Greed In European History : Bartolome De Las Casas

One of the major and more difficult goals for the Spaniards was to convert the indigenous people to Christianity. The Indigenous religion was so strange to the Spaniards that they believed the indigenous were not as evolved or progressed as they were. When Cortes was writing back to the Spanish crown he dramatized the indigenous people as savages who needed to be converted to Christianity in order to be saved. In the book Religions of Mesoamerica David Carrasco explains how, “These beliefs and missionary efforts reflected the primary attitude of the Catholic Church that the native peoples were “souls to be saved” in a global process of conversion” (Carrasco 21). To achieve their goal or religious conversion the Spanish started missionaries where Franciscans

de la Casas describes the second voyage that he embarked upon with Columbus. He described how each island was depopulated and destroyed. His observations of the land were no so descriptive of the native people and the land, but of the gruesome images the Spanish painted upon the Indies. de la Casas says, “…the Indians realize that these men had not come from Heaven (9).” He goes into detail about how the Christians would take over villages and had no mercy describing one particularly crude act to show how ruthless the Spanish were. He says, “Then they behaved with such temerity and shamelessness that the most powerful ruler of the islands had to see his own wife raped by a Christian officer (9).” The Spanish were so coward and angry anytime an Indian was actually capable of slaying a Spanish man that a rule was made; for every Christian slain, a hundred Indians would die. Natives were captured and forced to work jobs like pearl diving where they would very rarely survive due to man eating sharks or just from drowning and holding their breaths

While trying to adapt Native Americans to European customs, Columbus and his followers took advantage of the Indians. The Spanish burned the Natives sacred objects and would not allow them to practice their own religions. They also abused the Natives, enslaving them, taking land from them, and raping their women. Because of the conquistadors quest for gold and other riches,

This books tells us a lot about the relationship between Christianity and colonialism. Originally, the Spaniards went to the New World to convert the natives to Christianity but, they got lazy and greedy. De Las Casas stated that “The reason the Christians have murdered on such a vast scale and killed anyone and everyone in their way is purely and simply greed” (13). The Spaniards only cared about getting the gold and conquering the land. Of course, they had the intention of converting all of the natives to Christianity at first but it was easier to conquer and to just kill the natives in horrific ways to be able convert all the land to be Christian rather than keeping the people and just converting the people. The land was easier to convert than the people. The land was especially easy to conquer because the natives were such a docile group of people and had such giving nature and were always welcoming with open arms. The Spaniards took advantage of that characteristic of the natives. De Las Casas states how the natives were “submissive” by saying, “Their insatiable greed and overweening ambition know no bounds; the land is fertile and rich, the inhabitants simple, forbearing and submissive” (13). The

Europeans attempted to forcefully assimilate the native Americans to Christianity. Spanish missionaries preached the words of God to the Native Peoples who listened out of fear.(Doc.2A) The Europeans viewed them as a barbarous people without the knowledge of God refusing to acknowledge their religions.(Doc.4B)Partly due to the fact the Natives were not Christian the Europeans felt justified in enslaving them.

Early on, some opposition against the actions of the Spanish in the New World where the priest, Bartholome de Las Casas, denounced the harsh treatment of natives in the 1530s stated, "From the beginning until now, Spain’s entire invasion of the New World has been wrong and tyrannical. And from 1510 on, no Spaniard there can claim good faith as an excuse for wars, discoveries, or the slave trade.” which portrays the Christian aggression against a race of people who are innocent. Thier only crime was being non-Christian.

One of the goals when Cortes, Pizarro, and Columbus came to the Americas was to spread Christianity. The Natives, on the other hand, resisted being converted which led to violence. The Spaniards thought themselves superior to the Natives and treated them as animals. Though they called themselves Christians, they rode the backs of the Natives, and killed them for sport. In New England, when the Puritans arrived they also felt uneasy about the presence of the Natives, though the Natives were not aggressive towards them.

