Christopher Columbus American Colonies

During the late 15th century, Christopher Columbus persuaded Queen Isabella to sponsor him on a trip across the sea in hopes of finding riches. Columbus sailed on his voyage across the sea and eventually came across land which he believed to be Asia. The island Columbus actually landed on however, would come to be known as the “New World”. Even though he had not reached Asia, he was pleasantly surprised with what he had discovered. Columbus discovered land rich in gold and inhabited with people he believed were perfect candidates for slavery. Columbus returned to Spain and delivered this news to the queen, who believed forming colonies in the Americas was a good way to increase the country’s wealth. Soon, a voyage was underway to form colonies

Pedro Caval, a Portuguese navigator, stumbled upon Brazil when his voyage took a westward course along the ocean. He continued on his voyage but the Portuguese came back in 1501 with intentions of exploring and discovering the land. The first major comparison the Portuguese and the Spanish had were their interest in setting up colonies in these newly found lands. Both countries saw an opportunity to expand their land and possibly their wealth. The Spanish however, were exceedingly more forward with forming a permanent colony in the Caribbean right away. The reason for this was because they knew there was a possibility for gaining expediential wealth available to them. When Europeans first arrived on the island Hispaniola, the natives were willing to trade gold for just about anything they offered them. Queen Isabella heard about the potential riches in these lands and soon more than 2000 colonist had arrived in Hispaniola. These new colonist supported themselves by searching for gold on the islands highlands. The Portuguese did not have a commodity of such value in their newly established colony; instead the natives in this land had brazilwood, a type of dyewood. The Portuguese at the time were trying to develop their commercial empire in Asia, so King Manuel I decided that establishing a significant government in the country was unnecessary. For the first two

Columbus is quoted saying that the natives were “exceedingly straightforward and trustworthy and most liberal with all that they have” along with being “readily submissive”. As said before the natives were also more than willing to trade their gold for whatever simple tools the Europeans were willing to offer them. The Spanish did not return the hospitality however, forcing the local natives to work for them and capturing many more along the Caribbean to make them slaves. The population of the natives in the Caribbean began to rapidly decline in the years following the Europeans arrival. Many of them died battling the Spanish in attempts of getting the intruders to leave, while many others could not handle the work the Europeans were forcing upon them. The Spanish who engaged in these acts of slavery believed they were in the right the entire way through. Their reasoning for this was since the natives rejected Christianity, they had what was coming to them. While this may come off as barbaric, many people thought this way in the 15th century. The Portuguese did not treat the natives of Brazil with such hostility when they arrived however. The natives and the Portuguese were able to coexist equally for a number of years, most natives traded their dyewood logs for knives and other simple tools happily with the new immigrants. Some of the Portuguese men even ended up