Columbus and Las Casas
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was written in history books as an adventurer, skilled and brave conquistador. The hero of the New World. Well, to the surprise of many, he was much the opposite. Columbus became the first agent of European Imperialism in the Western Hemisphere by force, claiming the island of Hispaniola by presenting himself as a dedicated Christian who killed and abducted the indigenous people of Hispaniola in the hunt for gold.
Bartolome de Las Casas
Bartolome de Las Casas was a prolific Spanish writer/historian as well as a missionary in the Dominican Republic. De Las Casas became one of the first to expose the oppression of the indigenous people by Europeans in the Americas. His courageous stand against the abuse of the oppressed during the colonization of the New World earned the title “Defender” of Native Americans.
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