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Bartolomé de las Casas Facts & Worksheets

Bartolomé de las Casas was one of the first people to defend the rights of Native Americans.

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Bartolomé de las Casas was one of the first people to defend the rights of Native Americans. He believed that they were rational and free people who deserved dignity, freedom, justice, and to preserve their culture, land, and property.

See the fact file below for more information on Bartolomé de las Casas, or you can download our 22-page Bartolomé de las Casas worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

THE CONQUEST OF AMERICA

  • Bartolomé de Las Casas was born in Seville, Spain in 1484. 
  • He went with his father on Columbus‘ second voyage to America. 
  • Bartolomé traveled to the island of Hispaniola when he was only 18 years old. He dedicated himself to mining there. 
  • He later fought with the rebellious Native Americans in Xaraguá and Higüey, and as a result, he took control of them through an encomienda.
  • The encomienda was a system where the Spanish conquistadores would give Native Americans land. 
  • The Native Americans would work on the land for the Spaniards, and the Spaniards would give the Native Americans a percentage of their crops in return. 
  • The Spaniards taught the Native Americans how to speak Spanish and about their religion, Catholicism.
  • Bartolomé returned to Seville, where he became a priest. He celebrated his first mass on the island of Hispaniola two years later.

 DEFENSE OF NATIVE AMERICANS

  • Bartolomé experienced the conflict between the conquistadors and Dominican friars for the first time in 1511. 
  • He first heard an indigenous slave’s protest against how they were being treated.
  • Bartolomé sold his hacienda and joined the conquest of Cuba as a chaplain for the conquerors. He was given the responsibility of establishing an encomienda there.
  • When Fray Bartolomé was denied absolution by a Dominican friar because he “owned” slaves through the encomienda, he became aware of the terrible conditions that Native Americans lived in.
  • Bartolomé reversed his opinion, believing that the Native Americans were the rightful owners of the territory in the New World. From then on, he dedicated himself to defending the natives.
  • Las Casas went back to Spain to talk to the king about this. 
  • He told Carlos V that slavery must be eliminated. His goal was to get rid of the encomienda.
  • Las Casas thought that the conquest needed new peaceful laws, which would allow the slow incorporation of all of the Americas into the Spanish Crown without taking advantage of the Native Americans.
  • A few years later, Bartolomé began doing some social experiments. 
  • He took 70 families of Spanish peasants to Cumaná (now called Puerto Rico) to colonize it peacefully.
  • After twenty-five days traveling, they arrived in San Juan de Puerto Rico. 
  • “From that moment I only had drink bitterness, the greatest that I have racked in my life”, he wrote later. This experiment failed.
  • Bartolomé then started on his most famous book, the History of the Indies, in 1527. 
  • America was called the Indies at that time because the Spanish thought it was the East part of India.
  • Las Casas was encouraged to go on a mission to Peru in 1534 after hearing news of the Inca conquest. However, his trip never happened.
  • Bartolomé then set a new social utopia in Nicaragua and Guatemala. He wanted to evangelize the area of Vera Paz without colonization.

NEW LAWS FOR COLONIZATION

  • In 1540, Bartolome returned to Europe, where Carlos V held meetings of theologians to examine the morality of the conquest. 
  • Las Casas read a list of crimes to the Council of the Indies. He made accusations and the king ordered an investigation. 
  • This led to a purge among the corrupt members of the Council. He also promoted the New Laws for conquest.
  • As a prize, Las Casas was given the concession of the prestigious and wealthy bishopric of Cuzco in Peru in 1543, but he rejected it.
  • Instead, he asked for the bishopric of Chiapas, which was very poor. 
  • Las Casas was an idealist. He dreamt of the poor territory of Chiapas as a place to find the original innocence of paradise there and to Christianize it without any help from Spanish encomenderos.
  • Las Casas recruited many Dominicans. He arrived in Ciudad Real, Chiapas. 
  • Today this city is called San Cristóbal de las Casas in his honor.
  • Bartolome encountered several mutinies that had been unleashed by the conquerors, protesting against the New Laws. The people learned that their own bishop, Bartolomé, was one of the main promoters of these laws and saw him as their worst enemy.
  • When Las Casas founded a Dominican convent in Chiapas, the Spanish encomenderos tried to kill him and starve the friars. 
  • The bishop had ordered his priests not to give Catholic communion to anyone who had Native Americans working for them.

ADVOCATING FOR THE NATIVE AMERICANS

  • Las Casas went to Honduras and Mexico City to present a complaint about the lack of compliance with the New Laws. 
  • Again, his life was in danger and he failed to be heard.
  • Bartolomé traveled back to the Spanish court and argued against a book that justified the war against Native Americans. 
  • He prevented the book from spreading ideas about how Native Americans were not really human beings that deserved rights.
  • Bartolomé claimed that Native Americans had no natural inferiority and that the Spanish should not be fighting against them.
  • Las Casas worked to prevent the encomiendas from being granted for life. 
  • Bartolomé set an example for many other thinkers of the time and the way they perceived America.
  • He also made it illegal to wage war against Native Americans and proved that they were not slaves. 
  • Lastly, he advocated for peaceful evangelization. This eventually led to the suspension of campaigns of conquest.
  • Felipe II was the new Spanish king. He was friends with Las Casas. 
  • Las Casas decided not to go back to America.
  • Instead, he lived near the court and defended Native Americans. 
  • Felipe II appreciated him for that and kept him close to his royal court.
  • Las Casas died as an old man in Spain defending the Native Americans.
  • Legend says many people went to his funeral in Madrid to pay their respects.
  • His tombstone reads: “Fr. Bartolomé de Las Casas, called the Apostle of the Indians, died and was buried here in 1566.”

LEGACY

  • Today we can learn about Las Casas and his ideas thanks to his three most important books:
    • History of the Indies
    • Very Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies
    • The Most Brief Account of the Destruction of Africa
  • Bartolomé’s efforts to stop cruelty during the conquest gave the Chiapas and Guatemalan territory independence to rule themselves even today.
  • Today, some parts of Mexico’s Chiapas territory have Caracol organizations in autonomous communities. 
  • The Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Mam, Chol, Tojolabal, and Zoque peoples are organized by their own Good Governance Boards.
  • Though they still form part of Mexico and Guatemala, they follow their own laws and organize themselves like they have done for centuries.

Bartolomé de las Casas Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Bartolomé de las Casas across 22 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about Bartolomé de las Casas, who was one of the first people to defend the rights of Native Americans.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Bartolomé de las Casas Facts
  2. Bartolomé’s Books
  3. Columbus’ Second Voyage
  4. Life-Changing Events
  5. Working Against Slavery
  6. Important Words and Ideas
  7. Bartolomé’s Words on Slavery
  8. Las Casas as an Activist
  9. Stolen Treasures From America
  10. Spanish Encomiendas
  11. How Do We Preserve Freedom Today?

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Fray Bartolomé de las Casas and what did he do?

Bartolomé de las Casas was a 16th-century Spanish chronicler, and Dominican friar. He came to Hispaniola in America as a layman and later became a priest. He is famous for being a good historian and for trying to make things better for the people there.

What did Fray Bartolomé de las Casas do in favor of the indigenous people?

Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas defended the Indians’ rationality, freedom, and dignity. He also believed that their culture, land, and property were worth defending. Furthermore, he argued that war and conquest were unjust and tyrannical.

What was the most important work of Bartolomé de las Casas?

A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies was written with the goal of informing the Spanish Monarch about the atrocities and gold hoarding that were occurring in new territories.

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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