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Anyone who thinks Bartolome De Las Casas was the Father of the Transatlantic slave trade are wrong. Those titles go to Nicholas Ovando, governor of the New World after Columbus and King Ferdinand who made approvals for African slaves to be taken to the New World in 1505 and 1510. Before anything Las Casas said. And Las Casas changed his position and condemned the African slave trade later on.
I think comparing St. Junipero Serra, de la Casas, and the Jesuits who founded the Guarani missions is a useful exercise in terms of whom we collectively decide is a saint worth holding up for emulation. All three were part of the Spanish colonial project, but all three approached it very differently. Only one is held up by the Church as a canonized saint worthy of emulation.
I used to teach college level history. At some point in every course there came a point where I would say, "I am less concerned with 'How could they have thought that way?' than dreading my children or grandchildren asking, 'How could I have thought that way?' "
The Native Holocaust Land theft baby Genocide war mongering for profit greed exploitation with fake "money" terrorizing the world they haven't changed their ways
Yeah I‘m always bewildered about other Germans my age harshly condemning the generation of our grandfathers. But never stopping and thinking about how if they would have lived in these times they would probably have committed all these atrocities. That scares the hell out of me personally. Common drafted man in the Wehrmacht were involved in the most horrific crimes yet they were also a product if their time and propaganda. And please don’t read this as an excuse of anything that happened more of a realisation how easily people can turn into committing and justifying the most horrible atrocities and that maybe we should start thinking less highly of ourselves.
Just like Lincoln. The same day he signed the Emancipation Proclamation, he also wiped out the rights of a whole bunch of Indigenous people in America by signing away more land to the settlers. History is nuanced, and yes, Lincoln was a hero...but he was also not a hero. This is why we need to learn and think independently.
You do realise that the Emancipation Proclamation was not what most people think it was. It was not the freeing of slaves only those who lived in the States that seceded, so the slaves in the Union States untouched. It really was a vacuous proclamation at the time and even after the Union had control of the territory it covered it was changed so not to upset too much the fragile peace after the war was over which is why the Jim Crow laws and such flourished. Lincoln certainly was not a hero in any way shape or form, but history is about telling stories and the one that Americans have bought is the one about Lincoln. If he was a hero then that proclamation instead of being vacuous nonsense would have included territories he had control over. I always wonder when the US has to go through the same bloodletting historically as we Brits have had to over the last 50 year and counting how they are going to take that. Will the Union survive or will it fail. If Trump is anything to go by the worlds country count might be taking a bigger jump than after the USSR dissolved. Stories are only as strong as the listener and the US at the moment is not a good place for listeners.
Oh, and Casey, if I may recommend a book to you? It's called "The Inconvenient Indian", by Thomas King. The very first chapter is called "Forget Columbus", in which King says that that's the advice his sister gave him. He's Indigenous, eh. He said his sister gives great advice...which he almost never takes. He's very witty.
The problem with Las Casas is that, in order to make himself heard, he exaggerates greatly. His "Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies" was a book to create shock in whoever read it, because in many places the New Laws of 1542 weren´t being applied. He himself admitted that many of the things he narrated there he had never witnessed. For example, he said that billions died in the Atillas, many more people than actually lived there. Years later, when the Flanders wars broke out, William of Orange took that book by Las Casas, illustrated it and spread it throughout Europe, precisely to shock the European population about how bad the Spanish crown was. This is why Las Casas causes so much controversy in Spain. When you read Las Casas or see the illustrations of his work (like this 2:19), you must keep in mind that this book was written to create a dramatic impact, not a faithful and exhaustive chronicle. And that the illustrations were born as propaganda during the Flanders wars. When Voltarie read the chronicles of Las Casas, he realized that the data he gave in the Brief didn´t hold up. Voltaire didn't stop admiring him, and he justified these exaggerations because they were meant to raise awareness. Because of them, Las Casas has remained like the only and best protector of Indians of that period, when he was neither one nor the other. Another missionary who did the same with greater precision was, for example, Bernardino de Sahagun, or Toribio de Benavente. And those who prohibited indigenous slavery by law were Francisco de Vitoria, Domingo de Soto or Juan Gines de Sepulveda. Las Casas was an activist who knew how to make himself heard.
