SPAN 3302
Monday, January 29, 2007
I'm a soul man.....
In 1550, Charles V, King of Spain decided to organize a debate in a monastery in Valladolid. It had been sixty years since Columbus discovered the New World, but questions about the Indians still divided Spain: “Are Indians of the New World humans like others? Should they be treated as humans or should they be enslaved?”
Two men had a ferocious debate on the status of Natives: the Jesuist Juan Guines de Sepulveda and the Dominican Bartholome De Las Casas. Las Casas was the proverbial “good guy” in this debate. He argued that Indians were as much men as Spaniards when his opponent claimed just the opposite. For Sepulveda, Indians were slaves by nature according to the natural law. Both based their arguments on Catholics beliefs.
De Las Casas was a humanist and denounced the status of enslaved natives as they were treated by Conquistadores. In 1537, the Pope Paul III argued that they were humans with a rational and a soul with the Sublimus Dei bull. Las Casas had the support of the Pope and also of the King of Spain. While Sepulveda referred to Aristotle in his definition of a barbarous people, Las Casas refuted him with success. For him, the whole Aristotelian theory of slavery was totally out of context in this particular debate. Both debaters claimed to have won the debate, and the condition of natives did not really improve after the debate. Economics had the final word.
The “Requerimiento” document (1510) considered natives as humans descending from Adam and Eve as long as they understood English and were willing to accept the Spaniard’s religion. At the same time, their nation was a “barbarous” one.
Two men had a ferocious debate on the status of Natives: the Jesuist Juan Guines de Sepulveda and the Dominican Bartholome De Las Casas. Las Casas was the proverbial “good guy” in this debate. He argued that Indians were as much men as Spaniards when his opponent claimed just the opposite. For Sepulveda, Indians were slaves by nature according to the natural law. Both based their arguments on Catholics beliefs.
De Las Casas was a humanist and denounced the status of enslaved natives as they were treated by Conquistadores. In 1537, the Pope Paul III argued that they were humans with a rational and a soul with the Sublimus Dei bull. Las Casas had the support of the Pope and also of the King of Spain. While Sepulveda referred to Aristotle in his definition of a barbarous people, Las Casas refuted him with success. For him, the whole Aristotelian theory of slavery was totally out of context in this particular debate. Both debaters claimed to have won the debate, and the condition of natives did not really improve after the debate. Economics had the final word.
The “Requerimiento” document (1510) considered natives as humans descending from Adam and Eve as long as they understood English and were willing to accept the Spaniard’s religion. At the same time, their nation was a “barbarous” one.
posted by Nicolau Pereira at 9:39 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for this helpful post about the famous debate.
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