A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies

Bartolomé de las Casas (1484 - 1566)

A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (Spanish: Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias) is an account written by the Spanish Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas in 1542 (published in 1552) about the mistreatment of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in colonial times and sent to then Prince Philip II of Spain. One of the stated purposes for writing the account is his fear of Spain coming under divine punishment and his concern for the souls of the Native Peoples. The account is one of the first attempts by a Spanish writer of the colonial era to depict examples of unfair treatment that indigenous people endured in the early stages of the Spanish conquest of the Greater Antilles, particularly the island of Hispaniola. Las Casas's point of view can be described as being heavily against some of the Spanish methods of colonization, which, as he describes, have inflicted a great loss on the indigenous occupants of the islands. (Summary by Wikipedia)

Genre(s): Early Modern

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 00 - The Argument of this Narrative by way of Preface to the Reader Arnie Horton
00:05:24
Play 01 01 - The Cruelties of the Spaniards Committed in America Arnie Horton
00:11:53
Play 02 02 - Of the Island Hispaniola Arnie Horton
00:06:29
Play 03 03 - Of the Kingdoms contained in Hispaniola Arnie Horton
00:19:13
Play 04 04 - Of the Isles of St. John and Jamaica Arnie Horton
00:01:34
Play 05 05 - Of the Isle of Cuba Arnie Horton
00:09:26
Play 06 06 - Of the Continent Arnie Horton
00:11:38
Play 07 07 - Of the Province of Nicaraqua Arnie Horton
00:08:24
Play 08 08 - Of new Spain Arnie Horton
00:05:01
Play 09 09 - Of New Spain in Particular Arnie Horton
00:18:09
Play 10 10 - Of the Kingdom and Province of Guatimala Arnie Horton
00:12:13
Play 11 11 - A farther Discourse of New Spain: And some Account of Panuco and Xalisco Arnie Horton
00:08:33
Play 12 12 - Of the Kingdom of Jucatan Arnie Horton
00:17:56
Play 13 13 - Of the Province of St. Martha & Of the Province of Carthagena Arnie Horton
00:10:34
Play 14 14 - Of the Pearl-Coast, Paria, and Trinity-Isle Arnie Horton
00:18:08
Play 15 15 - Of the River Yuya Pari Arnie Horton
00:01:18
Play 16 16 - Of the Kingdom of Venecuela Arnie Horton
00:11:44
Play 17 17 - Of the Provinces of Florida Arnie Horton
00:06:17
Play 18 18 - Of the Plate-River, that is, the Silver-River Arnie Horton
00:04:41
Play 19 19 - Of the vast Kingdoms and Spatious Provinces of Perusia Arnie Horton
00:17:51
Play 20 20 - Of the New Kingdom of Granada Arnie Horton
00:36:30