The Age of Exploration took place began in the 15th century and continued into the early 17th century. During this time many European and Spanish explorers navigated themselves to the New World. Upon arrival, they discovered the native people that populated the Americas. The Age of Exploration negatively affected the native people of the New World because Europeans and Spaniards forced Catholicism onto them, sold them into slavery, and tortured and killed them.

As the Spanish conquered different parts of the world, they assumed that they were the most powerful and knowledgeable race. And that it was their duty to take charge of the places they conquered. This attitude is clearly present in Document 1, a letter to Charles V from Hernán Cortés. In this letter he states his disappointment in the Inca’s reaction to Christianity. By shutting down any suggestion of converting, they lost their chance to convert peacefully. Because of this, Cortes believes they would have to be convinced with force. Additionally in Document 3, “The Gold of the Indies”, it's shown that the Spanish are at the top of the social pyramid. Here it states that since the Spanish can’t force natives to work for them

He also mentions that the Europeans subjected the locals to vexations, assaults and iniquities. This negative connotation of these words stresses Las Casas’ opinion that what the Spanish were doing to the natives was ethically wrong. The document connects to ethics and civil engagement by having Las Casas defend through argumentation a proposal for law. Here he demonstrates that not all European leaders wanted to conquer people seen as being inhuman.

Once the Europeans arrived, they noticed that the Natives weren’t Christians, so they had to convert them. Missionaries would preach to the Natives about Jesus and Christianity (Doc 2a). They said that you would burn forever in hell if you were not Christian. This was one of the many ways the Spanish Missionaries converted people other than the missions, where many Natives were killed and beaten. Natives would be beaten if they did not obey (Doc 4a). Some people disagreed with the ways the Spanish were converting people, such as Dominican friar Anton Montecino. He said that the Natives did nothing wrong and you have no reason to treat them that way (Doc

He also says that they were not confrontational and did not hold grudges. He explains that they were faithful and obedient to their Native Lords and to the Spaniards. The indigenous people were also pure in mind and were open to learning about Christianity. The Spaniards in the Americas were cruel to the indigenous people. De las Casas explained that the Christians murdered on such a vast scale and would kill anyone in their way largely due to greed. He also said that the ones who were captured as slaves were treated brutally and worse than animals. De las Casas was hoping that the king would recognize this and put a stop to the violence. De las Casas wanted to shed light on the fact that the indigenous people were not violent with the Spaniards and were very open to them, while the Spaniards retaliated with violence and

The greed for gold and the race for El Dorado were the main inducements of the Spaniards who, at the peril of their lives, crossed the ocean in unfit vessels in a mad pursuit after the gold and all other precious property of the Indians” (Peace 479). The royal rulers of Spain made it a rule that nothing would jeopardize their ability to rob the land from the native people of Latin America. The missionary process, “had to be encouraged, but the missionaries could not be permitted to dominate the colony at the cost of royal rule” (Gibson 76). The European governments established missionaries to cleanse their minds of any guilt aroused by the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children. When European “ships arrived in the 16th century to colonize the land and exploit its natural resources, they killed indigenous people and brought black slaves from Africa. Millions of indigenous people were slain and their cultures completely destroyed by the process of colonization” (Ribero). The overall devastations caused by the Christianization of the native inhabitants created a blend of cultures within the indigenous civilizations which gradually isolated old native ways into a small population of oppressed people. The Christianized people became a symbol of loyalty to the European powers and were left alone simply on their religious status. This long term mission of total religious replacement caused very strong and advanced

when Europeans made law adjustments and changes for conquering and colonization in their best interest. The fact that Europeans bypassed natural law solely for possession shows greed. When France informed they wanted part of the wealth and wouldn’t let Europe confine them further showed that it was about greed and receiving something beneficial. A major showcase of greed highlighted in the article is the recognition by the pope that abuses were occurring to Amerindians, however, Spain openly denies following the rulings in which Amerindians had rights to their lands solely because it diminished their power. Therefore fueled by greed Spain they failed to put the new ruling in place and staying in control for the benefit of their own empire.

the Catholic religion. In reality, the Spanish saw the native people not as good as them and