This video is very interesting. Of course De las Casas made mistakes but he realized his mistakes and improved himself which is very important. Without his works we would never have the society we have now or this important change in our worldview to realize how wrong slavery is. It's only too bad that his important debate with Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda in Valladolid, Spain, wasn't mentioned but I like the narrative of this video anyway.
I didnt know there was a question on his sainthood. Even in the extra credits' video (extra history) there is no focus on his mistakes. I dont remember any. I'll be back later. (Yay first comment 😁)
@@thethirdjegs yes! I meant to say that i am happy for this video but disappointed in the extra credits video. It is much more important to see how a saint repents than just the good works
By the way, even in the Torah, weren't slaves supposed to be freed after...I think it was seven years? I can't remember: haven't read the OT in a while, and I imagine that's in Leviticus. But if that's the standard by which people were claiming slavery was Biblically permitted, they ought to have read the fine print.
@@xavier2352, actually, yes, I think you're right, which is so odd, then, that people used the Bible as justification for slavery. Have you ever read "Uncle Tom's Cabin"? Wouldn't recommend it if you're younger, because parts of it are RATHER traumatic, but otherwise, I definitely recommend.
Excellent video, Father! I suggest those who condemn Fr. Bartolomeo de Las Casas to read his books in which he described the horrific treatment of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. He was way ahead of his time and he suffered greatly for trying to seek justice. I don't understand how Fr. Junipero Serra got canonized, though. He even personally tortured the Indians in His care! However, I believe THIS is the saint who should be canonized: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_de_Montesinos
Hmmmmm... I think, though, that we can to some extent pass judgment on the past. Since Las Casas came to understand the error of his ways, that means it was possible to do so at that time. We don't give the ancient Romans a pass on their gladiatorial games (which the Christians eventually put a stop to, once they had the power), do we? Or do we point to the Greeks and say, "obviously there were ancient people who saw blood spectacles as wrong; heck, the Greeks wouldn't even show pretend violence onstage in their _plays_ so why did the Romans refuse to learn from them?" Still, more important than judging is understanding.
We would do well to remember the human nature of our Lord as well of the divine. True God and true man. All of us by our human nature are sinners. And viewing the people from the past with our eye's is easy folly. He was a man of his time.
So, why did the Catholic Church canonize this guy as a saint and not Antonio de Montesinos: the one who was opposed to slavery from the beginning, influenced De Las Casas to adopt a similar position, and who also went back to Spain and convinced Ferdinand II to actually enforce anti-cruelty measures? Also, Montesinos was martyred for his strong opposition to native exploitation, De Las Casas got to live to 81 and died of natural causes.
@@MisterJang0 that is not canonized check out Fr. Caseys video about saints and canonizing for more detail. If he was martyred then he is a saint, reason he is not canonized is because someone has to start this proces and in all likely hood he was forgotten, there are instances of clearly holy people who lived like 600 years ago and were canonized only by 20th century
@@MisterJang0 The feast is in the Lutheran Calendar not the General Roman Calendar. His cause for beatification was indeed opened back in 2002 but it has not so far resulted in his beatification.
This explanation is too simple. First, indians were protected by law under the Spanish crown. Indians were free people and they could be enslaved only if they were cannibals. Of course there were abuses but it was not institutional but outside the law, which is a big difference with other colonizers. Telling the truth was not Las Casas thing but if he could call attention to these abuses it was because they were wrong in the eyes of the king in the first place, it wasn't an acceptable thing. Many people corrected the lies that Las Casas spread but nobody reads these accounts.
Hmmm, some people have always maintained that slavery was unequivocally wrong, especially the enslaved. Do we give privileged white men too much benefit of the doubt?
"Always"? Since the Roman times? Since the Middle Age? Or since the Renaissance? Maybe the Enlightenment? And for ALL people? Who were these men? And NO, the enslaved ideas are not to take into consideration, because often those enslaved people were from tribes that enslaved other tribes, and because we're not talking about someone who want just to be free (ANYONE wants to be free), but about someone who think that slavery is MORALLY, PHILOSOPHICALLY, RELIGIOUSLY wrong. We're talking about human rights and acknowledging humanity in POC (or even in "different" white people: Jews, Romani, homosexual, handicapped, disabled... incarcerated people). Who was so aware before Enlightenment?
