Sot11tcll 8&r1otom~de- W C1$11$, HJ.(rtJryof1J1tl11din. 1nms.docx

1. Sot11tcll: 8&r1otom~de- W C:1$11$, HJ.(rtJryof1J1tl11din.
1nms. anded A11dr6e:-<.:0Uard (N;.>W Y<>rk: Ji;upc-r &Row,
1971}, 109·
1._5, passim. Cti,p>1isJ,t C> 1'171 byA,M!rtt M, CoO:ird,
rene'l'<'d t99S by j(iyceJ, Coo.trued. ftqwint(d by pc-m1iss.ion
orfoyct
<.ont1ucei.
BARTOLOME DE LAS CASAS
I have c:ommnnded this Ill)' lcuer to be issued
on the matter, in which I comm.a.nd )"Ou. our said
CO'crnor, that beginning from the d3y you
re,eive my feller yot1 wiJJ co mpel and fotce the
said fndians to 3SSOGia1e· with the Christians ofthe
isJ.iod and to work o n their buildings, .ind h>
gather aod mine the go}d and o ther met,ds, and to
till the fi e.Ids and produce food for 1t1e Christi.-n
illlrnbita,us and dwellers of the s.ai<l i:;JaJ1d; and
you tire to have each one paid on the day he work$
the wage and 1·t1aiJ1teJlancc which you think he
shuukl h,1,•1:., . and you are to order each c:acique
to take chargeofa certain number ofthe said lndi•
ans so ch;H you ma)' make thel'O work wherever
necessat)', and so that on feast days and such days
as )'Ou think propel' the>• may be gatheired together
lo hear and be taughl in m.1tte1-s ofthe F.lith . . ..
This the ludj;ms shaJJ perform as free people,
which !hey are, ,md not as slaves. And kt' to it Chill
!he: said Jndia.ns arc well tre.-.1ed, 1hose who

2. ~ome Chritti:ms better than 1hc: others. and do
:lOl co nsent Of allO' that any persOJl do them any
harm or oppress them.. . .
I, the Queen
l0. Bartoloou: de Las Casas
Bartolome de Las Crisas (1184·1566), Domiuicnu /rim·,
histori,m, autliropologist, ardent
mi.ssionary to and defender ofthe naih-es oftheCnribbea11 isles
m,d Me!-0,1meriam main~
land, began his H islOr)' ofthe Indies in ISZ7 ,mJ wotked 011
itfor tltt nexl thirty-jiveye,,rs.
though it wasJmblished only '°11 1875-79 (in six l<O/umes).
History written b}' au eyewiwess and advocnu such 11s Las
Casas pteserrts dijfic.11llicsfor
the readet in <{etermining wlricl, of those two qualities, if
either, domim,tes nny given
moment in 1J,e nnrrmive.
Does Las Cmns present an accuratepicture oftire sta111s oflhe
evangelical componem hi
the eve.ryd.a,- life of1hcrolony ofHisp11rriola?
Note that thecomendador ( ,ro. I below) is Fu.y
NicoldsdeOvnnt!o, ofthe miUttu-y order
of AlcUmara, with whom the Crown replnced the lax
admi,Jis,mtio,r of Francisco de
8obadi/Ja, who wns setlt home for trial. «thisonl-!r"' (no, 8
below) refers to Queen [$i1bella's
wJirrant in which she tmphasized sl,e importame of tire
cmwersiou bfi,uligenous peoples
1;11<1 lier de.sfr·t for Spaniards nut!Amerindians tolive and
work h,mnoniously for their own

3. "'prosperity"and that ofthe Crown ofCastile.
I. I have already said and I repeal, the truth is
that irl the nine years the ooiuendador govetned
the island, no lhcasures were taken for theconvcr•
sion' of lndfaus and JlO more was done alx.>ul the
m.atcer nor any more thoughl g.iven to it than if
the Indians were sticks, stone.s, cats or dogs. This
applies no1 only to the comcnd3Jor and those
who ownocl Indians bUl also to the Prnnc:iscan fri•
ars who had come wi1h him, These were good
people but 1hey lived rcligiousJy in their bOu$C$
here and i1 l La Veg.a a1Jd had 1lO othc:r as.piJ-ation.
One thing they did was brough1 10 my knowledge:
tftey asked permission to have the SC>OS 6f some
c:idques (few or them to be sw·e), perhaps fotu·,
and laughl them to read and write and I soppose
their good example t3ug.hl Christian docufoe, for
the)' were good and lived virtuous!)'.
2. He disrupted villages and distributed lndians
at his pleasurt°, giving fifty lo one: and a hundred
to a.not-her, according to his prc:forences, ~nd lhese
https://Jndia.ns
https://comm.a.nd
.,,...-
ENCOUNTER, CoNQUSST, EMPI RE
nu1nbers included children, old people, pregnant
women and nursing mothers. families of high

