HIS 111 De Las Casas Paper Assignment
Statue of Fray Bartolomé de las Casas (1484-1566), Palacio de San
Telmo, Sevilla
De Las Casas was an
early advocate for the rights of the peoples of the native Americans
and a spokesman against the brutal Spanish behavior in the New
World. As a Dominican priest he travelled back and forth across
the Atlantic trying to have Spanish laws and practices repealed or
ended. Despite his tireless efforts he was unable to repeal the encomienda system. He was also the first bishop of
Chiapas. Photo credit
González-Alba.
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Read Bartolomé De Las Casas,
A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (1552) (in its entirety).
Answer the following question in a one-page paper:
Citing specific evidence from De Las Casas (not from the textbook), explain two or three of the main Spanish motives for their
actions in the New World.
Your paper must follow the following format:
- typed using a word processor
(font size 10 or 12 only)
- one-inch margins
- double-spaced
- page number citations for your
quoted evidence
- not to exceed one (1) page
- name, date and HIS 111, depending on your course, at
the top left
- must have a brief introduction
and conclusion (each not to exceed two sentences)
- You
may consider submitting drafts of your assignment to your instructor for
feedback before submitting the assignment for a grade. Please send some specific questions that you would like answered about
your draft. The questions can be general (Is my introduction clear?) or
specific (Is the phrase, "Chardin was jeweller," written correctly?).
You can send in multiple drafts (within reason) of an assignment before you submit for a grade.
- At times, you may be asked
to rewrite your essay before it is graded. This is done for your own benefit
and will result in an improved grade.
Your assignment should be sent to your course
instructor following the directions
for submitting assignments.
Please take a moment to review
Charlie's History Writing Center for
specific information on the writing requirements for the assignments in the
course.
Before proceeding, you might wish to read
the short notes on de las Casas and
review the study questions on De Las Casas.
The De Las Casas Paper is worth a maximum of 100 points.
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