Las Casas

Seminar 1.7 focused on Las Casas. Seminar 1.8 will explore Keen’s take on Spanish Colonial government & policy. I hope you read EVERYTHING (pp 135- 187) for this unit (thus far). It is the foundation upon which I built Exam 1.2.

You started off by exploring the following in your Study Groups: 

• Dig into WHO & WHAT he was …
• MANY did NOT address "What were his beliefs?" question - do it now
• What changed - why did he change - how did he change & did he succeed?
• Explore your perception of his Legacy - did anyone read more about him?
• What about his character - can you develop a consensus? If so, what is it? If not …
• What is the progression of Spanish Colonial Policy regarding Los Indigenes? (Keen)
• What changed - why did it change - how did it change & did the change(s) work?

As a class, we then approached the following: 

• What is his legacy?
• Is he a hero? What evidence supports this?
• Is he simply a bad guy? What evidence supports this?
• How does (y)our (Historiographic?) Study of Las Casas project him?
• Did you get multiple perspectives of Las Casas (from the assigned readings)?
• Regarding The Mission, did you make any connections with ... Rodrigo (DeNiro) & Las Casas?

I'm going to ask that you read a little more about the Black Legend via Wikipedia and/or this shorter explanation. You should also watch the last five minutes of John Green's Crash Course US History 01 "The Black Legend, Native Americans, & Spaniards": (https://youtu.be/6E9WU9TGrec?t=349)

What he did for the indigenous population of the Americas was profound - he worked tirelessly to free them from slavery and improve their lives...from HIS perspective.  He wanted to convert them all, which had a definite impact on their culture & civilization.  While he wanted to give the land back and allow them to rule themselves, he also wanted to convert them...ALL of them to Christianity.  Furthermore, when removing the labor supply from a system designed around slavery (Encomienda), it simply shifts the focus to other groups - namely, West Africans.  So, even though he could not have imagined it, the "humanization" of the indigenous populations of the Americas contributed to the African Slave Trade, perhaps even inspiring it. While his BFF (Charles) had his back, Las Casas was more interested in preserving and expanding the power of the (Catholic) Church. Yes, Las Casas was more morally centered than his contemporaries on this and other issues, but he was not infallible.

Also know (some of) the role & influence of the Pope on political and economic affairs. Las Casas outmaneuvered the Holy Roman Emperor by getting the Pope “on his side” when Charles would not listen. This then affected what Spain did (& had a subsequent effect on Portuguese America, as well). 

As an aside, I hope you are working to draw original connections with your own analyses of what we do in this course. Step into the role of a historian while also maintaining your role as a learner...learn to learn again. Explore, consider, and follow kernels to ideas and concepts that may be new to all of us.