The Valladolid debate (1550–1551) was the first moral debate in European history to discuss the rights and treatment of an indigenous people by European colonizers . ... The affair is considered one of the earliest examples of moral debates about colonialism, human rights of colonized peoples, and international relations.
When was the Valladolid debate?
The Valladolid debate ( 1550–1551 ) had as its main protagonists the Dominican Bartolomé de las Casas, bishop of Chiapas, and the humanist Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, royal chronicler to the emperor Charles V.
What was Sepulveda’s argument?
Sepulveda rationalized Spanish treatment of American Indians by arguing that Indians were “natural slaves” and that Spanish presence in the New World would benefit them .
What purpose did King Charles V of Spain have for ordering a junta to meet at Valladolid in 1550?
The debate reached its height in 1550, when the King of Spain, Charles V, ordered a junta, a group of jurists and theologians, to meet at Valladolid in order to hear the arguments in favor and against the use of force to incorporate the Indians into Spanish America .
Why was Bartolome de las Casas important?
Bartolomé de Las Casas, (born 1474 or 1484, Sevilla?, Spain—died July 1566, Madrid), early Spanish historian and Dominican missionary who was the first to expose the oppression of indigenous peoples by Europeans in the Americas and to call for the abolition of slavery there .
What did Las Casas argue?
Las Casas became an avid critic of the encomienda system. He argued that the Indians were free subjects of the Castilian crown, and their property remained their own . At the same time, he stated that evangelization and conversion should be done through peaceful persuasion and not through violence or coercion.
How did English settlers treat natives?
The English treated the Natives as inferior , believed they stood in the way of their God-given right to the land in America and tried to subject the Natives to their laws as they established their colonies.
What did Sepulveda believe?
What did Sepulveda believe? In contrast with Las Casas and the theologians of Salamanca, Sepúlveda believed that the Aristotelian doctrine of natural aristocracy and natural servitude justified the Spanish conquest of the Indies and wars against the native populations .
What was the encomienda system and how did it work?
The encomienda system was a labor system instituted by the Spanish crown in the American colonies . In this system, a Spanish encomendero was granted a number of native laborers who would pay tributes to him in exchange for his protection.
How did Sepulveda justify enslaving the natives?
He claimed that the Indians had no ruler, and no laws, so any civilized man could legitimately appropriate them . In other words, Sepúlveda considered the Indians to be pre-social men with no rights or property.
What was the result of the Valladolid debate?
Essentially, neither side won nor lost and not much changed after the debate. The current situation remained as is. While the outcome of the debate was inconclusive , it did established two important legacies. The first was that Bartolome de las Casas was officially recognized as protector of the Indians.
What three major events happen during Charles V’s life?
Key events during the life of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.: Raised to the throne of Spain on the death of his grandfather, Ferdinand . Civil War in Spain opposing the integration of Spain into the Hapsburg Empire. Diet of Worms declares Protestant faith in error.
What is the legacy of the Valladolid debate?
The affair is considered one of the earliest examples of moral debates about colonialism, human rights of colonized peoples, and international relations . In Spain, it served to establish Las Casas as the primary, though controversial defender of the Indians.
Is Bartolome de las Casas a reliable source?
Las Casas was one of the few sources that reported directly on the atrocities that Spanish colonialism was inflicting (though it is far from the only source). ... Still, Las Casas is a verifiably reliable source regarding the reality of the treatment of natives under Spanish rule .
Is Bartolome de las Casas a hero?
His name was Bartolomé de Las Casas. Not quite a hero and not quite a villain, over his 81-year life he would embody both the horror and brutality of Spain’s conquest of the New World and the ideals of change that followed in its wake.
How does de Las Casas describe the natives?
How does de las Casas describe the natives of the Indies? But in many ways, Las Casas adheres to a “noble savage” trope that was already common in European literary depictions of Native Americans. He describes them as “innocent Sheep ,” people devoid of “Craft, Subtlety and Malice.”
