Study the Documents Below on Spanish Colonization, and Answer (A) to (E) That Follow

Question 2

Study the documents below on Spanish colonization, and answer (a) to (e) that follow.

DOCUMENT I

Not content with what the Indians freely gave, they took their wretched subsistence from them, and some, going further, chased after their wives and daughters, for this is and always has been the Spaniards’ common custom in these Indies.

Bartolomé de Las Casas, “The Conquest of Cuba”, (1552). In George Sangerlin (ed.), Witness: Writings Of Bartolomé de Las Casas, New York: Orbis Books, 1992, p. 49.

DOCUMENT II

For since he [Las Casas] later observed and found out… that the Negroes’ captivity was as unjust as the Indians’, the remedy he had recommended to bring Negroes in order to free the Indians – was not a prudent one, although he then supposed that the Negroes had been made captive justly.

George Sanderlin (ed.), Witness: Writings of Bartolome de Las Casas, p. 86

DOCUMENT III

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.... They are likewise the most delicate people, weak and or feeble constitution, and less than any other can they bear fatigue…

Bartolome de Las Casas, “A Very Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies”, (1552). In George Sanderlin (ed.), Witness: Writings of Bartolome de Las Casas, p. 144

DOCUMENT IV

Spaniards who hold Indians in encomiendas and wish to keep them as vassels usually …say and argue … that if the Indians are taken away from the Spaniards will be unable to live in the land. They say that if the Indians remain by themselves, your Majesty’s dominion over them and, consequently, the Catholic faith, would be endangered…and they would go to hell…..

Bartolome de Las Casas, “Among the Remedies”, (1552). In George Sanderlin (ed.), Witness: Writings of Bartolome de Las Casas, p. 157

a. With reference to Document I, what evidence suggests Las Casas’ disapproval of the Spanish treatment of the Indigenous people? 3 marks b. What may be inferred from Document II regarding Las Casas’ opinion on black enslavement in the Americas? 4 marks c. What does Document III suggests about the behaviour of the Indigenous people? 5 marks d. With reference to Document IV, how did Spanish colonists justify the subjugation of the indigenous people? 4 marks e. Explain briefly the reference to a.i. “Christians” in Document III 2 marks a.ii. ‘encomiendas” in Document IV 2 marks