One of the most basic prejudices in A Brief History of the Devastation of the Indies is that of the "noble savage." Las Casas refers to Native peoples as "gentle sheep" and "guileless people" who were devastated and abused by the Spaniards, who behaved like "wolves." This was a common trope in European writing at the time—contrasting the supposedly "peaceable, humble, and meek" Indians with the corrupt Spaniards, who Las Casas repeatedly describes as "Christians" to underscore their hypocrisy. Of course, this is what we would call today a "positive stereotype," but it had the effect of dehumanizing Natives, effacing their history and their culture. While Las Casas had a sincerely humanitarian motive in decrying the abuses they suffered, he also hoped to convert them to Christianity and was keenly aware that the abuses and atrocities perpetuated by Spanish invaders made his task more difficult. Las Casas also initially favored the importation of African slaves as a substitute for enslaving Native peoples. While he eventually abandoned this position, his argument that the area natives were not worthy of being enslaved was certainly used to support the turn to Africa for slave labor. From a cultural perspective as well, Las Casas's efforts to convert Indian peoples to Catholicism portended the destruction of their own religion.

Bartolome de las Casas, a Spanish Catholic priest, spent most of his life in the Americas. He was appalled at the treatment the American Indians received at the hands of the Europeans, who thought they were nothing more than savages to be enslaved. Las Casas made it his mission to defend the natives from this prejudice, oppression, and cruelty.

He had his own agenda for doing so, though. Although he advocated for the natives’ right to fair treatment and freedom, he didn’t recognize them as a civilized culture in their own right or consider their spiritual beliefs to be valid. Like most Catholics and other Christians at the time, las Casas assumed that his own religion was the only true faith and that once the natives received the Christian message, “natural law” would take its course, and they would willingly convert. Las Casas thought that it was his God-given duty to introduce the natives to the Catholic faith. He reasoned that they were more likely to be receptive to the Bible’s teachings if the Europeans introduced Christianity to them peacefully and respectfully, rather than trying to force conversion upon them.

“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.”—Bartolome de las Casas, In Defense of the Indians

The website below offers a lot of information about las Casas’s life, opinions, and essays.