Historia De Las Indias (vol. 2 De 5)

Bartolomé de las Casas witnessed what few Europeans would acknowledge and fewer still would commit to paper. This second volume of his monumental history chronicles Columbus's second voyage to the Americas and the earliest years of Spanish colonization: the establishment of settlements, the frantic search for gold, and the first violent encounters with the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. Las Casas, who arrived in the New World as a young man and later became a Dominican bishop, wrote from direct experience and from documents now lost to history. His account captures the excitement of discovery alongside the mounting tragedy of conquest, recording the political maneuvering of the Spanish crown, the desperate conditions faced by colonists, and the devastating impact on the native populations. This is not neutral history; Las Casas was an advocate, and his passionate advocacy makes his testimony all the more powerful. More than four centuries later, his chronicle remains essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the origins of the modern Americas and the moral questions that colonization still poses.