The Destruction of the Indies

Bartolome De las Casas is a Friar who witnessed the Spanish conquest of the Indies. He initially took part in the atrocities committed but later he conveys the henious acts in an account that he presents to King Charles in an effort to stop the cruel treatment of the Indians. Although saddening to say the least, the account is not hard to read as it follows a simple outline. Las Casas writes an introduction to the king expressing his greatness. He then goes on to discuss in great detail the wrongdoings commited by the Christian tyrants in the New World. He labels each location that is mentioned and goes on to describe what happens. The accounts are nearly identical in each location save for a few. The Indians would greet the Christians and bestow gifts and provisions upon them. They also had agreements/treaties that were to be honored. The Christians however would blatently ignore these agreements and proceed to massacre, torture, and enslave the indigineous people. Las Casas describes these horrible acts in such a excruciatingly detailed manner that I had trouble continuing to read.

One thing that was noticeable was Las Casa's clear use of exaggeration. He describes the indians as peaceful people who do not engage in any combat. However he never mentioned how the Aztecs were warlike people that practiced cannibilism and human sacrifice. He tries to pass off the idea that the Christians conquered them without any resistance whatsoever. He quickly points out that fifteen million Indians were killed as a result of the Spanish Conquest. However I feel that his exaggerations are warranted as it would be the only way of getting his point accros the King Charles. It would be hard for one to dismiss that fifteen million people were killed as a result of his missionaries actions. I have no doubt that the Spainards commited the most terrible acts possible to the Indians and deserve and equally terrible punishment, however I do realize that Las Casas heavily exaggerated his account although it was probably neccessary to.

The sheer repetition of these events is disturbing; it seemed as if Las Casas never ran out of things to say when it came to describing the crimes comitted. . He painted grotesque images, a few of which were people being burned slowly by the feet as if being cooked alive, women hanging themselves with their children to avoid being eaten by rabid dogs that helped the spanairds with their sins,and finally babies being thrown into rivers. Some of the things the Spanairds did did not make sense but were cruel for the sole purpose of being cruel. An example is how they would enslave people and fail to feed them so they would die of malnutrition therefore defeating the point of them being enslaved in the first place.

Upon reading Las Casas account, I felt remorse and pity for the Indians who suffered the fate they did because of the Christians. I felt the same for the Indians in the other parts of the Americas who probably suffered a similar fate at the hands of other European/American conquerers but were never documented the way the Indies were. I learned to appreciate the value of life and security. After trying to put myself in the shoes of the poor Indians who were invaded, forced to believe in a strange religion, and then deceived and slaughtered ruthlessly, I feel immensly grateful and that I do not have to suffer a similar fate.