In a quote from a letter from Christopher Columbus to King Ferdinand on July 7, 1503: “Gold is most excellent; gold is treasure, and he who possesses it does all he wishes to in this world." (UnderstandingPrejudice.org) Ever since the first inklings of European expansion, explorers like Christopher Columbus had money and power of the mind, an ideology that has profoundly affected our world in the modern age, while resonating thousands of years into the past. Christopher Columbus would find patrons who shared this ideology in the form of the king and queen of Spain, who would provide the funds and ships necessary to launch Spain and Columbus into the mainstream of history argued as the most important (and possibly infamous) exploratory sail of man. In the old motto of “God, Gold, and Glory,” the actions that Christopher Columbus partook in the name of Spain begins to compound into an understanding that plants its roots in empire and Christianity, a continuance of perceivable inevitability since the early Romans. There are three main reasons that Columbus embarked on his journey with the support of Spain; the promise of gold and colonial expansion, an exuberant fervor on the part of Columbus during his exploration, and an increasingly competitive imperial machine controlling Europe at the time.
First, it is important to address the massive desire for wealth that countries experienced in the Age of Exploration. Kingdoms for the most part stayed intertwined in the system of
- Once Columbus starts to talk about gold his regard to human nature goes out the window. He basically says that each colonist that finds gold must tell of the amount and where he found it. I think that all of the rules put forth are to make people hand their gold over to the monarch. When I read this I think of Columbus as a person who thinks it’s all about me.
When Christopher Columbus sailed to America he was happy and proud of himself because he was the first to discover the land which is now named america, and he was also happy because he found out that there were a lot of resources found on that land which he found was necessary to take and use. According to the document A “Day after day they looked for land;They dreamed of trees and rocks and sand” this shows that the purposely are trying to find land for them to dock and discover. Additionally according to the document A “Columbus sailed on to find some gold To bring back home, as he'd been told.He made the trip again and again,Trading gold to bring to Spain” this shows that he was there not just to discover land but to make riches too and
Columbus’s big plan for Hispaniola since the beginning was to take advantage of the natives and take their land, and the gold he believed was located there. He built the first fort in the Western Hemisphere, and left some of his men to find and store gold there. Columbus had to ask for a little more help from their majesties, he convinced them by saying he would take them “as much gold as they need ... and as many slaves as they ask” (Zinn,6 ) Columbus’s plans affected the natives, in many ways; first of all they were going to lose their land, and also they were going to be taken captive for slave labor.
One would think the famed 1492 voyage by the Italian sailor known as Christopher Columbus Italy logically funded the voyage, right? Well, actually that is not the case! Columbus managed to convince Spanish monarchs Ferdinand V and Isabella I to fund his voyage to find a new trade route to India. Christopher Columbus, known as Cristobal Colon in Spanish, actually didn’t go to the Spaniards first; he actually went to officials in Portugal, France and England, but he they turned him away due to disputes about the size of the earth. In 1491, he convinced the Spanish monarchy to fund his voyage. The Spaniards provided him with two small ships called caravels and one larger type of ship called a carrack. They were fifteen to thirty meters long. On August 3rd, Columbus set voyage with the three ships: the Nina (originally named la Santa Clara), the Pinta (called la Pintada by the sailors), and the Santa Maria (actually named la Santa Gallega or Maria Galante). He arrived on Hispaniola on October 12. But why would a foreign country be interested in funding a foreign explorer? There were several reasons why King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella supported the voyage of Columbus. Those reasons were the monarch’s wish to become a world power, their want to trade with Asia, and lastly, to spread their religion. There were various other reasons, but these were the main three.
The Europeans main goal revolved around the stability of power of the Spanish Crown. The Spanish Crown was focused on expanding their military so they needed resources such as gold to pay for the constantly increasing military budget. Columbus used this idea to help get resources such as, boats, men, food and weapons from the Spanish Crown. This is important because it describes the desperate need of gold that the Spaniards had which ultimately led to the gruesome acts they committed.
Other false ideas taught about Columbus deal with what is left out. His original motivation may have been to find another trade route to the Orient, but his real motivation, in subsequent expeditions to America, was money. By 1493 Columbus had planned to plunder Haiti, according to Michele de Cuneo, who had been on Columbus's first voyage. Columbus, himself, said to Ferdinand and Isabella that his motivation was gold, and " gold constitutes treasure; and he who has it does all he wants in the world, and can even lift souls up to Paradise" (Lies p34). Another side of Columbus
On May in 1486 almost a year after Columbus had enter Spain, he was finally allowed to meet with the queen who is said to be known for her great judgment in choosing the right man for the right job. The queen turned down Christopher’s proposals several times before giving it any true thought. The queen sent out her confessor to examine the great project to see if it was feasible. For the next six months Columbus lived the worst days of his life. Christopher was subjected to continuous prejudice even though he knew his great project would open new pathways to maritime achievement and opportunity, but still the public viewed his revolutionary planes as a crackpot idea. Very few of the queen’s staff were in favor of the great quest except for one, Diego de Deza who granted Columbus 12,000 maravedis a year, which was about $83 in gold. It was enough to support a man like Columbus. Columbus had simple tastes.
