Editing Bartolomé de las Casas (section)

=== ''A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies'' ===
{{main|A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies}}
[[File:Bartolomé de las Casas (1552) Brevisima relación de la destrucción de las Indias.png|thumb|Cover of the ''Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias'' (1552), Bartolomé de las Casas]]
''A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies''{{efn|Also translated and published in English as ''A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies'', among several other variants.}} ({{langx|es|Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias}}) is an account written in 1542 (published in [[Seville]] 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 was Las Casas's fear of Spain coming under [[divine punishment]] and his concern for the souls of the native peoples. The account was one of the first attempts by a Spanish writer of the colonial era to depict the unfair treatment that the indigenous people endured during 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 described them, inflicted great losses on the indigenous occupants of the islands. In addition, his critique towards the colonizers served to bring awareness to his audience on the true meaning of Christianity, to dismantle any misconceptions on evangelization.<ref>{{cite book|last1=de las Casas|first1=Bartolomé|title=A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies|url=https://archive.org/details/abriefaccountoft20321gut|year=2007|publisher=Project Gutenberg|page=23}}</ref> His account was largely responsible for the adoption of the [[New Laws of 1542]], which abolished native slavery for the first time in European colonial history and led to the [[Valladolid debate]].<ref>{{cite journal|author-last=Hernandez |author-first= Bonar Ludwig |title= The Las Casas-Sepúlveda Controversy: 1550-1551|journal= Ex Post Facto|volume= 10|pages= 95–104|publisher= [[San Francisco State University]]|url= https://sfsu.app.box.com/s/e961v1d3547vrxjf0i9q5o50hubdr5fj/file/915878862153}}</ref>

The book became an important element in the creation and propagation of the so-called [[Black legend (Spain)|Black Legend]] – the tradition of describing the Spanish empire as exceptionally morally corrupt and violent. It was republished several times by groups that were critical of the Spanish realm for political or religious reasons. The first edition in translation was published in Dutch in 1578, during the religious persecution of Dutch Protestants by the Spanish crown, followed by editions in French (1578), English (1583), and German (1599) – all countries where religious wars were raging. The first edition published in Spain after Las Casas's death appeared in [[Barcelona]] during the [[Reapers' War|Catalan Revolt]] of 1646. The book was banned by the [[Spanish Inquisition|Aragonese inquisition]] in 1659.<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Keen|1969|p=712}}</ref>

The images described by Las Casas were later depicted by [[Theodore de Bry]] in copper plate engravings that served as a medium of the [[Black Legend against Spain]].<ref>{{cite book | first = Bartolomé de | last = Las Casas | title = Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies | location = London | publisher = Penguin | year = 1999 | isbn = 978-0-14-044562-6 | others = Nigel Griffin }}</ref>