De Las Casas: The Spanish Historian who Advocated for Indigenous Rights and Dignity in Colonial Latin America

De Las Casas

Spanish clergyman, who lobbied for the abolition of Indian slavery within the Spanish overseas empire

De Las Casas was a Spanish historian, priest, and social reformer who lived from 1484 to 1566. He is known for his advocacy for the rights and dignity of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas during the early colonial period.

De Las Casas was born to a family of landowners in Seville, Spain, and later went to Hispaniola, where he became a slave owner and encomendero. However, he eventually had a change of heart and began advocating for the Indigenous peoples who suffered under the harsh treatment of the Spanish colonizers.

He wrote a number of influential works on the topic, including “A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies” (1542), which described the brutal treatment of Indigenous peoples by the Spanish conquistadors. De Las Casas also fought for the abolition of the encomienda system, which enslaved Indigenous peoples for labor on Spanish plantations.

De Las Casas’ advocacy for the rights of Indigenous peoples was groundbreaking for his time and had a significant impact on Spanish colonial policies. He remains an important figure in the history of colonial Latin America and a symbol of resistance against oppression.

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