He did repent. I do think we can support people and hold them up as examples even if they used to do something repugnant as long as they ceased to do those things.
Have you really listened to what he says? Or are you one of those "woke" people that judge the past with the moral code of the present? Maybe you just have to study a bit of history? Just to put things into perspective?
Thanks for this excellent presentation of a great Catholic. Da Las Casas was way ahead of his time. He make mistakes, but grew from them. His birthday should be remembered and honored.
@@Bbuffalofan1 sure but columbus was also a genocidal maniac, so brutal he was looked down upon even in his time. if you don’t trust me you can read his own journal
Learn more about Fr. Casey on his channel or social accounts:
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It was wrong then and it's wrong now its not up to the perpetrator
An awesome commentary and lesson Fr. Casey. None of us are perfect and neither were the saints. There is hope for the rest of us.
5:04 "I was not sure that my ignorance and good faith would secure me in the eyes of God." He's definitely not a Protestant!
We need more this for all historical people, acknowledge the bad but all the good…especially considering the time and place they lived in.
Anyone who thinks Bartolome De Las Casas was the Father of the Transatlantic slave trade are wrong. Those titles go to Nicholas Ovando, governor of the New World after Columbus and King Ferdinand who made approvals for African slaves to be taken to the New World in 1505 and 1510. Before anything Las Casas said. And Las Casas changed his position and condemned the African slave trade later on.
I think comparing St. Junipero Serra, de la Casas, and the Jesuits who founded the Guarani missions is a useful exercise in terms of whom we collectively decide is a saint worth holding up for emulation. All three were part of the Spanish colonial project, but all three approached it very differently. Only one is held up by the Church as a canonized saint worthy of emulation.
despicable
A worthy observation! But there seems to be some debate about how Junipero treated indigenous people in his care.
"there will be another generation after us probably condemning us for not going far enough" that's deep
I used to teach college level history. At some point in every course there came a point where I would say, "I am less concerned with 'How could they have thought that way?' than dreading my children or grandchildren asking, 'How could I have thought that way?' "
true
The Native Holocaust Land theft baby Genocide war mongering for profit greed exploitation with fake "money" terrorizing the world they haven't changed their ways
Yeah I‘m always bewildered about other Germans my age harshly condemning the generation of our grandfathers. But never stopping and thinking about how if they would have lived in these times they would probably have committed all these atrocities. That scares the hell out of me personally. Common drafted man in the Wehrmacht were involved in the most horrific crimes yet they were also a product if their time
and propaganda. And please don’t read this as an excuse of anything that happened more of a realisation how easily people can turn into committing and justifying the most horrible atrocities and that maybe we should start thinking less highly of ourselves.
Im writing my research paper on him and this has been so helpful. Thank you.
Just like Lincoln. The same day he signed the Emancipation Proclamation, he also wiped out the rights of a whole bunch of Indigenous people in America by signing away more land to the settlers. History is nuanced, and yes, Lincoln was a hero...but he was also not a hero. This is why we need to learn and think independently.
You do realise that the Emancipation Proclamation was not what most people think it was. It was not the freeing of slaves only those who lived in the States that seceded, so the slaves in the Union States untouched. It really was a vacuous proclamation at the time and even after the Union had control of the territory it covered it was changed so not to upset too much the fragile peace after the war was over which is why the Jim Crow laws and such flourished. Lincoln certainly was not a hero in any way shape or form, but history is about telling stories and the one that Americans have bought is the one about Lincoln. If he was a hero then that proclamation instead of being vacuous nonsense would have included territories he had control over.
I always wonder when the US has to go through the same bloodletting historically as we Brits have had to over the last 50 year and counting how they are going to take that. Will the Union survive or will it fail. If Trump is anything to go by the worlds country count might be taking a bigger jump than after the USSR dissolved. Stories are only as strong as the listener and the US at the moment is not a good place for listeners.
