Columbus Fourth Voyage Analysis

Compare Christopher Columbus's letter to Santangel (1493) regarding the first voyage to his letter to Ferdinand and Isabella (1503) regarding the fourth voyage. Discuss the apparent differences in the motivation and purpose of each letter. Also discuss what the letters suggest about the relative value of kings and great cities, the power of Spanish explorers, or the relative importance of the "people without number" who already inhabit the islands. essay
Columbus’s first letter talks about his successes and the lack of opposition from the inhabitants and how they fled immediately upon his arrival. Columbus sends out scouts to look for royalty or cities on the islands. Columbus sent men to look for a king or great cities but nothing of importance

Originally, this system was to help “civilize” local populations as well as give them Christianity, which was viewed as a valuable commodity. Of course, this quickly devolved into what amounted to a prize system where those favored by the Crown would be given essentially governorship over large tracts of land, and were then expected to ensure that economically viable goods were returned to Spain in exchange. These groups were also typically given the task of town building as well, which incurred population growth in the region. This system, alongside what could easily be described as plagues ravaged the local populations and required that new slaves (typically African in origin) be found, further pushing forward the slave trade as early as 1501 (Baym 6). Alongside physical destruction of populations, as a result of the often religious pretext and hard labor, many traditions and cultural history of local tribes were wholly dismantled, leaving Native populations without a viable history or tradition, a curse shared with African slaves as

While his early encounters were similar to almost anyone of the time period, in the fact he didn't consider much of subjugating the local populations while benefiting greatly from it. Having ample supplies and food while local populations barely survived and no consideration or equality had entered his mind until after becoming a priest, he began to see this as what it was; Heresy by disregard for the human spirit and well being. After returning to a seat of power, he argued vehemently against the use of the now perverse Encomiendas system (Baym 39). This resulted in heads of state and religious orders to abolish such practices, but proved to be but one step in this challenge. Casas (and his allies) now also had to deal with people who had directly benefited from this system in the New World, which proved rather