4. taJ)k as well as common people. They called tl,is
system "Indian grants'" (repartimie11tos) a11d t:hc
King had his gram and his munager in each tow1l
who worked his land and nlined his part of t he
gold. The wording of the comendador's Indian
grants read Like this: "Mr. X, l grant you fifty or a
hundred lndia,1s under the cacique X so th;it )'Uu
may avail yourself of their services and teach them
our holy Catholic Faith," by which W'.'IS mea:ot,
"Mr. X. l grant you fifty or a hundred Indians
together with the pc:rson of the cacique X, so that
you may use them in your lands and your mines
artd teach them our holy Catholic Faith." And t:his
wa!; the same as to condemn them all to an
absolute scrvilude which killed them in the end. as
we .shall see. '('his, then. was the nature of lheir
fretdom.
3. ·nemen we.re sent o ut to the mi Des as far as
eighty leaguc,S aw-.1y while their wl•cs remained to
work the sojJ, not with hoes or plowshar~ drawn
by oxen, bui witJ1 their 6lh sweat and sh3.l'pened
poles that were far from equaling the cquipmen1
used for similar work in Clstik. 1...] T hus hlls•
bands and wives were together only o nct ev:ery
eight o r ten rnontM and when they met they were
s.o exhausted and depressed on both sides tllat
they had no mind far marital communication and
in this way they ceased to procreate. As for d)e
newly born, they died earl)' because the.ir mothers.
O·erworked and famished, had no milk t<> nurse
lhcm. and for this reason, while I wa.s in Cuba1
1,000 clliJdren died io thret month:;. Some moth·

5. el$evell drowned tht:it babies from sheer despera-
tion. while others c.iuscd them.selves to abort with
certain herbs that produced stillborn children.
{.•.) Jf this oone.lten.ation ofevents had OCG.lrred
all O•er the wo rld, the human race would h.ave
been wiped out in no time.
4. [, . . f O ur <Mil eyes ha'C' seen such inhum.ao
conducl sevetal t~mes and Cod is witness that
whatever i$ said ofit falls short ofreality.
s. "'Modetate labor" turned into labor 6t only
for iron men: moun1;1ins are sttipped frc,m top to
bottom and bottom to top a thousand times; t hey
dig,, split rocks, move .stones and carry dirt on
their backs to wash it in rivers, while those who
wa$h gold Sl;.f in the water all the time with their
b.i.00 xnt sc> constantly it breaks them; aJld when
water invades the mines., the most arduous task o f
all is to dry the minc5 by scooping up pat1Sfu) isicl
ofwater and throwi11g it II>outside. r ... }
6. 'rhc comendador amrnged to have wage$
paid as follows, which I $Wear is 1ht truth: ii1l
excl1a1ge for his life <>f services. an Indian received
3 marnvtdls every two da)'S, les.s one-half a mtl:rw
awdl in order not t<, exceed the yearly ha.I( gold
peso, that is, 225 mtrrtwtdls, paid them once a year
a." pin money or caco11a, as IndialS call it► which
means bonus or reward. '£'his sum bought J <::omlb,
a small mirror <'Uld a srring of g.retn or blue g.tass
beads, and rnany did without that consolation for
they were paid much less and had no way of initi•
gati.Dg their rnisery, a lthough in truth, they offered.

6. their labor up fur nothing. caring on)y to fill their
stomachs to appease their ragfog hunger and find
ways to escape from theil' desperate lives. [.. .J
7. l bclii:ve the al;,ovc dearty demonstta(es that
the lndiau.s were totally deprived of their freedom
and were put u1the har,shest, fier"'st, most horri·
blc setvitode and captivity which no one who h.as
not seen it can understand. Even beasts enjoy
more freedom whett they arc aJJowed to graze iil
th e fields. I.•.)
8. Tbis order was difficult or intpoMiblc and
not designed to bdng Indians to the l~aith; indeed.
it was ~rnicious .ind de3dly and desjgned to
destroy all Indians. ObviousJy, the Queen had not
intended the destruaion but the edifk;.ltion oftl1e
Indians, and the cnmendador would have done
wen lo oon.s.ider thi.s, as well as the fuc.t that► it.ad
the Q ueen b-e<!:tl aLive to see the results of her
order. she would ha·ve revoked and abominated it.
h is amazing how thjs prudent man did not realize
what a deadly pestjJ~nce his order was when► at the
end ofeaeh shift, he found Ollt how many Indians
were missing and how the rt.'St iuffered.
As I said, the Qu een died shortly after sendiJ)g
her warraJlt .ind the refore never found out aboul
this aucl decin1atioo. Philipand Juana sucrteded
her► hut Philip dit.-d before he could appraise the
situ.ttjon in the ludtcS and C'.astile was two ye..1rs
with-Out d1e prc:;ence ofa King. Thus. the decima~
tion of the.se poor ladians had begun and could be
https://inhum.ao

