A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies () is an account written by the Spanish Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas in 1542 (published in 1552) about the mistreatment of and atrocities committed against the Indigenous peoples of the Americas in colonial times and sent to then prince Philip II of Spain. In 1516, Las Casas was granted the title of Protector of the Indians by Cardinal Cisneros after he submitted a report on their population decline due to harsh labor and mistreatment by colonial officials. During the time when Las Casas served as the Protector of the Indians, several clerics from the Order of Saint Jerome attempted to reform systems which used the native populace as laborers. However, Las Casas found their attempts insufficient to protect the welfare of the Indians, and returned to Spain to appeal to the Spanish monarch in 1517.
From 1517 to 1540, Las Casas traveled back and forth between Spain and Spanish colonies in Latin America numerous times, struggling to find a common ground between Spanish authorities and his own attempts to improve the conditions of Indian subjects in Spanish dominions.]]
It was written for Prince Philip II of Spain. Las Casas appeals to the Prince's pathos throughout his account. One of the stated purposes for writing the account is his fear of Spain coming under divine punishment, and his concern for the souls of the Native peoples. In addition, "they sent the Males to the Mines to dig and bring away the Gold, which is an intolerable labor; but the Women they made use of to Manure and Till the ground, which is a toil most irksome even to Men of the strongest and most robust constitutions, allowing them no other food but Herbage, and such kind of unsubstantial nutriment, so that the Nursing Women's Milk was exsiccated and so dryed up, that the young Infants lately brought forth, all perished." By comparing what historians know today about colonial Latin Ame rica, with the descriptions and recommendations given by De Las Casas in A Short Account, they are able to understand more about Europeans' biases, prejudices, and outlook on the colonization of the Americas. De Las Casas' A Short Account was a revised history of the conquest, in the way that he includes facts that would aid him in his argument. As such, he did not focus on or mention the effects of disease as a cause of suffering for the native people.