De thesauris in Peru

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De Thesauris in Peru is a treatise by Spanish

As a settler in the New World, he was appalled by the behaviour of the conquistadors towards the Native Americans. In De thesauris in Peru, which was dedicated to King Philip II of Spain, Las Casas wrote that when he had first reached the New World he had supported the atrocities, but had soon become sure that these acts would lead to the collapse of Spain itself in an act of Divine retribution.^{[citation needed]} According to Las Casas, it was the duty of the Spanish to convert the Indians, who would then be loyal subjects of Spain, rather than to kill them.^[1] To remove the burden of slavery from them, Las Casas suggested that Africans should be brought to America instead,^[1] although he later decided against this when he saw how Africans were affected by slavery and confessed in his Historia de la Indias that he fell into error because he believed that Portuguese African expeditions had been a just war.^[1]

See also

• Bartolomé de las Casas
• New Laws

References

• Bartolomé de Las Casas and the Tradition of Medieval Law