Document ASource: Bartolomé de las Casas, Spanish Catholic priest who freed his Indian slaves before writing his History of the Indies, 1528.

In that year of 1500…, the King determined to send a new governor to Hispaniola, which at the time was the only seat of government in the Indies. The new governor was fray Nicolas de Ovando….

At first, the Indians were forced to stay six months away at work; later, the time was extended to eight months and this was called a shift, at the end of which they brought all the gold for minting. The King's part was subtracted and the rest went to individual [Spaniards]… During the minting period, the Indians were allowed to go home, a few days' journey on foot. One can imagine their state when they arrived after eight months, and those who found their wives there must have cried, lamenting their condition together. How could they even rest, since they had to provide for the needs of their family when their land had gone to weeds? Of those who had worked in the mines, a bare 10 per cent survived to start the journey home. Many Spaniards had no scruples about making them work on Sundays and holidays, if not in the mines then on minor tasks such as building and repairing houses, carrying firewood, etc. They fed them cassava bread, which is adequate nutrition only when supplemented with meat, fish or other more substantial food. The [official in charge of the mine] killed a pig once a week but he kept more than half for himself and had the leftover apportioned and cooked daily for thirty or forty Indians, which came to a bite of meat the size of a walnut per individual, and they dipped the cassava in this as well as in the broth.

Indians were totally deprived of their freedom and were put in the harshest, fiercest, most horrible servitude and captivity… Even beasts enjoy more freedom when they are allowed to graze in the fields. But our Spaniards gave no such opportunity to Indians and truly considered them perpetual slaves… When they fell ill, which was very frequently because they are a delicate people unaccustomed to such work, the Spaniards did not believe them and pitilessly called them lazy dogs, and kicked and beat them; and when illness was apparent they sent them home as useless… They would go then, falling into the first stream and dying there in desperation… I sometimes came upon dead bodies on my way, and upon others who were gasping and moaning in their death agony, repeating "Hungry, hungry." And this was the freedom, the good treatment and the Christianity that Indians received.

About eight years passed under the [Ovando’s] rule…and the multitude of people who originally lived on this island…was consumed at such a rate that in those eight years 90 per cent had perished. From here this sweeping plague went to San Juan, Jamaica, Cuba and the continent, spreading destruction over the whole hemisphere.

Document BSource: Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, official historian of the Spanish Crown, “The Second Democrates”, 1547.

You can well understand… that the Spanish have a perfect right to rule these barbarians of the New World and the adjacent islands, who in prudence, skill, virtues, and humanity are as inferior to the Spanish as children to adults, or women to men, for there exists between the two as great a difference as between savage and cruel races and the most merciful, between the most intemperate and the moderate and temperate and, I might even say, between apes and men.

Compare, then, these gifts of prudence, talent, magnanimity, temperance, humanity, and religion with those possessed by these half-men (homunculi), in whom you will barely find the vestiges of humanity, who not only do not possess any learning at all, but are not even literate or in possession of any monument to their history except for some obscure and vague reminiscences of several things put down in various paintings; nor do they have written laws, but barbarian institutions and customs. Well, then, if we are dealing with virtue, what temperance or mercy can you expect from men who are committed to all types of intemperance and base frivolity, and eat human flesh? [T]hey waged continual and ferocious war upon one another with such fierceness that they did not consider a victory at all worthwhile unless they sated their monstrous hunger with the flesh of their enemies….

Although some of them show a certain ingenuity for various works of artisanship, this is no proof of human cleverness, for we can observe animals, birds, and spiders making certain structures which no human accomplishment can competently imitate… [T]hey have been born to slavery and not to civic and liberal life. Therefore, if you wish to reduce them, I do not say to our domination, but to a servitude a little less harsh, it will not be difficult for them to change their masters, and instead of the ones they had, who were barbarous and impious and inhuman, to accept the Christians, cultivators of human virtues and the true faith...

I do not say, then, that they should be baptized by force, but that…this does not seem possible to accomplish by any other way than first subjecting them to our rule… I believe that the barbarians can be conquered within the same right which makes them compelled to hear the words of the Gospels.... These apostles are…priests of the Church, and how can they preach to these barbarians if they are not sent to them, and how are they to be sent if these barbarians are not conquered first?

Document CSource: Bartolomé de Las Casas, Spanish Dominican priest, In Defense of the Indians, c. 1550.

