He who thus considers things in their first growth and origin, whether a
state or anything else, will obtain the clearest view of them. In the first
place there must be a union of those who cannot exist without each other;
namely, of male and female, that the race may continue (and this is a union
which is formed, not of deliberate purpose, but because, in common with other
animals and with plants, mankind have a natural desire to leave behind them an
image of themselves), and of natural ruler and subject, that both may be
preserved. For that which can foresee by the exercise of mind is by nature
intended to be lord and master, and that which can with its body give effect to
such foresight is a subject, and by nature a slave; hence master and slave have
the same interest. Now nature has distinguished between the female and the
slave. For she is not niggardly, like the smith who fashions the Delphian knife
for many uses; she makes each thing for a single use, and every instrument is
best made when intended for one and not for many uses. But among barbarians no
distinction is made between women and slaves, because there is no natural ruler
among them: they are a community of slaves, male and female. Wherefore the poets
say,
Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda
Sepulveda, a distinguished scholar of Aristotle,
was
official historian of the Spanish crown. In 1547 he wrote The
Second Democrates to defend the Spanish Conquest of the Americas.
He used the substance of that argument when he debated Bartolome
de Las Casas three years later.
Superior Spanish
The man rules over the woman, the adult over his
children.
That is to say, the most powerful and most perfect rule over the
weakest and most imperfect. The same relationship exists among
men, there being some who by nature are masters and others who by
nature are slaves.
Those who surpass the rest in prudence and
intelligence,
although not in physical strength, are by nature the masters. On
the other hand, those who are dim-witted and mentally lazy,
although they may be physically strong enough to fulfill all the
necessary tasks, are by nature slaves.
It is just and useful that it be this way. We
even see it
sanctioned in the Book of Proverbs: "He who is stupid will serve
the wise man" [11:29].
And so it is with the barbarous and inhumane
peoples [the
Indians] who have no civil life and peaceful customs. It will
always be just and in conformity with natural law that such
people submit to the rule of the more cultured and humane princes
and nations. Thanks to their virtues and the practical wisdom of
their laws, the latter [the Spanish] can destroy barbarism and
educate these people to a more humane and virtuous life. And if
the latter [the Indians] reject such rule, it can be imposed upon
them by force of arms. Such a war will be just, according to
natural law....
Barbaric Indians
Until now we have mentioned their impious religion
and their
abominable sacrifices, in which they worship the Devil as God, to
whom they thought of offering no better tribute than human
hearts...They placed these hearts on their abominable altars.
With this ritual they believed that they had appeased their gods.
They also ate the flesh of sacrificed men.
War against these barbarians can be justified not
only on
the basis of their paganism but even more so because of their
abominable licentiousness, their prodigious sacrifice of human
victims, the extreme harm that they inflicted on innocent
persons, their horrible banquets of human flesh, and the impious
cult of their idols....
Merciful force
Since the evangelical law of the New Testament is
more
perfect and more gentle than the Mosiac law of the Old Testament,
so also wars are now waged with more mercy and clemency. Their
purpose is not so much to punish as to correct evils.
What is more appropriate and beneficial for these
barbarians
than to become subject to the rule those whose wisdom, virtue,
and religion have converted them from barbarism into civilized
men (insofar as they are capable of becoming so), from being
torpid and licentious to becoming servants of the Devil to
becoming believers of the true God?
For these barbarians, our rule ought to be even
more
advantageous than for our Spaniards, since virtue, humanity, and
the true religion are more valuable than gold or silver. And if
they refuse our rule, they may be compelled by force of arms to
accept it. Such a war will be just according to natural law.
USE PERSUASION
Bartolomé de Las Casas
The Dominican friar was his era's most outspoken
critic of
the Conquest.
Human equality
There are no races in the world, however rude,
uncultivated,
barbarous, gross, or almost brutal they may be, who cannot be
persuaded and brought to a good order and way of life....
Thus, the entire human race is one; all men are
alike with
respect to their creation and the things of nature, and none is
born already taught. And so we all have the need, from the
beginning, to be guided and helped by those who have been born
earlier.
Thus, when some very rustic peoples are found in
the world,
they are like untilled land, which easily produces worthless
weeds and thorns, but has within itself so much natural power
that when it is plowed and cultivated it gives useful and
wholesome fruits....
Noble Indians
All the races of the world have understanding and
will, and
that which results from these two faculties in man--that is, free
choice. And consequently, all have the power and ability or
capacity...to be instructed, persuaded, and attracted to order
and reason and laws and virtue and all goodness.
They are very apt to receive our holy Catholic
faith, to be
endowed with virtuous customs, and to behave in a godly fashion.
And once they begin to hear the tidings of the faith, they are so
insistent on knowing more...that truly, the missionaries who are
here need to be endowed by God with great patience to endure such
eagerness. Some of the secular Spaniards who have been here for
many years say that the goodness of the Indians is undeniable,
and that is this gifted people could be brought to know the one
true God, they would be the most fortunate people in the world.
A method contrary to the one we have been defending
would be
the following: Pagans should first be subjected, whether they
wished to be or not, to the rule of Christian people, and that
once they were subjected, organized preaching would follow.
But if the pagans find themselves first injured,
oppressed,
saddened, and afflicted by the misfortunes of wars, through loss
of their children, their gods, and their own liberty...how can
they be moved voluntarily to listen to what is proposed to them
about faith, religion, justice, and truth...?
Merciful persuasion
The one and only method of teaching men the true
religion
was established by Divine Providence for the whole world, and for
all times: that is, by persuading the understanding through
reasons, and by gently attracting or exhorting his will.
Divine Wisdom moves rational creatures, that is,
men, to
their actions or operates gently....Therefore, the method of
teaching men the true religion ought to be gentle, enticing, and
pleasant. This method is by persuading the understanding and by
attracting the will.
Hearers, especially pagans, should understand that
the
preachers of the faith have no intention of acquiring power over
them....
Preachers should be slow themselves so mild and
humble,
courteous and...good-willed that the hearers eagerly wish to
listen and hold their teaching in greater reverence.
[Preachers must] posses that same love of charity
by which
Paul was accustomed to love men in the world that they might be
saved: "You are witnesses and God also, how holy and just and
blameless was our conduct towards you who have believed."