Spanish exploration and settlement of the western hemisphere lasted from 1492 until 1898, from Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to the loss of its last colonies in the Spanish-American war. As with all major seafaring European nations, they were in pursuit of the fabled Northwest Passage, a direct route to Asia. This was how Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the Americas, on his quest for this route. The Spanish were after more though, specifically gold and spread of the Christian faith. With this page we will discuss multiple historical figures, places, and ideas that emphasized what the Spanish found most important at the time, God and gold.
Christopher Columbus was a well-known traveler who originated from Italy. Christopher Columbus had a legacy that was troubled with disagreements for reason of his treatment towards the native population. His journeys encouraged mass amount of Europeans to obtain interest in taking over the Americas. Throughout his letter written to Sant’ Angel, Columbus explains his emotion in being very satisfied with the results he has revised throughout his first voyage. Christopher Columbus then goes into detail concerning his appreciation to the royal King and Queen, Ferdinand and Isabella as he mentions, “I passed over the Indies with the fleet which the most illustrious King and Queen, our lords, gave to me” (Columbus 8). Christopher Columbus creates a powerful image for the King and Queen because he trusts that the maintenance of Ferdinand and Isabella throughout his journey was an incredible aspect that resulted in his spectacular accomplishment.
He requests gold commonly from the natives and inquiries every one of the islands with expectations of finding more. He sees the natives as a wellspring of efficient advantage, planning to utilize them for functional purposes. Despite the fact that there are no signs of enormous measures of gold and spices in the New World, Columbus keeps on requesting more Spanish support with a specific end goal to seek after his yearning for acclaim. All through his letters, Columbus conveys to King Ferdinand and his wife an explanation behind his investigation. He specifies his heavenly reason as his entitlement to the New World. He imagines that God has picked him to find and develop this freshly discovered land. Columbus has included both his God given right and his own expectations in his writings, however he utilizes his awesome reason to legitimize his craving for riches, greatness, and control of the Indians. He has basically secured his own selfish ways with a heavenly slant predominant among numerous peers and “learning men” of his time, in this way making an unadulterated mental self view for
Christopher Columbus was an Italian-born man that managed to win the favor and funding of the Spanish monarchy. With this funding, Columbus led the most well-known voyage in human history: the voyage to the New World in 1492. This voyage laid the foundation for future colonies and, eventually, many nations in the world. However, this voyage would not have gone past conceptualization if Columbus had not been supported by the Spanish monarchy. While a variety of factors affected the monarchy’s decision, the primary factors were Columbus’ experience in navigation, assistance Columbus received from Jewish supporters, and the capitulations laid out by Columbus himself.
There were various reasons why the apocalyptic beliefs in Europe influenced the first European voyages of exploration. First, the failure to reconquer Jerusalem from Mamluks did not deter Europeans from having a spiritual revival, especially within the monks of the Franciscan and military orders of Iberia who were believers in the revelations (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 464-466). Second, since the second coming of Christ could only occur in Jerusalem, Christians had a sense of urgency to reconquer the holy city (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 466). The training and education Christopher Columbus received influenced influenced and prepared him for his voyages. As von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow infer that Columbus obtained substantial
Christopher Columbus is known for being an explorer and is said to have made one of the most important voyages in world history without even wanting to. Something else that is also believed is that he “opened up” the Americas to European nations, which changed the course of American history. Before he went on his voyage though, he was in need of resources. So he asked Portugal, France, Italy among many other countries but they all denied Columbus and thought his statement was incorrect. Columbus’ statement was that he had found a faster way to get to Asia than the Portuguese had, which was going around the continent of Africa. Columbus lived a majority of his life in Spain, so when it came to setting sail for the west, Spain was one of the first nations he asked for funding. Though it took Columbus a little more than a few years to convince a nation to fund his voyage, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand from Spain subsequently granted to endow him in 1492. He would then leave for “Asia” on August 3, 1492. There are many unanswered questions and thoughts on why Spain decided to finally fund Columbus’ voyage, especially since he was an explorer that was born in Italy.
According to Howard Zinn it was for the Gold. Zinn claims that it was money and power that were driving forces behind Columbus. He tells us that Spain promised him a 10% cut of all the gold found, governorship of any new found lands, and the new title of Admiral.[2]
During the late 1400s, many technological innovations has increased the development of navigation and sailing. These innovations opened the doors to the Age of Exploration, an era that started in the 15th century, where it’s effects are still seen in the world today. It began as few mere explorations to numerous expeditions. An age where Europeans would go explore, expand, and colonize new found land. It was also known as a race between the European countries for fame, wealth, and power. Due to these explorations, the trade network has significantly expanded, which improved the European economy and has increased the geographic knowledge of the world. The cause of these explorations arose due to the appealing demand for fame, wealth, and knowledge as well as to increase the faith of Christianity.