Native American Genocide

There are three primary documents highlighting the Spaniards initial treatment toward the Native American peoples. One of which quoted Antόn Montecino, a Dominican friar who gave a sermon in 1511. In essence, the man said but one idea: greed has led to the corruption of the soul. The friar insisted that the Spaniards' lust for gold had resulted in condemnations of themselves. For, instead of completing one of their main goals in the New World, which was the spreading of the Catholic religion, he asserted that the Conquistadors were enslaving and murdering the Native American peoples instead of attempting to convert those who could easily join the Christian religion. In the years of 1512 and 1513, King Ferdinand of Spain created an adequate response that dismissed all accusations of the conquistadors sins. This missive, known as the Requerimento, was to be read before the Native Americans in order to offer them a chance to convert. In short, the text rejected all blame set onto the Spaniards by the Dominican friar. The Pope, as the letter stated, was God's mortal king on Earth, and had given Spain's King and Queen all of the Native Americans' lands. If the Native Americans willingly converted to Christianity, their lives, peoples, and claimed lands would be spared, as well as be treated in the same regard as other Spaniards by the wills of Spain's leaders. Resisting Christianity, though, would result in death, enslavement, and loss of lands. Truthfully, though granting relief of blame for the sins, as would be known as, committed by the Spaniards in the New World, the Requerimento implied that Christianity was, and is, the ultimate religion; and, that those who do not believe in God (in the addition to living a peaceful and fruitful life) were heathens, needing to give their wealth and lives to those of the faith. The missive was read by Spaniards in Spanish and few Native American tribes were given a translation. Bartolomé de Las Casas, in the year of 1552, wrote what is known as The Cruelties of the Spaniards Committed in America Destruction of the Indies. His was an eye witness account of the the acts Spaniards did unto the Native Americans. This man described the Native Americans of the isle El Salvador to be living in one of the most heavily populated areas, rich with fertile soil, and thriving with diversity. The people themselves were effeminate in nature, reminding Bartolomé of European aristocrats; albeit, the Native Americans were, as he implies, in no way to hold grudges or will revenge, allowing the Spaniards to dominate whilst they were hospitable, honorable, and kind to their visitors. And, in this way, as Bartolomé remembers, the Native Americans were "innocent Sheep." Yet, Bartolomé assures that the Native Americans did not die without reason, for they completed their wills to nature, but the cause of their death was contradictory to the followers of God (as in, it was sinful to commit such heinous acts against other living beings). But, the man insists that the Spanish peoples were not fit for the very idea of quick riches, for it was contradictory to their social structure and personalities. The man continues, saying that the Spanish treated Native Americans as "... not as Beasts, which I cordially wished they would, but as the most abject dung and filth of the Earth..." he furthers that fifteen million peoples of the Americas were killed within forty years without even knowing the Christian faith that was meant to be instilled upon them. These Spaniards killed, walked over, and left the Bible free of their tortures; thus, the Native Americans did not even know the cause of their mass deaths, repeated injuries, and unjust harassment. Although the "... Spaniards never received any injury from the Indians..." and were provoked by only their greed for slaves, gold, and riches; the Native Americans themselves soon began to arm themselves with distinctly primitive weapons in way of defense, on the isle of Hispaniola. At this slight resistance, the Spaniards began to massacre the peoples, sparing no age, gender, or disability. To them, it was more a game, as these conquistadors made wagers to how they would kill the next Native American, how they would slice them in half or decapitate them, taking special appreciation in murdering the infants in brutally horrific ways - much as the rest of the population. Some Native Americans were sent free, crippled in a dispraise of their flight, to carry the messages of the Spaniards to their brethren farther inland. Native American nobility were killed upon gallows with fires beneath their feet setting them aflame and burning them alive, but the Captain of the Spaniards found their painful screams disrupting his sleep. A man, whom Bartolomé knew his parents, gagged them so that their torture could be prolonged instead of the more immediate death by strangulation. In essence, what the man was saying, was that he did not believe the Native Americans deserved to live as they were heathens and did not accept God, but their deaths left no hope for the conquistadors salvation. Yet, moreover, easy wealth - one not gained through noble efforts or morally correct ways - created warped, shrewd, greedy, and twisted personalities, ones not fit for the riches acquired; much as the Executioner of the Native American nobles, who preferred to watched the peoples burn to death and fill the air with the scent of scorched human flesh then screams. Moreover, Bartolomé presents the idea that the Native Americans, albeit of a completely different culture and mindset, deserved a chance to become followers of God and live in harmony with the Europeans. Essentially, the idea presented throughout these texts is that the conquistadors were driven by greed to murder the Native American peoples, holding the firm belief that it would not be their fault for the deaths committed.

After quiescent deliberation a few objects of consideration must be stated. In regards to a general subject matter, this shows that differencecs cannot be equally respected. The diversity the inhabits Earth and its peoples are not valued and that unique ways of life are smothered before they can continue their devlopment into a sophisticated society of their own regards and customs. Moreover, these text tell me that greed is the driving force of corruption, and thus the downfall of all humanity. Because, when there is greed, only the momentary gains are important, not the effects of such wealth or the reprocusions of acquiring them. In this way, only those who offer to give such a gain to the greedy are accepted and protected, much like King Ferdinand and his Requerimento. Those who condemned the greedy for the sins caused to gain such riches were dismissed, in fashions similar to Antόn Montecino. To these selfish peoples, nothing matters but the object they want, not those who suffer to attain it nor those who die to protect it, just the object. I suppose, in the end, it will be this greed that kills us all, much as President George W. Bush has killed countless innocents all for the gain of oil and, thusly, his gluttony. In such a matter, we must strive to overcome the obstacles that the conquistadors had fallen to so that, plausibly, peace may be a lasting solution for us all.