Just War Theory
Posted on October 17th, 2007 by Texas Liberal
The following is from American Colonies: The Settling Of North America by Alan Taylor.
The specific issue being addressed in the paragraph is the killing and enslavement of the Taino people on Hispaniola and nearby islands by Christopher Columbus.
“Columbus’s slaughter and enslavement of Indians troubled the pious Spanish monarchs, who declared in 1500 that the Indians were “free and not subject to servitude.” But Ferdinand and Isabella failed to close the legal loophole exploited by the Spanish colonizers. It remained legal to enslave Indians taken in any “just war,” which the colonists characterized as any violence they conducted against resisting natives.”
And there you have the self-serving logic of power defined.
