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Historical Perspectives on Bartolome De Las Casas ______ HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON BARTOLOME DE LAS CASAS ____________ A Thesis Presented To the Faculty of California State University Dominguez Hills ____________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Humanities ____________ by Ivan Luvier Garcia Fall 2017 I dedicate my thesis to my wife, children, and church family at Emmanuel Outreach Center and New Jerusalem. I want to express a special feeling of gratitude to my parents, Manuel and Maria Elena Medina, whose prayers and support have carried me since the beginning of my college days. I also dedicate this thesis to, Rene Sanchez, who inspired me to want to teach history at the college level, and to the memory of, Shirley Sanchez, whose support and words of encouragement will never be forgotten. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank God for giving me the strength to continue during very challenging times. I also want to thank my committee members for setting time aside to read my paper. A very special thanks to my mentor, Dr. William Cumiford, for his patience throughout the entire process. Thank you Dr. Jacqueline Shannon and Dr. Christopher Monty for agreeing to serve on my committee. I would like to also acknowledge and thank everyone at the HUX office for being helpful whenever I needed assistance. Finally, I would like to thank Michelle Molina, Jessica Martinez, and Candi Rangel for their willingness to provide feedback. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE DEDICATION……..……………………………………………………………………...ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS…………………………………...…………………………...iii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………………iv ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………….…………....v CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION…...…………………………………………………………………1 Bartolome De Las Casas…………………………………………………………..3 Literature Review………………………………………………………………….5 Titles and Roles……………………………………………………………………8 2. VALLADOLID DEBATE………………….…………………………………………13 3. LAS CASAS AND THE INDIANS…………………………………………………..25 4. LAS CASAS AND SLAVERY……………………………………………………….37 5. THE IMAGE OF LAS CASAS.………………………………………………………45 6. CONCLUSION.……………………………………………………………………....50 WORKS CITED………………………………………………………………………....53 iv ABSTRACT Whether in the past or in the present, any individual who went from being a slave owner to becoming a member of a religious order and an ardent advocate for slaves is anticipated to provide people with ample information from their experiences. In some cases, depending on the impact such individuals make, the discussion on whether they made a positive or negative contribution to society can continue for centuries after that individual has departed. This is true especially in the case of Fray Bartolome De Las Casas, who not only gave his contemporaries much to debate, but also has given historians long after his death reasons to argue over the impact of his life and writings. 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The reputation and influence of Las Casas and his ideals have always varied with the social, political, and intellectual conditions of different times and places. Benjamin Keen Fray Bartolome De Las Casas (1484-1566) was a controversial figure who played a major role in the development of Colonial Latin America. His life and works were such that historians have debated his legacy for centuries. The primary focus of this paper is to analyze historian’s views on this important Church figure. The diverse views about Las Casas among historians illustrates the strong disagreement that exists over his roles, as both cleric and political activist. The work on behalf of the Indians is without a doubt the part of Las Casas’ life which historians discuss the most and the subject most praised and criticized regarding the friar’s life. Some historians defend Las Casas as a man of integrity who devoted most of his life for what he felt was morally correct. Others, however, argue that he was a political activist with little or no connection with the people he is often credited as defending. The association of Las Casas with black slavery in the Americas is another heavily debated topic among historians. Some argue that a recommendation given by Las Casas to the Spanish king resulted in the importation of thousands of black slaves who served as replacements for the natives. However, other historians dismiss this accusation as false and provide examples to prove that Las Casas should not be held responsible for 2 the introduction of this iniquity. Chapter One is an overview of Las Casas’ life, beginning with his experience in witnessing the successful return to Spain by Christopher Columbus. However, special attention will be given to Las Casas’ experience as an encomendero as well as to the life- changing experience he underwent in preparing a sermon. Besides introducing some of the titles and roles that have been attributed to Las Casas during