Bartolomé de Las Casas and the Conquest of the Americas

This is a short history of the age of exploration and the conquest of the Americas told through the experience of Bartolomé de las Casas, a Dominican friar who fervently defended the American Indians, and the single most important figure of the period after Columbus.

• Explores the period known as the Encounter, which was characterized by intensive conflict between Europeans and the people of the Americas following Columbus's voyages
• Argues that Las Casas, 'protector of Indians, ' was primarily motivated by Scripture in his crusade for justice and equality for American Indians
• Draws on the 14 volume Complete Works of Las Casas as a window into his mind and actions
• Encourages students to understand history through the viewpoint of individuals living it

Author: Lawrence A. Clayton
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Published: 01/18/2011
Pages: 206
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.57lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.50d
ISBN13: 9781405194280
ISBN10: 1405194286
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | General
- History | Latin America | General

About the Author
Lawrence A. Clayton is Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of History at the University of Alabama. His books include A History of Modern Latin America, second edition (2004), Peru and the United States: The Condor and the Eagle (1999), and The De Soto Chronicles (editor, 1993). He is currently writing the first major biography of Las Casas in more than a generation.