Juan Gines de Sepulveda and Bartolome de Las Casas essays

Juan Gines de Sepulveda and Bartolome de Las Casas essays When Columbus discovered the New World, he reported that the inhabitants, although intelligent, had no significant weapons. Therefore, they could be easily conquered and enslaved. The Indians were needed to be laborers for the Spaniards in their search for gold in the New World. Their suppression of the Indians was justified to European leaders on two grounds: (a) their labor was required in order to obtain gold and other wealth; (b) they were uncivilized people who would be rewarded by being given access to a more advanced religion. This began the conquests and the destruction of a civilization. It also brought about the debate of human rights and the civilized treatment of other races. Philosophical discussions occurred, and these two articles are a noted example of the ideas and beliefs that were deliberated. The contrast between these two historical documents is quite apparent. To find the similarities, one has to search a bit deeper. Bartolome de Las Casas was a missionary/priest and known as a defender of the oppressed. Juan Gines de Sepulveda was a prominent and influential Spanish philosopher of the 16th century. Both men preached their opinions about the inhabitants of the New World, however their ideas were as different as night and day. Their perceptions of the native inhabitants formulated their opposing views on how the Spaniards should treat them. The most obvious difference between the two authors is that Sepulveda thinks very little of the Native Americans, while Las Casas thought of the Indians as people with potential to do great things. They just needed a little help and guidance from the Europeans. Sepulveda believed that the Spanish had a right to rule the new world because they were superior. He states that the Spaniards were wise, talented, humane, and religious. He branded the Indians with such terms as barbarians, cannibals, murderers, and cowards. Sepulveda subscribed to the Aristotelian hierarchical th...