Five-minute digest
On the American Indians (De Indis)
Summary
On the American Indians (De Indis) is a public lecture, or relection, given by the Dominican theologian Francisco de Vitoria at the University of Salamanca in January 1539. It asks by what right the Spanish had taken possession of the lands and peoples of the Americas. Vitoria spoke after news of the conquest of Peru had reached Spain, and he wrote to a friend that the reports of what had been done there made his blood freeze. The lecture was printed after his death in his collected Relectiones at Lyon in 1557. Vitoria begins with the question whether the Indians, before the Spaniards came, were true masters of their lands and rulers of their own communities. He answers yes. Neither unbelief nor sin destroys a person's ownership or rule, because dominion rests on being made in the image of God and endowed with reason. The Indians had cities, marriages, magistrates, laws and trade, which show the use of reason. Therefore, he concludes, they were true owners and rulers, both in public and in private affairs. He then examines the titles commonly claimed for Spanish rule and rejects most of them. The emperor is not lord of the whole world. The pope has no temporal power over unbelievers and cannot give their lands away. Discovery gives no title, since the lands were not unowned. The Indians' refusal to accept the faith is not a just cause for war, nor are their sins against nature, nor any supposed voluntary submission made under fear. Finally Vitoria considers titles that might be legitimate: the natural right of all peoples to travel and trade peacefully, the right to preach the Gospel, the protection of converts, the defence of innocent people from tyranny and human sacrifice, and a true free choice by the people. Even these, he argues, permit force only within the strict limits of just war. In a companion lecture of June 1539, On the Law of War, he set out those limits. Vitoria's arguments, grounded in natural law and Christian theology, deeply influenced later writers on the law of nations such as Suárez and Grotius. Together with the work of Las Casas, they show that Christian scholars within Spain judged the conquest by the standard of justice.
Top Lessons
Rights grounded in God's image
Vitoria argues that the Indians' rights rest on their human nature, made in God's image with reason, not on their faith. Every person has dignity.
Questioning one's own nation
Vitoria challenged the claims of his own emperor and many theologians. Truth must be followed even when it is unwelcome.
The law among nations
Vitoria spoke of rights that all peoples share, such as travel and trade. This was a foundation of international law.