Francisco de Vitoria: On the American Indians
First Level Analysis Francisco de Vitoria was a theologian who wrote during the time of the Spanish conquest of the Americas. In his political treatise entitled On The American Indians, he suggests the Spanish should question by what right they have subjected the “barbarians” to their rule. Indeed, de Vitoria is immensely focused on investigating the political power of the Spanish in the New World, and in this particular passage, he determines that the barbarians that the Spanish have conquered in the New World should not be ruled under the dominion of the Spanish. He likens these people to ...
