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Letter To Christopher Columbus

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In the text, it is easy to discern how the Europeans feel about the natives. They are described as “timid and full of terror” many times throughout the letter. Columbus also mentions that he took some of the natives by force from their island, “in order that they might learn from us.” This means that they think of the natives as people who need to be taught, or as people who are living incorrectly. It is also said that the natives attempt to fight but always inevitably run away, “parents abandoning children, and children their parents.” He also writes that the natives are happy to trade things of huge value for things of very small value, like bits of glass, and that he has forbidden his men from taking part in unfair trades such as those. In all of these ways, he describes the natives as cowardly, child-like people who need to be taught how to live the “right” way. …show more content…

Because he describes the natives as timid and cowardly, he thinks of the Spanish as brave and resilient. Columbus mentions how naked the natives are, how little they understand the value of different materials, and even goes so far as to forcefully take natives from their homes in order to teach them. This shows that Columbus thinks that as much as he the natives are children, he the Spanish are mature, educated, and understanding of the correct way to live. Columbus’ belief that the natives are innocent and naive shows that he thinks the Spanish are fully-aware, intelligent, and competent, in

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Another misconception of Christopher Columbus was that he believed that if they were friendly to the native people it was going to be easy to manipulate them. Christopher Columbus thought that the native people would convert to Christianity. However, the native people didn’t nearly have a religion, but they already had beliefs that they weren’t

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He was inviting the audience to come and take over their land. He said in the letter that he already took possession of an area. He made it sound like the natives were too trusting and that they did not deserve to live on the good land. He said they did not refuse anything and gave a lot for a little. “They are content with whatever trifle of whatever kind it may be that is given to them, whether it be of value or valueless.

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The new world was a land full of untapped resources and land for European nations. Spain, Britain, and France all had different reasons to explore the Americas, but none of them knew of the Native Americans. The Natives were seen as both valuable and obstructive to the European nations and so each nation treated them differently. The Native Americans had a positive relationship with the French, but negative relationships with the British and Spanish.

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When the Europeans began settling in the new land many cultural differences began to arise. Consequently, this left the English settlers and the natives with fear and confusion. The natives of the new land had never seen anything like the Europeans; they had white skin, huge ships, dressed differently, and they had many different weapons. Christopher Columbus in his narrative, Report of the First Voyage, described them as “timid beyond cure” (“Report of the First Voyage” 18). He also stated that when he would men ashore to contact the natives “people without number have come to them, and as soon as they saw them coming, they fled; even a father would not stay for his son” (“Report of the First Voyage” 18).

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Columbus believed these people were easy to manipulate and take control over therefore, that's what he did. Although, he was told to treat these people with kindness he did the complete opposite expecting there to be no cause. He treated them horribly with brutality and severe violence. He even noted in one of his journals that the natives looked like they'd be good servants. Columbus also put natives to work for profits.

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Columbus was the first messenger sent to the Americas from a Western civilization and he wrote, “As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts,” (Zinn) which explains how Columbus wanted to take over America and he was willing to constrain the Natives just to do

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What he did not anticipate was to set foot on the new world, the Bahama islands and to meet strange people that were naked. The natives, also known as Taino Indian Tribe, welcomed Columbus with food, water, gifts and open arms while some of them were hiding from the strange people with their strange, yet shiny, items that they have on. Years passed since the initial voyage and Columbus had been sailing to and back from the island Espanola and with every voyage he would bring back something to the monarchs as a souvenir or a gift for the King and Queen of Spain. As for the Taino Tribe they were not so lucky, as they hoped to be and for reasons because when Columbus first came to their island he took certain amount of their people with him, by force, back to Spain and since then they have been keeping their distances and hoping that they do not come back ever again. Sadly their hopes were shattered as Columbus came back with his crew, however, Columbus was unaware that he also brought with him something that would kill the Taino Tribe.

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Any Native they viewed as a problem was exposed to a genocide. Europeans wanted to prevent the Natives from gaining power to overthrow them and take their land back. Anyone that survived the atrocity was forced to live on a small section of land called a reservation. These reservations had very little natural resources which made it harder for the Natives to survive. Europeans also purposely introduced diseases that they knew Natives did not have immunity to because they hadn’t been exposed to them.

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Many European explorers wanted to become wealthier in their travels. This is shown in Letter of Christopher Columbus to Luis de Sant Angel, where the text states, “I can give them as much gold, spices, cotton, and as many Indian slaves as they choose to send for.” Christopher Columbus is requesting that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella fund his journey. He promises to make them rich in return. This demonstrates how explorers, like Columbus, were seeking gold and other treasures when they began exploring.

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