The Spaniards treated the Indians of the West Indies most
harshly and forced them to work in gold mines and on sugar plantations. The
hard labor, to which the Indians were unaccustomed, broke down their health,
and almost the entire native population disappeared within a few years after
the coming of the whites. This terrible tragedy was not repeated on the
mainland, for the Spanish government stepped in to preserve the aborigines from
destruction. It prohibited their enslavement and gave them the protection of
humane laws. Though these laws were not always well enforced, the Indians of
Mexico and Peru increased in numbers under Spanish rule and often became
prosperous traders, farmers, and artisans.
CONVERSION OF THE INDIANS
The Spaniards succeeded in winning many of the Indians to
Christianity. Devoted monks penetrated deep into the wilderness and brought to
the aborigines, not only the Christian religion, but also European
civilization. In many places the natives were gathered into permanent villages,
or "missions," each one with its church and school. Converts who
learned to read and write often became priests or entered the monastic orders.
The monks also took much interest in the material welfare of the Indians and
taught them how to farm, how to build houses, and how to spin and weave and
cook by better methods than their own.