Oh, and Casey, if I may recommend a book to you? It's called "The Inconvenient Indian", by Thomas King. The very first chapter is called "Forget Columbus", in which King says that that's the advice his sister gave him. He's Indigenous, eh. He said his sister gives great advice...which he almost never takes. He's very witty.
Many forget that when he died he was working on a book on the rights of African slaves
The problem with Las Casas is that, in order to make himself heard, he exaggerates greatly. His "Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies" was a book to create shock in whoever read it, because in many places the New Laws of 1542 weren´t being applied. He himself admitted that many of the things he narrated there he had never witnessed. For example, he said that billions died in the Atillas, many more people than actually lived there.
Years later, when the Flanders wars broke out, William of Orange took that book by Las Casas, illustrated it and spread it throughout Europe, precisely to shock the European population about how bad the Spanish crown was. This is why Las Casas causes so much controversy in Spain. When you read Las Casas or see the illustrations of his work (like this 2:19), you must keep in mind that this book was written to create a dramatic impact, not a faithful and exhaustive chronicle. And that the illustrations were born as propaganda during the Flanders wars.
When Voltarie read the chronicles of Las Casas, he realized that the data he gave in the Brief didn´t hold up. Voltaire didn't stop admiring him, and he justified these exaggerations because they were meant to raise awareness.
Because of them, Las Casas has remained like the only and best protector of Indians of that period, when he was neither one nor the other. Another missionary who did the same with greater precision was, for example, Bernardino de Sahagun, or Toribio de Benavente. And those who prohibited indigenous slavery by law were Francisco de Vitoria, Domingo de Soto or Juan Gines de Sepulveda.
Las Casas was an activist who knew how to make himself heard.
This video is very interesting. Of course De las Casas made mistakes but he realized his mistakes and improved himself which is very important. Without his works we would never have the society we have now or this important change in our worldview to realize how wrong slavery is. It's only too bad that his important debate with Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda in Valladolid, Spain, wasn't mentioned but I like the narrative of this video anyway.
As Isaac Newton put it: "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
Why did Priests abuse the Salish tribes Kalispel and Spokane tribe suffered under Priests
good and informative padre. gracias!
I didnt know there was a question on his sainthood.
Even in the extra credits' video (extra history) there is no focus on his mistakes. I dont remember any.
I'll be back later.
(Yay first comment 😁)
I remember that video too, i was glad to see a saint in there portrayed with respect. However now it feels like half history
@@rikimez127 all saints are sinners. Whats important is that they repent.
@@thethirdjegs yes! I meant to say that i am happy for this video but disappointed in the extra credits video. It is much more important to see how a saint repents than just the good works
@@rikimez127 ah...i was the one a step behind. Sorry. 😅
very well said
By the way, even in the Torah, weren't slaves supposed to be freed after...I think it was seven years? I can't remember: haven't read the OT in a while, and I imagine that's in Leviticus. But if that's the standard by which people were claiming slavery was Biblically permitted, they ought to have read the fine print.
Slavery in the Tora was more of a form of indentured servitude. Much different than the slavery discussed in this video
@@xavier2352, actually, yes, I think you're right, which is so odd, then, that people used the Bible as justification for slavery. Have you ever read "Uncle Tom's Cabin"? Wouldn't recommend it if you're younger, because parts of it are RATHER traumatic, but otherwise, I definitely recommend.
@@ActiveAdvocate1 Never heard of it but I’ll look into it. Thanks for sharing
Excellent video, Father! I suggest those who condemn Fr. Bartolomeo de Las Casas to read his books in which he described the horrific treatment of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. He was way ahead of his time and he suffered greatly for trying to seek justice. I don't understand how Fr. Junipero Serra got canonized, though. He even personally tortured the Indians in His care! However, I believe THIS is the saint who should be canonized: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_de_Montesinos
Yes. De Montesinos is the real saint in all this. Couldn't agree with you more.
Wow! Well done! This just hoes to show how the process of canonization needs to be very careful and consistent.
Hmmmmm...
I think, though, that we can to some extent pass judgment on the past. Since Las Casas came to understand the error of his ways, that means it was possible to do so at that time. We don't give the ancient Romans a pass on their gladiatorial games (which the Christians eventually put a stop to, once they had the power), do we? Or do we point to the Greeks and say, "obviously there were ancient people who saw blood spectacles as wrong; heck, the Greeks wouldn't even show pretend violence onstage in their _plays_ so why did the Romans refuse to learn from them?"
