Prolific writer and son of a merchant given a royal land grant encomienda for his work with the spanish expeditions. He studied theology and law at the university of salamanca before accompanying columbus on his third voyage to america in 1498. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. In 1511 las casas went to santo domingo to join the priesthood. There are a few major themes and ideas to this book that stand out and are worth a discussion. Five hundred years after columbuss first voyage to the new world, the debate over the european impact on native american civilization has grown more heated than ever. November 1484 18 july 1566, was a 16thcentury spanish dominican priest, writer and the first resident bishop of chiapas. As a settler in the new world he witnessed, and was driven to oppose, the torture and genocide of the native americans by the spanish colonists and advocated before king charles v on. In order to demonstrate the truth, which is the opposite, this book brings. However, among the remedies was not the only book written by las casas to persuade the spanish crown of the importance of abolishing the encomienda system. He became the first resident bishop of chiapas, and the first officially appointed protector of the indians. A short account of the destruction of the indies book. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading a short account of the destruction of the indies penguin classics. Great prophet of the americas, was a thorough, historical description of las casas life, conversion, and ministry to the natives in america during the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. His observation of spanish colonization of the west indies exposed him to the atrocities committed. Las casas interrupted work on the book only to send to the council of the. The journal of latin american studies, 1 april 20 clayton univ. His role in bringing this injustice to the attention of the world has earned him a place in the struggle for human rights. In a short account of the destruction of the indies, casas provides a scathing commentary on the cruelty exercised by the spanish colonizers on the natives of hispaniolaas well as. A short account of the destruction of the indies wikipedia. Las casas was especially critical of the system of slavery in the west indies. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain limited notes and highlighting. His book was translated in english and used to stir up feelings against the spaniards.
Las casas intention in writing this book was to reveal how the sins of domination, oppression, and injustice would later be the reason for gods punishment of spain. This account of las casas, who spent much of his life in the new world, specifically spans the years 15091542, with some reference to the years between 1542 and 1552, when the book was published. The plan ended in disaster, but las casas did not give up. In 1493 he saw christopher columbus pass through seville on his return from the first voyage across the atlantic. You may copy it, give it away or reuse it under the terms of the. Among his many trips to the spanish court, he wrote a brief account of the destruction of the indies in 1540 to the court of charles v of the holy roman empire. From the log of the santa maria cristoforo colombo. The king of spain during the period of the protector of the indians was king charles v. In it are grave descriptions of slaughter, torture, and atrocity caused by wars. Apologetic and summary history treating the qualities, disposition. In 15, helps in the conquest of cuba and receives slaves and a large amount of land. His brave stand against the horrors of the conquest and the colonization of the new world earned him the title defender of the native americans.
His father was a merchant and was acquainted with the italian explorer christopher columbus. Since the spaniards horded most of the gold that they stole from the native villages and gave only a tiny fraction to the spanish royal treasury, it was a higher priority for the spanish nobles to recover the stolen gold and to. A short account of the destruction of the indies summary. Many letters were sent to the king of spain describing the horrible things that the spaniards did in the new world. Remembered as a national hero in cuba and nicaragua. He is the author of the brief account of the devastation of the indies published in 1552, which provides a dramatic account of the genocide brought forth by the conquistadors in. For more information on text complexity see these resources from in the text analysis section, tier 2 vocabulary words are defined in popups, and tier 3 words are explained in brackets. It just occurred to me that that was what the dominican friar was doing that when he penned his book, a short account of the destruction of the. A short account of the destruction of the indies penguin.