Discussion 4: Bartolomé de las Casas

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 ~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 "'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

.,,...-

ENCOUNTER, CoNQUSST, EMPI RE

nu1nbers included children, old people, pregnant

women and nursing mothers. families of high 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 6\\lh 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· 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

excl1a1\ge 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 Indial\S 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. 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

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 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 n\osl 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 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.

...

ENCOUNTBR, CONQUEST, EMPIR~

come to krh)W tOCir C:tOO an.d ac-ator, or that they 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 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$. being so happy and so rich, and the people so humble, so patieJlt, and so easilysubjugated, tht"i have . . . taken oo more account of them . . . 1hm-I wW not say of ani· m.-iJs, for wouJd to Goo they had oonsidered and treated them as ani1rta.Ls-but as even le$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 bypermii\ffl>,, of Alfred f,,, Knc:>pf, a divisio• of lundotn Hoo.sc, l.nc.

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 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)' ha\le 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 J\rtytru 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.

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• 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.