In 1542, after years of witnessing Indian suffering and slavery, Bartolome de Las Casas wrote this indictment against European exploitation and mistreatment of the native peoples of the New World.
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Dedicated to Philip II to alert the Castilian Crown to these atrocities and demand that the Indians be entitled to the basic rights of humankind, this passionate work of documentary vividness outraged Europe and contributed to the idea of the Spanish \'Black Legend\' that would last for centuries.
He wrote A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies in 1542, a shocking catalogue of mass slaughter, torture and slavery, which showed that the evangelizing vision of Columbus had descended under later conquistadors into genocide.
An early traveller to the Americas who sailed on one of Columbus\'s voyages, Las Casas was so horrified by the wholesale massacre he witnessed that he dedicated his life to protecting the Indian community.
Bartolom de Las Casas was the first and fiercest critic of Spanish colonialism in the New World.
It carries all the urgency of a moment in history when it still seemed possible to reverse the tide.
The document was dedicated to Prince Philip of Spain and appeared in published form in 1552.
In 1542, after years of witnessing Indian suffering and slavery, Bartolome de Las Casas wrote this indictment against European exploitation and mistreatment of the native peoples of the New World
