Historical Perspectives: HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES: HOW HARSH WERE THE SPANISH?

After the first voyage of Christopher Columbus, Spanish conquistadors created a vast colonial empire in the Americas. In 1552, the Dominican friar Bartolomé de Las Casas described the greed, ruthlessness, and cruelty that Spanish officials inflicted on native populations. Ever since, historians have debated the accuracy of his observations.

Origins of the Black Legend Writing in 1914, Spanish historian Julián Juderías labeled this belief in the evils of Spanish rule as the Black Legend. He argued that during the 16th and 17th centuries, other Europeans were jealous of Spanish wealth and power. As a result, they were prepared to believe the worst about Spain’s rule. Juderías suggested that historians focused so much on cruelty that they ignored the positive achievements of Spanish colonialism.

Debating the Black Legend Besides jealousy, another factor affecting how historians viewed Spain was religion. During the centuries of struggle between Protestants and Catholics, the Black Legend fit with the negative views many Protestants had toward Catholics. In the United States, where Protestants dominated the writing of history in the 19th century, acceptance of the Black Legend was common.

In the first half of the 20th century, many Spanish historians shared the perspective of Juderías. Their works reflected the intense national pride that many Spaniards felt about their past. In defending Spanish colonization, they developed what their critics called a White Legend to counter the Black Legend.

Emphasis on Reform One American historian active in the debate over Spanish colonization was Lewis Hanke. He argued against the Black Legend by trying to show that Las Casas was just one of many Spanish reformers. Through the efforts of these reformers, Hanke argued, the Spanish empire was “one of the greatest attempts the world has seen to make Christian precepts [rules] prevail in the relations between peoples.”

Defenders of the Black Legend thought Hanke had exaggerated the strength of Las Casas and the reformers, thereby making the Spanish look better than they were. Others emphasized that despite any attempts at reform, what actually happened was extraordinarily harsh.

The Global Context In recent years, historians taking a more global approach to history have compared colonial empires more systematically than did previous historians. While they have noted differences among Europeans in the Americas, they have found widespread examples of brutality. Whether the Spanish were any worse than other Europeans remains hard to determine.

Develop an Argument: Evaluate the extent to which historical evidence supports one of the perspectives on Spanish colonization.