The Black Legend

In 1914a book was published by Julian Juderias, called, ‘The Black Legend and the Historical Truth.’ In this book, Juderias described the Spaniards as the people who cause many deaths and extinctions with the Indians. How they were a cruel people and wanted to control this country and make it their own. How the Protestants would try to convert the Indians to Christianity and those who did not coincide with their ways were killed in the name of God! The Black Legend was propaganda to discredit the Spaniards and show the world their true acts. In 1492, explorer Christopher Columbus discovered the new world. Upon arriving in this land, Columbus, wrote of its beauty and its people. Talking of how they wore gold, were the nicest people, and pointed him in the direction of the gold, which was found in the riverbanks of islands. Columbus returned to Spain and months later, seventeen ships with armed man departed for the new world to colonize its people. Other European countries did the same, coming to the Americas in hope of trade, resources, and slaves too. Within the years 1492 and 1493 millions of Native Americans were killed, by not only the Spaniards but also the whole of Europe. Decades after the colonization of the new world, in 1552, a book was published by Bartolomé de Las Casas, called, ‘The Destruction of the Indies,’ accused the Spaniards for the millions of deaths of Indians. The book was translated into many languages and spread across Europe. This book was used to condemn Spain by the other countries and it covered up their own acts. Many things such as the ‘White Legend,’ which showed the gentler side of the Spaniards colonization, have countered the ‘Black Legend’. The ‘Black Legend’ was for the Spain to be discredited and blamed for all the wrongdoings of their neighbors.