The Spanish Debate On The Amer
The Spanish Debate On The AmerJuan Gin�s de Sepulveda, Bartolom� de las Casas, and
Francisco de Vitoria arguments pertaining to the settlement and
colonization of the native people of America, while presented in
different manors, are all the same. All three Spaniards believed
that the barbarians had to accept the rule of the Spanish because
the Spanish were mentally superior, and divine and natural laws
gave the Spanish the right to conquer and enslave the native
people of America.
The foundation for Spanish conquests was their
interpretation of the bible. Ironically, it was the teachings of
the bible they were all trying to bring to the newly found
infidels. Sepulveda stated that the Spanish conquests were
sanctioned in divine law itself, for it was written in the Book
of Proverbs that "'He who is stupid will serve the wise man.'"
In propositions one and two, Bartolom� de las Casas stated that
he believed that Jesus Christ had the authority and the power of
God himself over all men in the world, especially those who had
never heard the tidings of Christ nor of His faith. Las Casas
also stated in his second proposition that St. Peter and his
successors(that being missionaries located in the New World) had
the duty by the injunctions of God to teach the gospel and faith
of Jesus Christ to all men throughout the world. What is
interesting is that Las Casas thought that it was "unlikely that
anyone [would] resist the preaching of the gospel and the
Christian doctrine..." While being a bishop and a Dominican
missionary in the New World, he had the task of spreading the
holy faith, expanding the area covered by the teachings of the
universal Church(that being the Christian religion), and the
improvement of the natives' souls as his ultimate goal. As
stated in proposition ten however, the Indians sovereignty and
dignity and royal pre-eminence should not, in his belief
disappear either in fact or in right. "The only exceptions are
those infidels who maliciously obstruct the preaching of the
gospel... ." In proposition eleven though, he continues by
contradicting himself by saying that "He who persistently defends
it[that being the preaching of the missionaries] will fall into
formal heresy." Sepulveda also thought that if infidels
rejected the rule of Christianity, it could be imposed upon them
by force of arms. Sepulveda's justification for the use of force
was, after all, justified according to natural law, and that just
and natural noble people should rule over men who are not
"superior". War against the barbarians, according to Sepulveda,
was justified because of their paganism and also because of their
abominable licentiousness. Sepulveda and Las Casas both thought
that under no circumstances should the Indians be governed under
their own rules. The Spaniards took the initiative by
establishing several municipalities, which where governed by
local nobles. The single fact alone that "no one...
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