Essay On Dbq: The Evolution Of Spain’s Amerindian Policy

During the time of the conquistadores, exploration was based on a very specific set of needs: the need to expand the empire, to seek out wealth, and to gain glory. The conquistadores landed in the New World with weaponry far beyond the scope of anything that the Amerindians had ever seen before; the diseases they brought were also far beyond the diseases that the Amerindians had ever experienced. It was easy for the conquistadores to issue a proclamation that demanded adherence to a strict set of rules; if the Amerindians failed to comply, they would be subject to enslavement and death (Doc 1). The conquistadores justified the poor treatment and enslavement of the Native Amerindians because of Divine Right but some dissidents disagreed, forcing the Spanish Crown to allow the Amerindians to work for the conquistadores but remain free to the workers in an effort to ease these tensions.
There is no doubt that the Amerindians were seen as savages by the conquistadores (Doc 3). The conquistadores thought that when they arrived at the New World, they were protected by God and by Divine Right—that is, the right to find and take over new lands in the name of the Roman Catholic God, and His representative on Earth—the Spanish Crown (Doc 2; Doc 1). The Requerimiento was read each time the conquistadores entered a new area; they were ostensibly giving the Amerindians an option insofar as whether they could become slaves or become religious, but there were a number of problems with their theoretical offer to the Amerindians. First, and perhaps most importantly, the Amerindians were not able to speak Spanish, and the conquistadores offered no translator for the Amerindians when this Requerimiento was read (Doc 1). Second, the offer that was made was not much better than an offer of enslavement: the Spanish clearly had no respect for the indigenous people or their traditional religious beliefs (Doc 3). Indeed, in Document 3, Oviedo suggests that it would be better to put the Amerindians in a cage for all the good done by the Requerimieto (Doc 3). The conquistadores had very clear plans for the Americas: they wanted to get as much wealth from this region as possible, and one of the best ways to do so was to utilize a readily available, cheap labor source—like the Amerindians (Doc 2; Doc 5; Doc 4).
The Spanish could not comprehend why the Amerindians would continuously turn back towards a religious tradition that the Spanish found to be barbaric (Doc 3; Doc 4; Doc 5). The Spanish quite commonly referred to the Amerindian religious beliefs as barbaric, and referred to the Amerindians themselves as barbarians, largely incapable of participating in decent society (Doc 4). Although there were some key voices who were willing to stand against the injustice that the Amerindians were facing, like Father Montesino, most of the Spanish were not willing to support freedom for the Amerindians: they believed that their journey was one of Divine right, and that they were sent by God to bring the natives to Jesus Christ (Doc 3; Doc 1; Doc 4; Doc 7; Doc 5). Indeed, Father Montesino—one of the most important voices that spoke out against the treatment of the Amerindians—spoke to a surprised and flabbergasted audience when he suggested that the Amerindians were men who had souls and were therefore worthy of respect, love, and fair treatment (Doc 7).
As the Spanish Crown began to see that the problem of the Amerindians was divisive in the populace, the leaders in government seemed to believe that some kind of solution needed to be derived (Doc 3; Doc 7). The current status quo could not continue, because there were dissidents in the Catholic Church who were speaking loudly against the treatment that the Amerindians were receiving at the hands of the conquistadores. Some members of the Church were appalled because of the treatment that occurred; they claimed that these Amerindians were human beings and deserved dignity and care (Doc 7). They claimed that this kind of treatment of the Amerindians was not only unethical, it was un-Christian—which went contrary to every justification that the Spanish Crown had for being in the region in the first place (Doc 7; Doc 8). In response, the Spanish Crown issued a new order that stated that the Amerindians had to work for the conquistadores, but that they were free and protected from enslavement by the conquistadores and the leaders who were settling in the Americas during this time (Doc 8).
The Spanish Crown had to walk a very fine line between two extremes in this case. On one hand, the Spanish Crown had to ensure that the conquistadores were financially and economically successful—that was the main purpose of the trip and continued engagement in the region. However, the Crown also had to establish rapport and support from the Church, which was the foundation of its power during this time.