Competition from Portugal, France, and England was quick to arise, yet, despite this competition, by 1550 Spain was reaping the treasures of an empire that stretched from present-day California to the southernmost tip of South America. For the next century, this is precisely what happened. The news that Columbus had discovered a “New World” must have seemed like a gift from heaven: if it could exploit and export the riches of these new lands, Spain would rise, from being one kingdom among many, to undisputed preeminence in Europe. In 1492 Spain was already among Europe’s principal kingdoms, wielding its power from the Netherlands to the Vatican to the Mediterranean. As profoundly as his discovery affected science and philosophy, it made its first and most devastating impact in the fields of politics and power. When Columbus returned from his first voyage to the New World, he did more than simply reshape the European conception of the world. Events in History at the Time the Account Takes Place The perils of empire This effort reaches its climax in A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, a renowned description of a genocidal nightmare. Beginning in 1511 he raised his voice on their behalf, using his power as a Dominican friar (and eventual Bishop of Chiapas) to condemn Spanish atrocities. He experienced a spiritual turning point upon attending a sermon delivered by the Dominican friar Antonio de Montesinos, which convinced him of the injustice being wrought upon native peoples of the Americas, particularly in the Caribbean. Although initially an owner of native slaves, he was always uneasy with the Spanish treatment of Native Americans. From 1502 on, he lived almost continually in the New World. A Short Account of the Destruction of the IndiesĪ brief personal account written in 1542 published in Spanish ( as Brevissima relación de la destrucción de las Indias) in 1552, in English in 1583.īartolomé de las Casas reports to the King of Spain on the atrocities and injustices that Spanish soldiers have committed against the native people of the Americas.Įvents in History at the Time the Account Takes PlaceĮvents in History at the Time the Account Was Writtenīorn in Seville, Spain, in 1474, Bartolomé de las Casas was among the first wave of Spanish missionaries in the New World.
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