adopted a simple approach. They traveled by night, stopping at midnight outside a chosen village. Before they entered, they declared loudly: "Princes and Indians, there is one God, one pope, and one king of Castile, who is lord of this country. Come at once and render him obedience, or we shall make war on you, kill you, and put you into slavery" (T. S. Giles). Some may argue that this behavior was not the fault nor the responsibility of Christopher Columbus, but some of the acts happened under his command. Two of Columbus’ subordinates led a campaign of violence against the native inhabitants of Hispaniola, in revenge for the murder of their comrades at Navidad. They killed and captured many natives, taking them as slaves, seemingly with the knowledge and approval of Columbus.The mistreatment to the Indians did not go unnoticed by the new settlers to the New World. A small group of Dominicans under the leadership of Pedro de Cordoba arrived on the island of Hispaniola in 1510. Confronted immediately with the terrible abuse of the Indians, they concluded that the situation could not be reconciled with the law of Christ. They composed a sort of communal sermon that they all signed on the fourth Sunday of Advent, 1511. It was delivered by Friar Antonio de Montesinos before the nobles of the island, among whom was Admiral Diego Columbus, son of Christopher. Some of the sermon has been preserved: It is I who am the voice of one crying in the Desert of this Island. It says that you are all in a state of mortal sin because of your cruelty towards an innocent race. You oppress and ravage the Indians by the work you impose on them to procure gold. This oppression leads them to their death. You wage destructible wars on them without any reason; you have no concern for their Christian life who work for you. Yet, are theses people not men? Are you not obligated to love them as yourselves? Be warned that in the state in which you find yoursel...