and after his lifetime, this chapter will also briefly explain the Catholic Church’s role in the conquest and settlement of the Americas, therefore, a background will be provided of both the Patronato Real, and the encomienda system, which shaped the colonization of the Americas. Chapter Two begins with the primary concerns that arose from the Spaniard’s interaction with the natives; such as their nature and the legality of the war waged against them. These two issues were eventually debated by Las Casas and Juan Gines de Sepulveda in Valladolid from 1550-1551. Although this chapter gives attention to both Sepulveda’s arguments against the Indians and Las Casas’ rebuttals to those arguments, most of the chapter is devoted to analyzing the various views of historians on the debate and its outcome. Las Casas is primarily known for his unfailing commitment to bringing justice for the Indians; this is the part of his life that has received both the most praise and criticism among historians. Therefore, Chapter Three is designated to discuss how historians view Las Casas’ work as an advocate for the Indians. Included in the discussion here are some historian’s arguments that Las Casas was successful in 3 completing his objectives, as well as some harsh assessments of the friar in which he is viewed as a failure. Chapter Four will discuss Las Casas’ presumed role in the importation of black slaves. Historians who hold him responsible for the introduction of black slavery in the New World point to a recommendation given by Las Casas to the Crown as evidence to support their accusations. Not surprisingly, other historians counter these accusations by pointing to evidence exonerating Las Casas regarding the promotion of American black slavery. Due to its participation in the colonization of the Americas, the Roman Catholic Church is continually attacked by historians. Since Las Casas was a Catholic priest, his image is also being tarnished by anti-clerical scholars. Therefore, Chapter Five is set apart to discuss the views of historians who attack Las Casas, and of those who defend his reputation despite his association with the Church. Also, this chapter predicts whether more historians will become increasingly critical of Las Casas in the future based on the sources used in this research. Bartolome De Las Casas Bartolome De Las Casas was born in Seville in 1484 into a family of farmers and merchants. As a young boy, Las Casas had the opportunity to witness the arrival of Christopher Columbus in Seville, along with a group of captured Indians during a procession of Palm Sunday in 1493. Although his father and uncle accompanied Columbus on the Second Voyage, Las Casas remained in school where he studied the classics and canon law (Sullivan 2). 4 Only a few years later, in 1502, Las Casas found himself in Hispaniola with his father. The encomienda system, in which colonizers were compensated for abandoning their homeland by being granted an allotment of Indians slaves, was already in place when Las Casas set foot in the New World. Like every other encomendero, Las Casas was assigned a few Indians for his own personal gain, which included the responsibility of providing the Indians with a Christian education. Besides taking care of his land and the Indians he was entrusted with, Las Casas also traveled the surrounding areas with Spanish soldiers (Sullivan 2). It was in these expeditions that Las Casas witnessed the inhumane acts committed by the Spaniards which led him to write A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies in 1542. Las Casas returned to Spain in 1506 to continue his religious education and to become a priest. He was ordained in 1507 in Rome and returned to the New World two years later where he served as an Indian catechist while still enjoying the privileges of an encomendero. Despite having heard a passionate sermon by Friar Antonio de Montesinos in which he denounced the crimes committed against the Indians by the Spaniards, Las Casas remained reluctant to renounce his right to own land and slaves. However, his days as a slave-owner did not last long. Like Saul of Tarsus who experienced an immediate change of heart while en route to Damascus, so too did Las Casas begin to have change of heart after participating in an expedition to Cuba in which he witnessed horrible acts against the Indians. But the experience which brought him under heavy conviction took place when he came across a biblical passage that read: If you offer as a sacrifice an animal that you have obtained dishonestly, it 5 is defective and unacceptable. The Most High gets no pleasure from sacrifices made by ungodly people; no amount of sacrifices can make up for their sins. Anyone who steals an animal from the poor to offer as a sacrifice is like someone who kills a boy before his father’s eyes. Food means life itself to poor people, and taking it away from them is murder. It is murder to deprive someone of his living or to cheat an employee of his wages. Sirach 34:18-22.
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