Dominican friar · Bishop and advocate
1484–1566
A witness against colonial violence who argued for the dignity and freedom of Indigenous peoples.
In brief
Las Casas underwent a profound conversion from participation in the encomienda system to decades of advocacy for Indigenous peoples. His testimony, arguments, and political strategies must be read in their sixteenth-century colonial setting, including both their moral force and their historical limitations.
1552 · English translation 1689 · Historical testimony and moral protest
An urgent eyewitness indictment of conquest, enslavement, and violence against Indigenous peoples in the Americas.
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