Bartolomé de las Casas and the Conquest of the Americas

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.

“Beside my students, I would recommend this book to anyone with a desire to understand better what is one of the most compelling periods in history.”  (The Journal of Latin American Studies, 1 April 2013)"Clayton (Univ. of Alabama) has written an excellent, concise survey of the life and work of Bartolome de las Casas, the Dominican friar who advocated fiercely on behalf of indigenous Americans during the 16th-century Spanish conquest of the America. . .Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above." (Choice, 1 October 2011)

• List of Illustrations Series Editor’s PrefaceAcknowledgmentsTimelineIntroduction1. The Era of Columbus and the “Discoverers”Modern interpretationsConquest of La Española2. Justice for AllDiscovering his callingFather Montesinos’ sermonLas Casas goes to CubaTo SpainMeeting Ferdinand3. Social Experiments: The Hieronymite Mission and the Universal Protector of All the Indians4. The Era of the Conquests of Mexico and Peru, 1520s–1540sSeville, autumn, 1520The conquest of Mexico5. The New Laws of 1542 and Bishop of ChiapaLaying the groundworkBishop of Chiapa6. “All Mankind is One”: On the Nature of Humans, Servitude, and SlaveryBartolomé de las Casas and the African slave tradeConclusionNotesBibliographic EssayIndex