7. HUMAN RIGHTS IN 1511?
kepl silent, and when Kin_g Iiernando came to rule
Castile Chey kept it frorn him t'X). About eight
ye.:irs passed under the: comend:.tdor's ruJe and this
disorder bad tirne :o grow; no one gave it a
thought aud the multitude of people who origi-
nally lived on this isfmd) wh.ich, acrording to the
admiral, was iofinite, as we $!'lid tn Book I, was
contumcd ot :mch a r1ttc th_..t in lho:,c t:i~n years
90 percent had perished. From here this sweeping
plague went to San Juan, Jamaica, Cuba and the
oontincnt. spreading destruction over the whole
hemisphere[ . . .J
II. Human Rights in 15111
fl apparently t:Jok some eighteth years nfier Columbus's return
tu Spain frJm his i11i1ial
VO>"age for the _first remonstmnces to be made agafost the
lrarsh l™tment ~fthe ut1tives.
Regu.Wr clergy were present in the New World (a.lways
referred to as •"n,e lndies" by the
Crown) since fit leASI JSOJ, but it was not until 151 J that
thre.e Dominica11 fr'iaN newly
ctrrived on Hispaniola made formal, public dcmmciatiou
<,fsuch treatment. Las Casas
reports what lrnppened on the third Smulay in Advent that year.
Agni/I the reader must distinguish between las Casas the
historian (he wM not an eye~
wituess) and Las Casas the ad,vocatt, tl1e "Protector ofthe
Indian» (the title gi1ie11 him by
Frnnci$CO cardinal Ximtnts de Cisneros. O.EM., regent

8. ofSpain, in 1516).
Whatmeaningdid Catholicism lutve for the colonists in
Hispaniola?
sw1day having amved, and the time for
pre-aching.. Father Antmio Montesino rose in the
pulpit, and took fur the text of his sermon, whidl
was written down and Jigoed by the other friars, .. ,
am the voice of ooe crying in the wilderness."
Having made his introJua ion aod said somethfog
about the Advent season, he beg.an to speak ofthe
sterile de-sen of the coascienct'$ of the Spaniards
on this isle, and of the blindness in which they
Ji·ed., going about in great dang.er o( damnation
and utterly heedless ofrhe grave sins in which they
lived and died.
Then he returned to his theme, 53yi11g.: "Jn
order to make your s.ins known 10 you I have
mounted this pulpit, l ·Nho am the voice ofChrist
cryiog in the wilderne$ of this island; and there-
fore it behoove~,; you to Listen to me, not with
indifference but with all your he.an and sen~; for
this voice will be the ~rangest, the harshe.st and
hard-c$t, the nosl t·errifying that you ever hwdor
expected to he.tr." r
He went oo in th.is vein for a good while, using
cutting words 1hat made bis hearcl'$' Resh <'r<.oep
and made them (eel that they were already cxpcri-
en(ing the divine judgment . . . • He went on to
state the contents ofhi.s mcss:ite,
'this •Oice," $8ld he, ''declares that you are in
mortttl sin) and live aod die therei.n by reason of

9. the cruchy and tyranny that yoo practice on these
innocent pt>OpJe. Tcll me, by"'°hat right ot justice
do you hold these lndiafl.S in such cmel and horri-
ble slavery? Uy what r ight 00 you wage such
detes-tabJe WMS on these peopl~ who Jived mildly
and pe-ac:tfuJly in their own lands., where )'Ou have
consumed iofioite numbers o( them with
unheard-of murders anddesolations? Why do you
so gre,uly oppress and fatigue !hem, .I.lot giving
them t:nough to eat or caring for them when they
falt iH from excessive: labors, s:> tJ1at the}' d ie or
rather are slain by you. so th.1t you may extract
and acquire gold every day? And what c.1re do you
nke that they receivt religiot.tS instruction and
Sou11.a: 611r1olomtd-tU.S ( ii$is, Hiswria tklas lndH!s
j15651., 2;44(-42, Lrarl.1. Benj,tm.in l((ffl, in Robert
611ffiogtonand Ula
C.inw.1i. eds., KCf!lf's1a,;,. M1erkar1 Civilizatit,n:
H1'uo1yu,Jd Sc,,rJcty, 1492 tu the P,ff,Vlt, 8th td. (Boulder,
Colo.: l~•iew
Prest.200-t),77-78, ..opyl;-i~t() by Wtsh'iew Press. Rtpdn1edby
ptrmissioo a(Wescvkw Prc,;s,a 1111:rrbcrofP("r.sem Boolu,
I.LC.
https://C.inw.1i
https://Benj,tm.in
https://religiot.tS
https://harshe.st
...
ENCOUNTBR, CONQUEST, EMPIR~
come to krh)W tOCir C:tOO an.d ac-ator, or that they

