Abstract
Since the discovery of the Caribbean and South America, these territories had been progressively ruled all along the sixteenth-century by Spanish settlers, who looked for labour forces to exploit the new lands for revenue of the Crown and for themselves; and also by missionaries sent by the Crown and the Church to Christianize the Indians. This conquest of the New World had been considered as an extension of the reconquest of Spain, also, the Spanish government wished these new territories to be integrated smoothly and peacefully into the Spanish system of government, and so, that is why Spanish settlers and missionaries had been sent. At the same time, however, ecclesiastics and the Castilian government agreed that the conquest should be done in respect of the rights of the natives and prevent the plundering of the conquerors. As a result, many questions about the way Spanish people should treat the natives of the Caribbean and South America aroused along the sixteenth-century and led to many debates between the advocates of the Indian cause and the defenders of the conquest.As a result, we will examine each of these themes and see why they triggered off a debate and what the arguments of both parts were.