Indians…are not ignorant, inhuman, or bestial. Rather, long before they had heard the word Spaniard they had properly organized states, wisely ordered by excellent laws, religion, and custom. They cultivated friendship and, bound together in common fellowship, lived in populous cities in which they wisely administered the affairs of both peace and war justly and equitably, truly governed by laws that at very many points surpass ours…

The Indian race is not that barbaric, nor are they dull witted or stupid, but they are easy to teach and very talented in learning all the liberal arts, and very ready to accept, honor, and observe the Christian religion and correct their sins (as experience has taught) once priests have introduced them to the sacred mysteries and taught them the word of God….

Furthermore, they are so skilled in every mechanical art…so very beautiful in their skill and artistry are the things this people produces in the grace of its architecture, its painting, and its needlework. But Sepulveda despises these mechanical arts, as if these things do not reflect inventiveness, ingenuity, industry, and right reason…

With every kind of music they charm the ears of their audience with wonderful sweetness…. Sepulveda's teaching that these people are uncivilized and ignorant is worse than false.

Therefore, not even a truly wise man may force an ignorant barbarian to submit to him, especially by yielding his liberty, without doing him an injustice. This the poor Indians suffer with extreme injustice, against all the laws of God and of men and against the law of nature itself. For evil must not be done that good may come of it….

Document DSource: Thomas Harriot, English author and observer, A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, 1590.

The Town of Secota

Their towns that are not enclosed with poles are commonly fairer then such as are enclosed… For the houses are scattered here and there, and they have gardens…wherein grows tobacco which the inhabitants call uppowoc. They also have groves where they hunt deer, and fields where they sow their corn. In their corn fields they build [a tower] where they place one to watch. There are such number of fowls, and beasts, that unless they keep watch, they would soon devour all their corn… [T]he watch man makes continual cries and noise. They sow their corn a certain distance apart otherwise one stalk would choke the growth of another and the corn would not ripen. For the leaves are large, like…the leaves of great reeds. They have also several broad areas where they meet with their neighbors, to celebrate their chief solemn feasts…and a place where after they have ended their feast they make merry together. Over against this place they have a round plot where they assemble themselves to make their solemn prayers. Not far from which place there is a large building wherein are the tombs of their kings and princes, likewise they have garden they use to sow pumpkins. Also a place wherein the make a fire at their solemn feasts, and outside the town a river from which they fetch their water. This people therefore devoid of concerns lay cheerfully and at their hearts ease. But they solemnize their feasts in the night, and therefore they keep very great fires to avoid darkness, and to testify their love.

Document ESource: Juan de Oñate, conquistador and the Spanish creole husband of the mestizo descendant of both the conquistador Cortez and the Aztec emperor Montezuma, Letter From New Mexico, 1599.

There must be in this province…to make a conservative estimate, seventy-thousand Indians, settled after our custom, house adjoining house, with square plazas. They have no streets, and in the pueblos, which contain many plazas or wards, one goes from one plaza to the other through alleys. They are of two and three stories…, and some houses are of four, five, six, and seven stories. Even whole pueblos dress in very highly colored cotton mantas, white or black, and some of thread–very good clothes. Others wear buffalo hides, of which there is a great abundance. They have most excellent wool…

[The Pueblo lands abound] in flesh of buffalo, goats with hideous horns, and turkeys; and…there is game of all kinds. There are many wild and ferocious beasts, lions, bears, wolves, tigers, ferrets, porcupines…whose hides they tan and use. Towards the west there are bees and very white honey, of which I am sending a sample. Besides, there are vegetables, and a very great many kinds of very rich ores….

The people are in general very comely…their languages, which are many, and different… Their religion consists in worshipping idols, of which they have many; and in their temples, after their own manner, they worship them with fire, painted reeds, feathers, and universal offering of almost everything they get, such as small animals, birds, vegetables, etc. In their government they are free, for although they have some petty captains, they obey them badly and in very few things.

We have seen other nations…who live in tents of tanned hides, among the buffalo. The Apaches…are innumerable…. They are a people whom I have compelled to render obedience to His Majesty, although not by means of legal instruments like the rest of the provinces. This has caused me much labor, diligence, and care, long journeys, with arms on the shoulders, and not a little watching and circumspection; [I]ndeed, because my [general] was not as cautious as he should have been, they killed him with twelve companions in a great pueblo and fortress called Acóma, which must contain about three thousand Indians. As punishment for its crime and its treason against his Majesty,…and as a warning to the rest, I razed and burned it completely…. All these provinces, pueblos, and peoples, I have seen with my own eyes.

