Written in 9th grade writing and work In 3–5 sentences, explain why enslaving the Indigenous peoples of the Americas was largely unsuccessful in filling the need of the plantations. Support your answer by using one piece of qualitative and one piece of quantitative information from Las Casas’s writing.
Enslaving the Indigenous peoples of the Americas was largely unsuccessful in filling the need of the plantations because many of them died from diseases brought by the Europeans, such as smallpox. Las Casas described how in one mining community in Hispaniola, out of the 6000 natives who lived there, only 200 survived within a few months. Additionally, Las Casas argued that the Indigenous peoples were not suited for the hard physical labor required on the plantations, stating that they were “enduring, strong, and robust for carrying heavy loads and quickly becoming exhausted.”
