Watch this introduction to de las Casas and Columbus (2:50)
Watch this introduction to de las Casas (5:26)
Read pp. 54-59 (Columbus) and 63-66 (de las Casas)
The Prompt
Answer one of the following questions using at least 150 words. Use examples from the reading and cite the page number in-text. Your answer should be original rather than something that you look up. If two people give the same answer, I will only accept the first one submitted.
1) Would you have preferred to be with Columbus or de las Casas? Explain.
2) How did Columbus’s view of the natives differ from that of de las Casas? What was the result of these views?
3) What views did Columbus have that allowed him to treat the natives cruelly? Explain.
4) Give an example where Columbus describes some aspect of his adventure (the people, the animals, the foliage, etc) inaccurately and give a possible explanation for this inaccuracy.
5) Columbus writes “the men whom I have left there alone would suffice to destroy all that land” (57). How does this statement reflect his ideas about God, the natives, or about conquering foreign lands?