Document FSource: Juan de Oñate, conquistador and the Spanish creole husband of the mestizo descendant of both the conquistador Cortez and the Aztec emperor Montezuma, Letter From New Mexico, 1599.

I beg that you take note of the great increase which the royal crown and the rents of his Majesty have and will have in this land, with so many and such a variety of things, each one of which promises very great treasures. I shall only note these four, omitting the rest as being well known and common:

First, the great wealth which the mines have begun to reveal and the great number of them in this land, whence proceed the royal fifths and profits. Second, the certainty of the proximity of the South Sea, whose trade with Peru, New Spain, and China is not to be depreciated, for it will give birth in time to advantageous and continuous duties, because of its close proximity, particularly to China and to that land. And what I emphasize in this matter as worthy of esteem is the traffic in pearls, reports of which are so certain… Third, the increase of vassals and tributes, which will increase not only the rents, but his renown and dominion as well, if it be possible that for our king these can increase. Fourth, the wealth of the abundant salines, and of the mountains of brimstone, of which there is a greater quantity than in any other province. Salt is the universal article of traffic of all these barbarians and their regular food, for they even eat or suck it alone as we do sugar. These four things appear as if dedicated solely to his Majesty. I will not mention the founding of so many republics, the many offices, their quittances, vacancies, provisions, etc., the wealth of the wool and hides of buffalo, and many other things, clearly and well known, or, judging from the general nature of the land, the certainty of wines and oils.

In view, then, Illustrious Sir, of things of such honor, profit, and value…I humbly beg and supplicate, since it is of such importance to the service of God and of his Majesty, that the greatest aid possible be sent to me, both for settling and pacifying…this land, through the preaching of the holy gospel and the founding of this republic….

Group 1

Directions: Read the prompt below. Analyze the prompt to establish your task. Read the documents. Use the documents to create arguments that you will use to respond to the prompt. Select brief quotes that support your arguments. Record your arguments, and the particular quotes supporting those arguments. Write a brief explanation in your own words explaining how each quote supports the argument you are making in response to the prompt.

Prompt: Use the documents to create arguments about the goals of Spanish colonization.

Group 2

Directions: Read the prompt below. Analyze the prompt to establish your task. Read the documents. Use the documents to create arguments that you will use to respond to the prompt. Select brief quotes that support your arguments. Record your arguments, and the particular quotes supporting those arguments. Write a brief explanation in your own words explaining how each quote supports the argument you are making in response to the prompt.

Prompt: Use the documents to create arguments about the Native American responses to the Spanish.

Group 3

Directions: Read the prompt below. Analyze the prompt to establish your task. Read the documents. Use the documents to create arguments that you will use to respond to the prompt. Select brief quotes that support your arguments. Record your arguments, and the particular quotes supporting those arguments. Write a brief explanation in your own words explaining how each quote supports the argument you are making in response to the prompt.

Prompt: Use the documents to create arguments proving the Native Americans were ‘uncivilized’.

Group 4

Directions: Read the prompt below. Analyze the prompt to establish your task. Read the documents. Use the documents to create arguments that you will use to respond to the prompt. Select brief quotes that support your arguments. Record your arguments, and the particular quotes supporting those arguments. Write a brief explanation in your own words explaining how each quote supports the argument you are making in response to the prompt.

Prompt: Use the documents to create arguments that the Native Americans were ‘civilized’.

Extended Analysis of Documents ~ Handout

Four ways to extend the analysis of primary sources include correctly analyzing:

Author’s Point of View (POV) Author’s Purpose Intended Audience Historical Context

Point of View (POV)

The best way to earn the Point of View (POV) point is to go beyond the basic identity of the source author and the source itself, as described in the document source line. In order to write a successful POV statement, you should try to establish a better understanding of the identity of the author; you can do this by asking yourself questions about the author and the source. What is the author’s profession? What is the author’s gender or social class? What religion does the author follow? Does the author have an identifiable ethnicity, nationality, or other allegiance to a particular group? Once you’ve asked these questions, go further and explain how one of these factors may have influenced the content of the source. Your complete POV statement should both identify an influence that may have shaped the author or source and explain how that particular influence specifically affected the content of the document.

