In the following essay, Traboulay analyzes the famous 1550-51 debate between Bartolomé de las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda over the nature and rights of Native Americans; unfortunately, Traboulay concludes, subsequent laws to protect Indians did little to slow Spanish greed and cruelty or the near extinction of aboriginal Americans.

In the following excerpt, Traboulay examines Las Casas's arguments in favor of the rights of native Americans and the reception of his ideas in Europe and the colonies.

In the excerpt below, Hanke details Las Casas 's refutation of Sepúlveda's arguments at the council of Valladolid in 1550–51.

In the following excerpt, Pagden details the historical importance of Las Casas 's life and works.

In the excerpt below, originally published in 1966, Enzensberger describes Spanish attempts to discredit Las Casas and praises his analysis of the workings of colonialism.

Gutiérrez is a Peruvian priest who works with the poor in Lima and who is considered one of Latin America's foremost liberation theologians. In this excerpt, he describes the theological grounds for Las Casas's argument opposing the use of armed force against the indigenous peoples of the New World.

In the following excerpt, Hanke, an American professor of Latin American history, briefly reviews the ongoing controversies surrounding the reputation of Las Casas.

Adorno is a Professor of Romance Languages at Princeton University. In the following excerpt, she describes Las Casas's use of Alvar Núñez Cabeza De Vaca's account of the 1527 Spanish expedition to Florida as a source of information for his own Apologética historia sumaria.

In the following excerpt, Starkloff presents Las Casas as a model for a "culturally sensitive " approach to promoting Christian faith.

In the following excerpt, from a biography originally published in 1867, Helps presents a laudatory characterization of Las Casas as a historian, philanthropist, and a highly original thinker.

In the excerpt below, Marty discusses the experience of the modern reader encountering Las Casas 's writings.