Still, more important than judging is understanding.
We would do well to remember the human nature of our Lord as well of the divine. True God and true man. All of us by our human nature are sinners. And viewing the people from the past with our eye's is easy folly. He was a man of his time.
This guy is speaking facts.
He robbed Peter to pay Paul
People ~but he paid
So, why did the Catholic Church canonize this guy as a saint and not Antonio de Montesinos: the one who was opposed to slavery from the beginning, influenced De Las Casas to adopt a similar position, and who also went back to Spain and convinced Ferdinand II to actually enforce anti-cruelty measures? Also, Montesinos was martyred for his strong opposition to native exploitation, De Las Casas got to live to 81 and died of natural causes.
He has never been canonised so you can set your mind at rest.
@@martinmaynard141
I looked into it further and De Las Casas was beatified, that's the next best thing. His feast day is July 18th.
@@MisterJang0 that is not canonized check out Fr. Caseys video about saints and canonizing for more detail.
If he was martyred then he is a saint, reason he is not canonized is because someone has to start this proces and in all likely hood he was forgotten, there are instances of clearly holy people who lived like 600 years ago and were canonized only by 20th century
@@MisterJang0 The feast is in the Lutheran Calendar not the General Roman Calendar. His cause for beatification was indeed opened back in 2002 but it has not so far resulted in his beatification.
Please google Cyrus the Great. Founder of the Persian Empire.
This explanation is too simple. First, indians were protected by law under the Spanish crown. Indians were free people and they could be enslaved only if they were cannibals. Of course there were abuses but it was not institutional but outside the law, which is a big difference with other colonizers. Telling the truth was not Las Casas thing but if he could call attention to these abuses it was because they were wrong in the eyes of the king in the first place, it wasn't an acceptable thing. Many people corrected the lies that Las Casas spread but nobody reads these accounts.
Hmmm, some people have always maintained that slavery was unequivocally wrong, especially the enslaved. Do we give privileged white men too much benefit of the doubt?
"Always"? Since the Roman times? Since the Middle Age? Or since the Renaissance? Maybe the Enlightenment? And for ALL people? Who were these men? And NO, the enslaved ideas are not to take into consideration, because often those enslaved people were from tribes that enslaved other tribes, and because we're not talking about someone who want just to be free (ANYONE wants to be free), but about someone who think that slavery is MORALLY, PHILOSOPHICALLY, RELIGIOUSLY wrong. We're talking about human rights and acknowledging humanity in POC (or even in "different" white people: Jews, Romani, homosexual, handicapped, disabled... incarcerated people). Who was so aware before Enlightenment?
He did repent. I do think we can support people and hold them up as examples even if they used to do something repugnant as long as they ceased to do those things.
that would be up to his victims
Good one. Fascinating. No one among us is perfect, I guess.
you kinda look like matpat
Sounds like he was a terrible human. I’m sure he was profiting from all angles.
I’m disappointed in this video . It’s sounds like a apologetic promotional video for justifying slavery. Sorry you lost a follower
Have you really listened to what he says? Or are you one of those "woke" people that judge the past with the moral code of the present? Maybe you just have to study a bit of history? Just to put things into perspective?
@@Laurelin70 tf whose "moral code" the victim or the perpetrator Hellooo
Thanks for this excellent presentation of a great Catholic. Da Las Casas was way ahead of his time. He make mistakes, but grew from them.
His birthday should be remembered
and honored.
How can you come to that conclusion? It is exactly the opposite - a condemnation of slavery. Were you listening?
"No one is ever as holly as one's followers claims", say that again, but slowly
Slandered Columbus
No, he called out Columbus for being the evil, criminal that he was.
@@ellencorcoran4434 th-cam.com/video/ZEw8c6TmzGg/w-d-xo.html Casas literally lied about Columbus because he was a vicious rival in Spanish politics.
@@Bbuffalofan1 sure but columbus was also a genocidal maniac, so brutal he was looked down upon even in his time. if you don’t trust me you can read his own journal