Christian View of the Natives in the New World
Some would say that Christopher Columbus was a devout Christian. He believed that "his was a mission that would put Christian civilization on the offensive after centuries of Muslim ascendancy" (Dor-Ner 45). Columbus' original mission was to find a western route to the Indies. But when that failed, his mission became clear: convert these new people to Christianity. Throughout this paper I will show the view of the natives by Columbus and Christendom and how these views changed over a span of fifty years.
Columbus made it very clear that he was doing this not only for Ferdinand and Isabella, but also for the faith that he was subject to (Dor-Ner 150). He may not have always had the
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All of Columbus' wishes for a peaceful trade and conversion were destroyed. Dor-Ner sums up this event nicely when he says this: "As the inevitable conflict of races developed, each side would see the other as alien, less than human, and thus not worth the same consideration as one's own people (Dor-Ner 208).
Columbus' entire attitude changed. He started looking at them in a different way. He immediately came to the conclusion that these people would make excellent slaves. There was a kind of duality to his thinking. On one page of his journal he writes about how he believes that the natives could easily be made free and converted. A little further down he writes that they'd make good skilled servants. Within two days time he then wrote that "with fifty men you could subject everyone and make them do what you wished (Dor-Ner 152). You can see how quickly his attitude changed.
He didn't immediately begin to capture these people for slaves. Ferdinand and Isabella gave Columbus specific instructions for the second voyage not to injure them and to only try to convert them. Columbus still went searching for gold on the second voyage. It wasn't until the third voyage that he started sending slaves back to Spain. Columbus blatantly disobeyed the orders of the Crown. He desperately wanted to do something that could make up for the gold and riches that were never found.
With the return of the
if he would have asked that question and treated the Native Americans differently there would not have been so much sorrow and death to his name. Christopher Columbus did not only force them to look for good out of their will but he kidnapped and made the Native Americans work under disgusting conditions in mines in the process to find gold. By this time Christopher Columbus had made his mark on the Native Americans it was too late to come back from the disturbing trauma he and his men had put on the Native Americans. He also assumed that they did not have a god they worshipped and he saw how quick the Native Americans were fast when it came to learning new things. So, in his mind he thought that the Native Americans would be good slaves and as well as good Christians. As Christopher Columbus did this he would enslave a few of Native Americans at a time and ship them back to where he belonged just to prove that he was doing something productive to the king and queen.
Refusing the wishes of the queen Columbus forced a policy of slavery over the native population to rebuild the settlement and explore for gold believing it would benefit him but his efforts produced small gold and hatred from the whole population
Christopher Columbus was a greedy man. The deal that was made with Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand made it to where Columbus received 10% of all valuable ‘merchandise’ such as pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, spices, and any other objects that he ‘acquired’ in any territory that is claimed (https://www.biography.com/.amp/news/christopher-columbus-day-facts ). Columbus was also to be named admiral, Viceroy, and Governor or the land he claims for Spain. Columbus stood to gain wealth and power in this agreement. When Christopher Columbus sailed West, he might have been going on good intentions, however, when he got to the lands, Columbus had only saw his greed.
When Columbus saw the people on this land, he assumed they were people from the West Indies, therefore he called them “Indians”. In Columbus’ letter to Lord Sanchez, he described the people as “savages, [who are] naturally timid and full of fear” (document 13). In document 2, his letter to Santangel, he goes so far as to say that when he tried to establish trading relationships with the Indians they acted primitive and uncivilized. Columbus also states in document 2 that he hopes they will become fond of the Spanish and establish trade relationships as had been requested. Obviously this would be a difficult feat because of the lack of coherence between cultures. Columbus worked very hard to ensure the development of trade relations. As seen in document 9, Columbus writes many letters back to the King and Queen of Spain reporting on the status of his mission and updates on the relations with the people. One key detail from this document is Columbus’ opening line where he includes the statement “in obedience to your Highness's’ commands.” This is significant because it shows that Columbus is working under the King and Queen's commands and that he is not entirely to blame for his actions. Columbus should not be held responsible due to the fact that he was abiding the orders of the King and
During the 1400’s, a physical connection was made between Europe and the Native Americans by Christopher Columbus. Today, he is looked upon as a hero for discovering the land that the United States of America currently occupies. Beneath the glorified image of Columbus, there lies something much darker that people often overlook. Although Columbus began the migration of Europeans to America, he did not discover it first. In addition, the new formed connection between the Europeans and the Americas paved way for the genocide of many of the indigenous people.
The settlement patterns and attitude towards nations among the Spanish, French, and English can be compared and contrasted through their social goals. Christopher Columbus arrived in the world in 1492, and his voyage marked a new era. Upon his contact with the natives, he tried to develop a friendly attitude with them and he attempted to exchange good with them peacefully (Doc 1). His purpose, at first, was to create a new and unique society with the natives in the mix of such a world he believed to be India.
The natives that Christopher Columbus had come against were not in opposition of him but wanted to be able to hear him out and see what he could offer them. From his first voyage, Columbus had sent Indians back to Spain with him as a trophy to flaunt to the King and Queen of Spain for the recognition he should receive up on his return from the New World. In the Letter from Christopher Columbus (1493) he gives a description of how he gains their trust, “they are timid and full of fear… As soon as they see that they are safe, and have laid aside all fear, they are very simple and honest, and exceedingly liberal with all they have, none of them refusing anything he may possess when he is asked for it,” (Page 300). Columbus and his men were never
Columbus wrote that the natives would be great servants because they’re obedient, strong, healthy, young, and skilled. Columbus was one of the first European to suggest that the natives should become slaves. This indirectly led to the TransAtlantic Slave Trade. After many attacks on the natives, Chief Hatuey felt such a disgust for the Spaniards that when he and his people were offered eternal life and redemption in Heaven if they converted to Catholicism, they refused because the Spaniards were Catholic.
