When Christopher Columbus set foot on Hispaniola, he encountered a civilization entirely different from his own. Although Columbus seems to be in awe and even respectful of the indigenous people, he is ultimately arrogant and ignorant in the assumption that converting to Christianity would make their lives better. In fact, Columbus’s statements are ironic given he seems to admire the generosity, kindness, and trusting nature of the people while simultaneously wanting them to become more like him and other Europeans. Although these excerpts of Columbus’s diary do not indicate any use of force, he can still be considered a conqueror in his patronizing attitude towards other people. Because Columbus conquers the spirit of the people, taking advantage of their kindness and trust, he can be considered a conqueror of the New World even if he did not use military force in Hispaniola.
Conquering usually connotes the use of force or military power, but there are more subtle methods of wielding power over others than resorting to the use of weapons. Columbus states that the native people “could be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force,” making it sound like Columbus’s intentions were innocent. Yet soon thereafter, the Genovese explorer states, “the people are ingenious, and would be very good servants.” To immediately conclude that the people would be “very good servants” implies that he wishes and intends to conquer the people of Hispaniola. He would prefer to avoid using force, instead conquering their spirits by imposing upon them a foreign faith that worships a dead god. Yet Columbus does intend to conquer them: to turn them into slaves or vassals to his European overlords. Moreover, Columbus does state the people “could be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force,” suggesting that he has already considered using force. He also discusses conversion to Christianity specifically as a means of social control.
Columbus does have reservations about his role as conqueror. For example, he admits “it seemed wrong to me” that the people were so generous to him even when they received what was basically garbage and scraps....
224). The truth about Columbus, Vizenor asserts, is that he was "an untrue concoction, the ruse of his own representation. He is the overstated adventurer, to be sure," and moreover Columbus is the "master of neocolonial celebrations in a constitutional democracy" (Vizenor, 225). The author of this article in the peer-reviewed journal Boundary 2 quotes from the book The Devastation of the Indies (by Bartolome de Las Casas): "Here those Christians
Christopher Columbus, Mariner by S. Morison. Samuel Morison turned a personal life interest into a passion as he studied the life and journeys of Christopher Columbus. Morison believed that given the expedition which Columbus undertook, and the misinformation on which he based his journey that Columbus qualifies as one of the greatest explorers and sailors of all time (Morison, p. 4). While the modern view of Columbus has been rewritten and
Cristoforo Colombo Europeans were interested in exploration before Columbus' journey because they were eager to establish new trade routes. Over the preceding centuries, sophisticated trade routes had developed around the world. There was the Silk Road that took goods between China and Europe. The Middle East was linked with India, Southeast Asia and with the east coast of Africa. However, because of the failure of Christians to dominate the Middle East
Irving's book "A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus" cannot be considered as an adequate authentic source because he put the book together speedily and impulsively, in the process sacrificing the deliberation needed for creating an accurate, reliable, and original work, as preferred by historians. Irving was even persuaded from time to time, perhaps to recompense for the impracticality of undertaking comprehensive and far-reaching research, to fully
legend of Christopher Columbus has lasted for five decades and he still remains a very controversial and mysterious figure who has been described severally as one of the world's greatest mariners of all times, a mystic, a visionary genius, an inexperienced entrepreneur, an unsuccessful administrator, and a wicked and selfish imperialist[footnoteRef:1]. He was a master admiral and navigator of Italian origin whose four main transatlantic voyages of 1492-1493, 1493-1496,
Native Americans Before Christopher Columbus discovered the United States of America, and people from all over the globe including Europe, Asia and Africa migrate to inhabit the New World, it was already home to a group of people. This group of people is known as Native Americans or American Indians. These Native Americans lived as hunter-gatherer societies, with tribes living on pieces of lands as a community, using them for agriculture.
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