In Defense of the Indians: The Defense of the Most Reverend Lord, Don Fray Bartolome De Las Casas, of the Order of Preachers, Late Bishop of Chiapa [Paperback]

Bartolome De Las Casas (Author), Stafford Poole (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0875805566 | ISBN-13: 978-0875805566 | Publication Date: April 1, 1992

Bartolomé de Las Casas championed the rights of the Indians of Mexico and Central America, disputing a widely held belief that they were "beasts" to be enslaved. In a dramatic debate in 1550 with Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, Las Casas argued vehemently before a royal commission in Valladolid that the native inhabitants should be viewed as fellow human beings, artistically and mechanically adroit, and capable of learning when properly taught.

In Defense of the Indians, Las Casas's classic treatise on the humanity of native peoples, had far-reaching implications for the policies adopted by both the Spanish Crown and the Church toward slavery in the New World. This carefully reasoned but emotionally charged defense addresses issues such as the concept of a just war, the relationships between differing races and cultures, the concept of colonialism, and the problem of racism. Written toward the end of an active career as "Protector of the Indians," the work stands as a summary of the teaching of Las Casas's life.

Available in its entirety for the first time in paperback, with a new foreword by Martin E. Marty, In Defense of the Indians has proved to be an enduring work that speaks with relevance in the twentieth-first century. Skillfully translated from Latin by the Reverend Stafford Poole, it is an eloquent plea for human freedom that will appeal to scholars interested in the founding of the Americas and the development of the New World.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A superb vindication of an oppressed people.... The message shines through and comes ringing down the centuries."—New York Review of Books

"Time and again Las Casas surprises by his freshness, his boldness, his startling modernity."
—Journal of Modern History

"Poole's commentary does much to clarify obscure points in the text."—Catholic Historical Review

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Latin

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 411 pages
• Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press (April 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875805566
• ISBN-13: 978-0875805566
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #202,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting read, but be prepared, November 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: In Defense of the Indians: The Defense of the Most Reverend Lord, Don Fray Bartolome De Las Casas, of the Order of Preachers, Late Bishop of Chiapa (Paperback)

Las Casas is an interesting figure: bishop, Dominican, late scholastic, polemicist, he spent great amounts of time and effort in order to ensure the equitable treatment of the American natives by the Spaniards. This tome is a good example of his toils.

This book (if memory serves) is basically the defense of the native peoples Las Casas presented at the Council of Valladolid against various others, most especially a theologian named Sepulveda (who argued, among other things, that the natives were Aristotelian "natural slaves"). Las Casas makes his case that the natives are fully human, can be converted, and should be treated rightly. In the process of doing this, Las Casas touches on (among other things) the nature of the Church, conversion and "scandal," and the just war tradition. Las Casas manages to pile quite a bit into this work.

The reader should prepare, though, for a somewhat difficult read. Las Casas was using every argumentative means available to make his case for the Indians. He goes from scholastic argument and legal discussion (often times repeatedly bringing up the same or similar point) to out and out polemics and ad hominem attacks. The work is not terribly systematic, and can seem a bit frenzied.

Having written that, though, it is a fascinating read by a remarkable bishop. Those interested in the time of exploration, the relations between the Europeans and the Indians, a practical use of Thomistic thinking and canon law, or of conversion in a foreign land. should read this book. The translation by Poole is excellent, as is his citing of works mentioned/implied in Las Casas' arguments. Highly recommended.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seminal work, February 17, 2008

By 

Seth J. Frantzman (Jerusalem, Israel) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In Defense of the Indians: The Defense of the Most Reverend Lord, Don Fray Bartolome De Las Casas, of the Order of Preachers, Late Bishop of Chiapa (Paperback)

This is the seminal work of Bartolome De las Casas, a Spanish conquistador and priest who became a passionate defender of the native people of the Americas and has, of late, been accused of thus provoking the slave trade. However that was not his intention as is clear in this primary source, his original appeals on behalf of the natives. Las Casas was appaled by what he saw in the new world in the last years of the 15th century and the first of the 16th. He understood that the natives should be saved as a people and that they deserved better treatment than to be made slaves, worked to death or having their arms lopped off because they could not produce enough gold.

A passioante defense, Las Cases' work might be said to be one fo the first published works on human rights. A major landmark and an importatn document in the history of Christianity, the new world, colonialism and the West.

Seth J. Frantzman