The Spanish Debate On The Americas :: essays research papers

Juan Gins de Sepulveda, Bartolom de las Casas, andFrancisco de Vitoria argu ments pertaining to the settlement andcolonization of the native mess of America, while presented indifferent manors, are on the whole the same. All three Spaniards believedthat the barbarians had to accept the rule of the Spanish becausethe Spanish were mentally superior, and divine and natural fair playsgave the Spanish the right to conquer and enslave the nativepeople of America.The foundation for Spanish conquests was theirinterpretation of the bible. Ironically, it was the teachings ofthe bible they were all trying to bring to the newly foundinfidels. Sepulveda stated that the Spanish conquests weresanctioned in divine law itself, for it was written in the Bookof Proverbs that "He who is stupid will serve the wise man." In advises one and two, Bartolom de las Casas stated thathe believed that Jesus Christ had the authority and the military group ofGod himself over all men in the world, espe cially those who hadnever heard the tidings of Christ nor of His faith. Las Casasalso stated in his second proposition that St. Peter and hissuccessors(that organism missionaries located in the New World) hadthe duty by the injunctions of God to teach the gospel and faithof Jesus Christ to all men throughout the world. What isinteresting is that Las Casas thought that it was "unlikely thatanyone would resist the preaching of the gospel and theChristian doctrine..." While being a bishop and a Dominicanmissionary in the New World, he had the task of spreading theholy faith, expanding the area covered by the teachings of theuniversal Church(that being the Christian religion), and theimprovement of the natives souls as his ultimate goal. Asstated in proposition ten however, the Indians sovereignty anddignity and royal pre-eminence should not, in his beliefdisappear either in fact or in right. "The only exceptions arethose infidels who maliciously obstruct the preaching of th egospel... ." In proposition eleven though, he continues bycontradicting himself by saying that "He who persistently defendsitthat being the preaching of the missionaries will fall intoformal heresy." Sepulveda also thought that if infidelsrejected the rule of Christianity, it could be imposed upon themby soldiery of arms. Sepulvedas justification for the use of forcewas, after all, justified according to natural law, and that justand natural noble people should rule over men who are not"superior". warfare against the barbarians, according to Sepulveda,was justified because of their paganism and also because of theirabominable licentiousness. Sepulveda and Las Casas both thought