Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer: 

Vitoria was writing in the first few decades after Spain conquered the Mexican and Incan kingdoms in the New World. He tried to defend the rights of the native population against the ruthless policies of the conquistadors. In his work "On the Indians" he discusses whether Spain has any right to conquer and take the land of the Indians from them. The question centers on whether Indians are "true masters" of their land. Vitoria believes that the Indians are true masters. What proof does he offer? How does his argument relate to the idea that we saw in Aristotle, namely, that some human beings are natural slaves. Can a true master be a natural slave? Why not?