When Christopher Columbus entered the Americas in 1942, one of his first tasks were to deal with the Indigenous people, who, compared to the Europeans, were much less advanced. Europe began waging wars of conquest to get resources for trade, and missionaries were brought in to teach the Indigenous people Christianity. Although some Europeans viewed the civilizing of the Native Americans and the new World necessary and just, many others believed that taking dominance over their culture was wrong.
Columbus's arrogance and exploitation regarding slavery began on his second voyage. Ferdinand and Isabella had ordered that the natives be treated kindly. In opposition to this order, Columbus began exporting slaves in great numbers in 1494. It was because he was not making any real profit elsewhere on the island that he decided to exploit the one source of income--people--he had in abundance (Fernandez-Armesto 107). When word reached him that the crown did not want him sending more slaves, Columbus ignored it. He was desperate to make his expeditions profitable enough for Ferdinand and Isabella's continued support. Evidently he was not reprimanded because thousands of Indians were exported. By the time they reached Spain, usually a third of them were dead. Bartolome de las Casas wrote that one Spaniard had told him they did not need a compass to find their way back to Spain; they could simply follow the bodies of floating Indians who had been tossed overboard when they died (17). It is horrible to consider that the exportation of these natives resulted
The Spanish were the first European settlers in the Americas when Christopher Columbus in October 12, 1492 while searching for a new route to Asian Indies, discovered new land. Columbus wrote to the king of Spain telling him that the Americas was kind of heaven, full of thousand of different kind trees, with prosperous land. This letter has helped understand the motives of the Spaniards for colonizing the Americas, the virgin continent, untouched lands, full of gold and precious metals as Columbus described in his letter. Columbus also told King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella that the natives we simple, timid people who went about naked and lived simple lives in an environment like that of the Garden of Eden, and that they can also be made Christians. The monarchs saw this as an opportunity to impose their modes of civilization upon this vast population, justifying the colonization of the New World as the white man’s duty. Motivating and accelerating the occupation to the Americas. Since in fact the Spaniard kingdom initial motives to venture out into the oceans were richness and to acquire goods that were rarely available. The Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella were also wanted to establish missionaries to purify and reform.
Columbus’s voyages had profound effects on both Europeans and Native Americans in the years after Columbus’ discovery of the New World. The voyages led by Columbus introduced many new types of plants to Europe, African and Asia. These crops included potatoes, tomatoes, pineapples, corns… etc. This global transfer of crops and animals set a stage for globe’s economic development, and it was known as the Columbian Exchange. On the other hand, the contact between Europeans and Native Americans also had cons. The biggest issue by that time was probably the transmission of diseases. European who entered the New World brought deadly diseases with them. These diseases included measles, chicken pox, smallpox and mumps. Native Americans were not happy about it, because they had not developed any immunity to these diseases. As the result, many people died because the illness spread to the rest of the Americas. As for a religious point of view, the ways Europeans treated the Natives were different. Europeans could be split into two different groups: people who glorified and people who vilified the Natives. French were part of the group of people who glorified the Natives. Natives were seen as living in perfect harmony
Christopher Columbus and Bartolome de la Casas are similar in most ways but have a major difference. They were both explorers of the New World and came to convert the natives into Catholics. The two explorers worked on the Spanish’s behalf. Columbus wrote accounts of the New World in his journal. La Casas wrote the Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies. Both gave accounts of the native people they saw. Columbus’s journal entries aim to give a positive light on the Spanish and their relationship with the natives. La Casas’s Brief Account does the opposite. While this is true, both explores worked faithfully in favor of the Catholic Church, but they each held different beliefs on the treatment of natives as slaves.
During the Age of Exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries, many people from European countries sailed across the Atlantic ocean in search of gold, spices, and other valuable materials. The value of these materials increased drastically when they were gathered straight from the source; this factor influenced many prominent explorers to seek out and bring back these goods on their own for personal gain. Examples of prominent explorers consist of Christopher Columbus of Spain, Vasco da Gama of Portugal who sailed in order to obtain spices, silk, and porcelain as well as wanting to spread Catholicism, and Walter Raleigh from England who explored purely for treasure. When exploring, Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama approached the indigenous people in a similar manner. They viewed the natives as conquerable and considered them to live in a simple society. Walter Raleigh addressed the indigenous people differently, however, rather than seeing them as inferior to him and his countrymen, he approached them with a neutral mindset and was often respectful in regards to their differing beliefs. The contrast in how Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama approach the native people in relation to Walter Raleigh is solely dependent on religion and how the spread of Catholicism was Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama’s main focus when on their exploration.
Columbus never even walked on what we now call the United States of America. Where ever he did land, he was motivated only by his own greed. Columbus came for the gold, spices, and slaves. In his diary, he mentioned gold 75 times just in the first two weeks, alone (Katz 13). Indians who weren’t able to find gold, were punished by having their hands cut off. Most slaves died en route to Spain. Many Indian females were taken as sex slaves, some as young as nine and ten years old. Columbus forced cooperation from the Indians by disfiguring them and using them as examples. Even worse, he used hunting dogs to tear the Indians apart. Many natives committed suicide, and murdered their own children to save them from such a horrible life. Those who survived the voyage were worked to death. Still, another huge portion of these Indians died from disease brought over by Columbus and his