than three million
Indians in Hispaniola, there are
today fewer than two hundred of
the native population left.
The island of Cuba is now
almost entirely deserted. The
islands of Puerto Rico and Jamaica
are both empty. The Lucaya Isles
[Bahamas] contained more than
500,000 Indians, but today not a
single one remains. All were killed
in transporting them to Hispaniola to work, because
the native population there was disappearing.
The Christians have killed so many Indians solely
because they have made gold their final aim, seeking
to load themselves with riches in the shortest time.
Question
Recognizing Ideologies What beliefs do you
think may have motivated Las Casas to take this
stand? How might other Spanish clergy and
officials have responded to his point of view?
Answer?