Economy, Wealth and Ethics in Bartolome de las Casas and Jose de Acosta

The new economic realities that arose from the Spanish presence in America produced a lively debate as part of the Indian Controversies of the 16th century. Two important theoreticians, the Dominican friar Bartolome de Las Casas (1484-1566) and the Jesuit Juan de Acosta (1540-1600) differed from one another in important ways, but nonetheless they coincided in subordinating the economy and the use of wealth to ethics. Their knowledge of the mercantile practices and uses established in America permitted them to evaluate those practices with a powerful realism.