10. be bapti1.cd, heat ma$$., or observe holidays and
Sundays?
.. Are they not men? Do they not have rationaJ
souls? Are you n<i1 bound to love them as you love
yourse1ves? How<a11 you lie in such profound a11d
lethargic slwnber? Be sure that in your present
st.Jte )'OU can no more be: saved than the Moors or
Turks who do n<it have and do not want the faith
of Jesus Christ.,.
Thus he delivered the message he had
promised, lc:aving his hc-arcxs astounded. Mal)'
were stui1ned1 others appeared more «~uous than
before, and a few were scinewh;u moved• but not
one, fro m what J could later learn, was converted.
When he had concluded h is sermon he
descended from the pulpit, his he•d held high, for
he was not a ma11 {O show fear. ofwhich indeed he
wa.s totally free; nor did t e care about the displea-
sure ofhis listeners. and ioste.a.d did and said wha1
seemed best according to God. With his compan•
ion he went to their strow•thatchcd house, where,
very likdy, their cn1ire dinner w.ts cabbage soup,
ur10avorcd with olive oil. .. . A(ter he had Jcft, the
churc.h was so full of ouumors that .. . they could
bardlycompl..:t~ tlu: 1.-dd.1tc1tion ofthe mull,
12. Las Casas on Empire
Barrolomt dt Las Casas O.P. (1484- 1566) played many roles
d11ri1tg his long life: '"Y care~
thisi. encomendero> priesr, missionary friar, historian> a,id
anthropofogist. In his Very

11. Brief Account ofthe Destruction of the Indies ( 1542; published
in 1552) he pkiys 1ht role
ofmortJli.s~, titat is, prophet. Whydoes this writing not q11alify
M history;JCtremai11 a major
sourcefor understanding the. Conquest. (in thiscase ofthe
Caribbam iri gmeralandCuba in
ptArticular}?
Thr Indies ,,-ere discovered in 1he year H92.
The year foUowiJ.lg, Spanish Christians went co
i11habi1 them, so that it is since fortywnine years
that numbers QfSpaniards have gone there. I.. .J
They fAinerindiansl are likewise of a cl~n.
onspoiled, and vivacious intelJect, very capable,
and receptive to every good docc1iJ1e; most
prompt to accept our HoJy Catholic fajth, to be
endowed with virtuou5 customs.
Among thest gentle sheep ••. the Spaniards
t"tltered •• . )jke ._,o(ves, tigers.. and lions which had
been starving fo: many days, ;,md since forty years
they have d OJle nothing else; nor do they orher·
wise ;11, the prest1U day, than outrage, slay> affiit1,
tortnent, and de.troy them.. . . To such ex.u:emcs
has this gon-e th.it, whereas there were more than 3
million souls. "'horn we saw in Hispan.iola., then~
are today, nc)t 200 of th notive popufatioo left.
I . l
The rt'.a.son why the CJuistians have killed aod
des.tro)•cd sueh ir:i.finite numberS orsouJs i,,s soldy
because they have made gold their ultimate aim1
seeking to load thcmS((YeS wid:1 riches in the
shortest time. .. •These land$. being so happy and

