Another Face of Empire: Bartolomé de Las Casas, Indigenous Rights, and Ecclesiastical Imperialism (review)

History as it happened never entirely conforms to history as it is said to have happened. The gap between lived experience and the written word grows over time, challenging—though not rendering irrelevant—those seeking truths from the historical record. This interpretive dilemma has existed from at least the time of Herodotus, and most probably from the first efforts to recall the past. Though a simple insight, when applied to specific narratives it can unsettle, occasionally puncture and usually reconfigure accepted understandings. This is especially the case when considering legendary figures presently remembered in heroic terms. Drawing closer to lived experience and away from hagiography can lead to controversy. However, if done properly the result is salutary, presenting a more nuanced appreciation of the past with a clearer view of the present.

Daniel Castro does the task properly in his deconstructive reading of the history and historiography of Bartolomé de Las Casas, the sixteenth-century Dominican friar reviled and loved over the centuries for his denunciations of the abuses of Spanish colonialism. As is often the case in this era, the extensive secondary literature on Las Casas rests on a slender documentary base consisting primarily of his writings. Castro provides a thorough tour of the well-worn trail of scholarship on Las Casas, along with a careful reading of the corpus of his works. He arrives at several defensible conclusions that complicate our understanding of this historical figure. Most importantly, Castro demonstrates that Las Casas was "more paternalistic than paternal" (p. 13), thus denying agency to the very indigenous peoples he sought to defend. Indeed, "Las Casas' apostolic work among the Indians was almost non-existent" (p. 185). Over time, Las Casas became a savvy, tough and exceedingly inflexible infighter, at his best when maneuvering among factions in the Spanish court to challenge vested interests in the colonies. The advocacy of indigenous peoples "placed Las Casas at the heart of a multi-tiered conflict pitting the centralized aspirations of the Crown against the semi-feudal aspirations of the colonists" (p. 107). This conflict, rather than the supposed "Spanish struggle for justice in the New World" accounts for the protective legislation passed by royal authorities. In the end, the fact that this legislation was rarely implemented casts doubt upon the success of Las Casas and his allies, at least in terms of their stated objectives of protecting indigenous peoples. Castro does acknowledge that in spite of these limitations, Las Casas "must be recognized as an important precursor of the prevailing move toward a wider understanding of human rights" (p. 183), although he never questioned the supposed superiority of Christianity nor the (related) Spanish Crown's imperial legitimacy. Thus, Las Casas is best remembered as a champion "of benevolent Spanish imperialism" (p. 185).

Though a job done well, the text is not above criticism. For example, the claim that the distinction between indios encomendados and slaves is "academic" (p. 51) due to indistinguishable realities in practice would come as a surprise to generations of social historians. The assertion that "wanton killing of Indians and their leaders created a state of collective depression from which the natives never recovered" (p. 52) is offered without evidence. In fact, colonization produced an array of responses ranging from outright resistance to varied forms of negotiation, compromise and despair. Notions of collective depression and anomie as a result of conquest are shibboleths best discarded. The claim that Las Casas was a "forerunner of the modern dependency school that views native Indoamericans as helpless beings" (p. 113) would benefit from a footnote citing examples. In the end, however, this is a well-argued work demystifying Las Casas while situating him in historical context, a reality, alas, that no actual person can entirely transcend.