In 1550–1551, Bartolomé de Las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda debated in a junta at the Council of Valladolid. At the center of the debate was the question of the American Indians’ place in Spanish America. The Council sided with Las Casas, who argued for the Indians’ humanity and rights as well as for their peaceful Christianization and ruled that they were human beings with souls, but the Council’s ruling had little impact on Spanish treatment of the Native Americans.