Christopher Columbus Letter Of Rediscoveries Analysis

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Christopher Columbus, an explorer employed by the Spanish Crown, writes about his long voyage to the Americas. Columbus's letter is a report of his findings during the expedition. He is writing this account to report his findings to his intended audience, the Spanish monarchs. His primary goal in writing this letter is to convince the Spanish Crown of the potential investment and wealth of this newly discovered territory. He depicts the Americas as a land rich with natural resources and receptive inhabitants. This letter is an extremely important document in the history of exploration and colonization, and it fueled the waves of conquest throughout all of Europe. In the written account of his journey, “Letter of Discoveries”, Christopher Columbus …show more content…

He talks about how they traded valuable goods for almost nothing in return, hinting at how naive they were. As soon as they arrived in the Americas, the indigenous people were practically giving the crew valuables. He says, “They manifest the greatest affection towards all of us, exchanging valuable things for trifles, content with the very least thing or nothing at all. No one refuses the asker anything that he possesses; on the contrary they themselves invite us to ask for it.” In this quote, Columbus writes about how generous all of the indigenous people were practically giving the voyagers valuables for practically nothing. These indigenous people expressed this “greatest affection” towards these people through these acts of generosity and kindness. The indigenous people were welcoming and willing to accept them onto their lands. Columbus used the indigenous peoples generosity and kindness to appeal to his audience, Spanish crown, as a push to invest in the colonizations of the Americas because they felt like the people were approachable and curious. Overall, these interactions between Columbus's crew and the indigenous people shows the potential for religious opportunities for spreading Christianity in the newly discovered