Caribbean

Le Miroir de la Cruelle, & horrible tyrannie espagnole perpetree au Pays Bas, par le Tyran Duc de Albe, & aultres Comandeurs de par le roy Philippe le deuxiesme by Jan Evertszoon Cloppenburg.

Bartolomé de las Casas was a Spanish missionary and historian often referred to as "the defender of the Indians." He came to the Americas in 1502 and participated in several military campaigns to suppress the indigenous population. He was rewarded with large grants of land that included Native American slaves. At this point he considered the natives infidels and as a priest sought to convert them to Christianity. It was not until 1514 that Casas determined to devote his life to the defense of the Native Americans. In 1515 he returned to Spain to request Ferdinand's intercession in the legal and political corruption taking place in both the New and Old Worlds. He continued writing and speaking out on the conditions he witnessed for the rest of his life. In describing what he had witnessed in the West Indies Las Casas wrote, "… My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature, and now I tremble as I write …"