In 3 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 the sample excerpts below, or elsewhere in Las Casas’s writing.
Enslaving the Indigenous peoples of the Americas was largely unsuccessful in filling the need of the plantations because they were unwilling to work under such harsh conditions, often choosing death over slavery. Las Casas describes how the Indigenous peoples would often commit suicide rather than be enslaved, indicating their strong resistance to forced labor. Additionally, Las Casas notes that even when enslaved, the Indigenous peoples were not as physically capable as African slaves brought in to work on the plantations, further hindering their productivity.
