Letter to Bartolome de las Casas

Title: Letter to Bartolomé de las Casas

The year is 1501. You are a Taino servant named Juanico. You were recently taken away from Bartolomé by order of the Spanish Crown. Write a letter to him urging him to do something about the encomienda system in the Americas and the treatment of Tainos and other indigenous people.

Hi Bartolome,

I have been taken away by the Order of the Crown, they have allowed me to write you this last letter. I hope you are doing well. I wanted to elaborate with you about the encomienda system before I left, but never got the chance. When I was at school and they were teaching us that all man is created equal by God, I remembered they mentioned the same thing at church. I had seen what they are doing to my people and I don’t think they are following the same ways that God is trying to tell us.

I believe that people using the encomiendas system are abusing the privilege of having new land to share. They have enslaved my people to harvest crops, take care of livestock and mine countless tons of gold and silver. It is a way for the Spaniards to make us work for them voluntarily or involuntarily. There is now a tax for living here and many of my people don’t understand why that is here because this was originally our land. Now we have to pay and work to live in our land? I’m not sure how that is supposed to be fair.

I believe that since we look and act quite similar that we are equal, no? We are all children of God but the Spaniards here treat us as if we are below them.

Understand that some people here think that they are repaying us by teaching us the ways of God and providing protection. However I think that they are abusing the fact that my people are very giving and that they will do things in return. The encomiendas system is not going as well as my people were thinking. There is no equality between our nations and it has become a real problem.

I hope you see my reasoning and come to help us make a change for equality. For I think that it is the only way for everyone to be happy and live in harmony and peace.

Your old friend,

Juanico