12. so rich, and the people so humble, so patieJlt, and
so easilysubjugated, tht"i have . . . taken oo more
account of them . . . 1hm-I wW not say of ani·
m.-iJs, for wouJd to Goo they had oonsidered and
treated them as ani1rta.Ls-but as even le$S than the
d ung in thestre.ets.
In this way have 1hcy ::ared for their livc.~nd
for their soulas: and therefore. all the miJlions
abo,•t mentioned have died wi1hout faith ,md
wi1hout sacraments. And it is . • . admiued . .. by
Soo•ce:: &trtofo•ni de LasCas.s, BoriQ/om/ flt IAls Cmas: J
S.,lortiori ofHr$ Writ.ings, 1ra.n:s. 1111d ed. (;c(lrsr-Sande,lfa
(New
York: Alftcd A. Kn>p(, 19'/t). 16$-69. l;rom 8attofomid~
LorCauu: A Stleaio.n efHis Writi~ by &rtolo-mtdt' Las C'.asal>,
trnns. Geo. Sanderiin, c:opyright O 197) by Alfrtd A. Knopf, ,1
division ofRandom Hou~, l1K'. U&<'d bypermiiffl>,, of Alfred
f,,, Knc:>pf, a divisio• of lundotn Hoo.sc, l.nc.
https://foUowiJ.lg
https://bapti1.cd
THE RBQUBRIMrnNro
all .. . that the Jn<liancs thr<:mghout the Indies
never did any harm to 1he Christians: they even
cstttmcd them as coming from heaven. until they
and their neighbors had wffcrcd the same rnany
eviJs, thefts. deaths-, violen,e, and visirntfons at
their hands.. r ... )
A very high p rin c.e and ford, named Hatucy,
who had fled with many of his people from His-

13. paniola to Cuba, to escape the calamity and inhu•
man operations ofthe ChdstiaJ1s, having received
news from some Indians that the Christians were
crossing over, assembled many or all ofhis poople
and addrt$$ed them thus.
"You already kJJOW that it is said the Christians
are comi.ug here-; and you have experience of how
thC)' hale t reated the lords so and so .rnd those
people of Hayti (which is J-lispaniol.a)t they come
to do the same here. Do )'OU know perhaps why
they do it?"
The people aruwel'ed no; except that they were
by n3ture cruel aod wicked.
"They do i1," said he, «not alone for this. but
because they have a God whom 1..hey g.really adore
and Jove; 3nd (O make us adore Him they strive to
subjug<tte us and lake our livt$..» He had rttar him
a basket full of gold aud jewel.s. and he said.
.. Behold here is the God of the Christians, let us
perfocm Jrtytru berorc Him, ifyou will {these art
dances in concert and sing)y); a1ld perhaps we
shall please Him, and He will command that they
do us no h.iJm,» (•••f
This prince and lotd continued retreating
before the Christians when they arrived at the
island of Cuba. bec.'lusc he kn<..--w them, but when
he encountered them he defended himstlJ; and at
Jast they took him. And mtrely because he fled
from su,,h iniquitous and cruc.1 peopk aod
defended himself ... with all his people and off~
-spring u ntil death, they burnt him alive.

14. When he was tied 10 the stake, a franc..i$CM
friar, a holy man who was there, spoke- as much as
he could to him, in the Lict.le lime that the ex.ecu•
tioner gramtd them, about God and some of the
te-achings of our fuith. . . . He told him that if he
would believe what was told him, he would go to
heaven where there was g.lory and eternal rest; and
if not, that he wou.ld go to hell, to suffer perpetual
torments Md pu1lishmen1.
After thinking a little, liatucy asked the friar
whether the Christians went lo heaven; the friar
answim:d tltat those who were good went 1here.
The. prioce .it once said) without any more
thought, that he did not wish to go there, but
rather to hell so as not to be where Spaniards were,
nor to see such c.ruel ptoplc.
This is the renown and honor th.lt God and our
faith have acquired by means or the Christians
wbo have gone to the h1dies.. ..
13. Thc RequerimietltO
'fl,e requeriinicmo, drafted by Dr. Palacio R141ii<H by royal
order in 1513, was to be pro4
claimed to natJ•es presenr at ,he inil'ial incursion ofthe
Spauiards on their land (excepting
those ,,arnie.spmctiting rih,al r.mmihalism, who were deemed
beyot1d resp«t and subject lo
immedit1te conquest). The documen,,s lariguagtr. its Casti/Um
wording, and iu tenninology
expre5sing thepolih.t1'1 ideology ofthe ..Catholic monarelu'"
wouldobviously Irave no mean•

15. ingfor its Amerindian audience..
J,r attempling10 come to grips with what il reveals about the
re.ligio11s romponent ofthe
Conquest, it might help to consider how the Fre11,J1or English
monarchs might respond w
its religious as oppoutl to its t,olilicnl mpects.
Sov~cli: Arthur Hdps, TMSpw1i$/1C1>11qu.ut irt Amuh uiul
Its RdaU<U• tq tit,HiMory ofSft1Vl.lry .rnd ro rht
Go1"°,wm,:r1t of
Colonit.s, ◄ ,-o,!s,. td. M. Oppenheim (Londoni nd New Yor"":
John Lane, 1900). 1:264-67.
https://C1>11qu.ut