Buy essay on Review of De Las Casas’ The Devastation of the Indies

When the book only appeared in Seville in 1552, it created an immediate sensation and till now it is still regarded as a great book. “Bartolome de Las Casas’s expose of Spanish mistreatment of Amerindians produced public outrage that was directed at both the conquistadors who were committing the atrocities and at the writer who has made them public” (Las Casas, p. 2). Moreover, the book was soon translated into almost all central European languages, thus becoming the significant historical heritage of different nations and providing ideological basis for French, English, and Dutch intentions to do away with the Iberian monopoly for the American lands. The Spanish moral claim to the Americas was seriously undermined. What is more, The Devastation of the Indies also was used as a significant foundation for the so-called Black Legend, which was to show the truth of the Spanish involvement in the American continent. This Black Legend is still heavily influencing both Northern European and North American views of Latin American heritage, history and culture. In fact, the book of Las Casas changed the overall approach to understanding the historical contact, relations and bounds of the European colonists with the non-European nations.

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Consequently, this subject resulted in passionate controversy around the author. But the main long-term effect was that it significantly contributed to the adoption of the New Laws of 1542, for the first time in European colonial history abolishing native slavery.
Meanwhile, Las Casas himself gradually became more and more convinced that the way the Indians were treated by the invaders was out of order, inhumane and outrageous. Regarded as the “most articulate defender of Indian rights” (Las Casas, p. 2), he explained that the American Indians were also humans, rational beings with their thoughts, souls and feelings, needs and desires, rights and freedoms which were to be protected, not abolished and infringed, as it unfortunately was in reality. The proponents of the conquest appealed to the theory of just war. The Indians were said to have committed unforgivable sins by their idolatry and sins against nature. The Aristotelian notion of natural slaves was also used as an argument.
On the whole, the book of Las Casas presents timeless and universal system of protection of human rights. When you read it, you may not even notice that it was written half a millennium ago, as it really sound up-to-date and extremely to the point. Now we all know the sad consequences of those days, but you really get impressed by how far a man of that time was able to go in his thoughts and ideas. It was really a courageous deed, to come out against the system, to become a denouncer of entire generation of conquerors and even the entire nation of Spain. He turned out to be a Christian against Christianity at that time in that place, but he found the forces within him to struggle for justice and to defend the sufferers, as he saw them himself and could make sound conclusions on what was really going on. On the other hand, it may be claimed that some of the descriptions may be exaggerated by the author, as we are actually not able to check the validity of some data and, moreover, facts could be misinterpreted by him for achieving the goal. But still, so many historians have worked for the same theme and devoted lives to learn the truth, and hardly any contradicting facts were found. Even if in some details Las Casas was too strict or too hyperbolizing, it doesn’t change the main statement of the cruelty and rage the Spanish brought to the defenseless and peaceful Indians.

Works Cited
Bartolomé de las Casas. The devastation of the Indies: a brief account. Baltimore, Maryland: JHU Press, 1992.