Geo 373 Final paper
Ryan Lamb
Geo 373
1. What was the view of Las Casas in relation to Spanish treatment of the indigenous people of the Indies?
Las Casas viewed the indigenous people in a good light, having said that they were humble and peaceful. He also stated that, for the most part, they were the type of people who wanted to mind to their own business and not get concerned with others. He was a spokesperson for the indigenous people in the new world, feeling the pain that these Spanish intruders forced upon them. The Spaniards didn’t share the same view, they were very cruel and unjust in the way that they treated the indigenous people. They had no respect for their culture or for what the indigenous people had created. Even so the indigenous people never treated the Spaniards with disrespect. The Spaniards had no mercy and most often would go completely overboard with their antics. They would do things like torture, destroy, dismember, and most of all humiliate the indigenous people and their culture, not even sacrificing the lives of infants. Instead they would snatch babies from the tight grasp of their mothers and brutally kill them. If someone was fortunate enough to be granted their lives, they would have to deal with something such as having their hands cut off, showing that they had already been “conquered”. The means by which the Spaniards went about things was always way overboard. The only safe place for those who escaped was up in the mountains. If they were lucky enough to escape, they were sometimes hunted down.
2. How was Gomara’s view of the conquest different from that of Las Casas’?
Las casas and Gomaras view on the indigenous people and the new world differed completely. This is understandable because unlike Las Casas, Gomara was never able to actually experience the new world first hand, making it hard for him to have and understanding of what really went on. He seemed to be caught up in the fact that the new world was one of the greatest
Geo 373
1. What was the view of Las Casas in relation to Spanish treatment of the indigenous people of the Indies?
Las Casas viewed the indigenous people in a good light, having said that they were humble and peaceful. He also stated that, for the most part, they were the type of people who wanted to mind to their own business and not get concerned with others. He was a spokesperson for the indigenous people in the new world, feeling the pain that these Spanish intruders forced upon them. The Spaniards didn’t share the same view, they were very cruel and unjust in the way that they treated the indigenous people. They had no respect for their culture or for what the indigenous people had created. Even so the indigenous people never treated the Spaniards with disrespect. The Spaniards had no mercy and most often would go completely overboard with their antics. They would do things like torture, destroy, dismember, and most of all humiliate the indigenous people and their culture, not even sacrificing the lives of infants. Instead they would snatch babies from the tight grasp of their mothers and brutally kill them. If someone was fortunate enough to be granted their lives, they would have to deal with something such as having their hands cut off, showing that they had already been “conquered”. The means by which the Spaniards went about things was always way overboard. The only safe place for those who escaped was up in the mountains. If they were lucky enough to escape, they were sometimes hunted down.
2. How was Gomara’s view of the conquest different from that of Las Casas’?
Las casas and Gomaras view on the indigenous people and the new world differed completely. This is understandable because unlike Las Casas, Gomara was never able to actually experience the new world first hand, making it hard for him to have and understanding of what really went on. He seemed to be caught up in the fact that the new world was one of the greatest