Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period; Vol. 1 of 2

by Robert Grant Watson

Las Casas was a settler in the island of Cuba, and had assigned to him a number of Indians in repartimiento. He himself states that he was as much engaged as others in sending his Indians to the mines and in making a profit out of their labour; but at the same time he treated them with kindness and provided for their sustenance. He confesses, however, that he paid no more regard than did other Spaniards to their religious instruction. Reflection on the preaching of the Dominicans against the sin of possessing Indians led his candid mind to the conclusion that the system of repartimientos was iniquitous, and that he too must preach against it. The first practical point to be determined as a result of the light which now guided him was what he ought to do with his Indians. He evidently ought no longer to retain them; nor did he grudge the loss that he should thereby sustain; but he felt that no one would be so indulgent to them as the master they were about to lose, and that they would be worked to death. Still it would be vain for him to preach against repartimientos whilst he retained Indians of his own.

Las Casas commenced his preaching against Indian slavery in Cuba; but he soon resolved to proceed to Spain, in order to attack the evil at its fountain-head. It was certainly time that some independent representation should be made to the Spanish government as to the condition of the Indians of Cuba, which was so miserable that they were forced to seek refuge in flight; and when even this refuge was denied them—for they were pursued by blood-hounds—they had recourse to suicide. On his arrival in Hispaniola, Las Casas found that Pedro de Cordova, the chief of the Dominicans, had set out on a voyage for the purpose of founding monasteries on the Pearl Coast.

Two Dominicans, whose fate is instructive as showing the colonial manners of the period, established themselves at a point about twenty leagues from Cumana called Maracapána, where they were hospitably received by the Indians. Soon after the arrival of Francisco de Cordova and Juan Garces, a Spanish vessel engaged in the pearl fisheries touched at the same point. It may be remarked that the mainland had been especially chosen as a field for missionary operations in order that the efforts of the priests might not be thwarted by the evil example of the secular colonists. As a rule the appearance of a Spanish vessel was a signal for the natives to take to flight; but on this occasion, the Dominican missionaries being looked upon as hostages, the cacique of the place, with his family and servants, numbering seventeen persons, accepted an invitation on board the Spanish ship. When they were safely on board, the vessel weighed anchor and set sail. As was to be expected, the Indians on shore, who were witnesses of this treachery, resolved to kill the two Dominicans, and were only dissuaded from doing so on the assurance of the latter that the cacique and his family would be returned within four months.

By another Spanish vessel, which soon afterwards made its appearance on the coast, the two missionaries were enabled to communicate their circumstances to the chief of their order at San Domingo. On the arrival at that place of the first vessel, it was declared that, as it had not been furnished with a proper license, it must be condemned as a prize; and therefore the cacique and his family were divided as slaves amongst the judges of appeal! Some days after this transaction came the letters of the two missionaries, whereupon the man-stealing captain took refuge in a monastery. The Dominicans lost no time in communicating the circumstances of the cacique’s capture; but the judges of appeal declined to give up their slaves, and at the end of the stipulated four months the two unfortunate missionaries were put to death!

1515.

In September 1515 Las Casas, accompanied by two brethren, embarked for Spain. On his arrival he was presented to the Archbishop of Seville, who, in turn, furnished him with letters to the king, with whom he obtained an interview. Las Casas was fortunate enough to gain the sympathy of King Ferdinand’s confessor; but he found an enemy to his cause in Fonseca, the bishop of Burgos, who was the minister entrusted with Indian affairs, and who was himself a possessor of Indians. Soon after this, in January 1516, the king died.

The hopes of Las Casas were now transferred to the Regent, Cardinal Ximenes, with whom he was fortunate enough to find favour, and who called together a junta to listen to his statements and arguments. The result was that the cardinal appointed Las Casas and two coadjutors to draw up a plan to secure the liberty of the Indians, and to arrange their government. In order to execute the laws agreed upon, Ximenes determined to employ Jeronimite monks, as they were not mixed up with the disputes which had arisen between the Franciscans and the Dominicans respecting the fitness of the Indians for freedom. The three Jeronimite Fathers chosen were instructed on their arrival at San Domingo to call the colonists together and to announce that the cause of their coming was a report of the ill-treatment of the Indians, and to ask their suggestions for a remedy for such a state of things. They were likewise to go to the principal caciques, and to inform them that they had been sent to find out the truth, to punish past wrong-doing, and to provide security for the future. It was the will of the governors of Spain that the Indians should be treated as Christians and free men.

The Jeronimite Fathers were to visit every island; to ascertain the number of Indians; and to find out how they had been treated, taking notes of the nature of the land for the purpose of forming settlements near the mines. Such settlements were to consist of about three hundred persons, with the requisite buildings, and lands were to be apportioned to each settlement, every individual receiving a plot. One administrator was to be appointed to each one or two settlements. Other regulations applied to religion, education, hospitals, labour upon farms and at the mines, and respecting pasturage and the division of gold. In order in some measure to reimburse the Spaniards for the loss of Indian slave-labour which they would incur, they were to be paid for the land which would be required for the settlements, whilst they were to be permitted to procure gold on easy terms for themselves. They were likewise allowed four or five slaves each from amongst the Caribs, these being cannibals. This latter clause was sure to lead to great abuses, as it was only necessary for the slave-hunters to declare their captives cannibals to justify their proceedings. This provision was inserted contrary to the wishes of Las Casas. Finally, he himself was appointed “Protector of the Indians.” With these regulations, and with the cardinal’s benediction, Las Casas set out from Seville.

1516.

In December 1516 the Jeronimite Fathers and the Protector of the Indians arrived at San Domingo, having performed the voyage in different vessels. No sooner had they arrived than they began to prove themselves not exactly the instruments he would have chosen for the accomplishment of his wishes. As a matter of course they were beset by the colonists, who represented Las Casas as a mere visionary, and in their conversations with him they soon began to make excuses for the inhumanity of the colonists. Nor, although they deprived such persons as were absent of their Indians, did they think it necessary to apply the same rule to the judges and other men in office. After a short time, the lawyer appointed by Ximenes to take a residencia of—in other words, to make an inquiry into the conduct of—all the judges in the Indies, arrived at Hispaniola. Las Casas then took the bold step of impeaching the judges, whom he accused of both bringing Indians from the Lucayan islands and of causing the death of the two Dominicans in Cumana, a measure which was distasteful to the Jeronimites, who preferred to manage things quietly.