Put simply, to do POV identify an important aspect of WHO the author is, and explain HOW the author’s personhood might have impacted what they wrote.

Author’s Purpose

Author’s Purpose can be thought of as the goal sought by the author. It involves identifying the author’s endgame, what they hope to accomplish, and why they are writing the document. Common purposes include attempts to inform, to entertain, to persuade, to influence, to teach, to record, requirements of the author’s job or profession, to describe, self-aggrandizement, and/or to regulate (as in laws or rules).

If you pick up on a ‘purpose’ of the author in producing the document write sentences which describe the purpose conveyed. In describing author’s purpose in creating a source include the phrases “the author’s purpose in writing was to ______” and “is shown by______.”

Intended Audience

Authors aim what they write to particular groups of people. Observing the ‘intended audience’ of a source involves identifying a person or group the author expects to inform or influence in creating the source. It is very important in constructing your argument about the intended audience that you go beyond what is noted in the source line of the document. Credit for extended analysis of a document will not be granted for mere repetition of an audience identified in the source line.

If you know the ‘intended audience’ of the author write sentences which describe the audience. In describing author’s intended audience include the phrases “the author’s intended audience was ______” and “is shown by______.”

Historical Context

Analysis of ‘Historical Context’ involves connecting a document to specific historical events, to specific circumstances of time and place, and/or to broader regional, national, or global processes. Identifying the Historical Context places the document within broader trends contemporary to the source. It might also connect the document across time to earlier and later eras, or across space to events happening in different places.

To place a document within an historical context, identify the particular historical trend or process in which the document fits. Write a sentence which describes the context, explain how the document participates in that historical trend or process. Include the phrase “the historical context of this document is ______ .”

Unit 1 Extended Document Analysis Practice

Group 1; Document A

Source: Bartolomé de las Casas, Spanish Catholic priest who freed his Indian slaves before writing his History of the Indies, 1528.

Directions: Conduct an Extended Document Analysis of your document. Develop statements reflecting at least one analysis each for Author’s Point of View, Author’s Purpose, Intended Audience, and Historical Context.

Unit 1 Extended Document Analysis Practice

Group 2; Document B

Source: Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, official historian of the Spanish Crown, “The Second Democrates”, 1547.

Directions: Conduct an Extended Document Analysis of your document. Develop statements reflecting at least one analysis each for Author’s Point of View, Author’s Purpose, Intended Audience, and Historical Context.

Unit 1 Extended Document Analysis Practice

Group 3; Document C

Source: Bartolomé de Las Casas, Spanish Dominican priest, In Defense of the Indians, c. 1550.

Directions: Conduct an Extended Document Analysis of your document. Develop statements reflecting at least one analysis each for Author’s Point of View, Author’s Purpose, Intended Audience, and Historical Context.

Unit 1 Extended Document Analysis Practice

Group 4; Document D

Source: Thomas Harriot, English author and observer, A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, 1590.

Directions: Conduct an Extended Document Analysis of your document. Develop statements reflecting at least one analysis each for Author’s Point of View, Author’s Purpose, Intended Audience, and Historical Context.

Group 5; Document E

Source: Juan de Oñate, creole husband of Isabel de Tolosa Cortes de Montezuma, the granddaughter of the Spanish conqueror and great-granddaughter of the Aztec emperor, granted the authority to invade lands north of New Spain to spread Catholicism, collect tribute from Indians, grant lands to followers, and establish mines by Spanish King Phillip II in 1595 in return for a percentage of the wealth extracted, Letter From New Mexico, 1599.

Directions: Conduct an Extended Document Analysis of your document. Develop statements reflecting at least one analysis each for Author’s Point of View, Author’s Purpose, Intended Audience, and Historical Context.

Group 6; Document F

Source: Juan de Oñate, creole husband of Isabel de Tolosa Cortes de Montezuma, the granddaughter of the Spanish conqueror and great-granddaughter of the Aztec emperor, granted the authority to invade lands north of New Spain to spread Catholicism, collect tribute from Indians, grant lands to followers, and establish mines by Spanish King Phillip II in 1595 in return for a percentage of the wealth extracted, Letter From New Mexico, 1599.

Directions: Conduct an Extended Document Analysis of your document. Develop statements reflecting at least one analysis each for Author’s Point of View, Author’s Purpose, Intended Audience, and Historical Context.