Misinterpreting The Tainos Contributions To Columbus

The Arawak people welcomed Columbus and his men as if they were gods. In return, Columbus took advantage of their generosity and responded with enslavement, torture, violence and mass killings. A person who takes advantage of an innocent person or group in these ways is not a hero, a good leader, or a good person.

Regarding the article, “Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress, Dr. Howard Zinn argues that there is another perspective to consider as to Christopher Columbus’ adventures. Dr. Howard Zinn’s position is that history books have omissions of slavery, death and innocent bloodshed that accompanied the adventures of Christopher Columbus. In the following statements Dr. Howard Zinn describes his perspective; “The writer began the history, five hundred years ago, of the European invasion of the Indian Settlement in the Americas. That beginning, when you read Las Casas- even if his figures are exaggerations (were there 3 million Indians to begin with, as he says or 250,000, as modern historians calculate) is conquest, slavery, and death. When

Iroquois Creation Myths and Christopher Columbus Letters The difference in writing styles between the Iroquois Creation Myth and Christopher Columbus’ letters is very significant. The Iroquois Creation Myth is much more mystical and entertaining while Columbus’ letters are more formal and simply recounting events. Though the two pieces of literature have their differences, there are still some similarities. The Iroquois Creation Myths focus on nature and animals. Likewise, when Christopher Columbus is writing his letters, he describes the nature around him in great detail.

Chapter 1 – COLUMBUS, THE INDIANS, AND HUMAN PROGRESS Thesis Statement: Zinn argues that the perspective of indigenous people should not be omitted and argues that their perspectives are as significant as any other. He provides insight and perspectives of the Indians to describe how the heinous acts of the Europeans were unjustified. He also discusses that the Europeans had a continual motive of exploring during that time which was to increase the power/authority of the Spanish Crown by whatever means necessary, usually leading to violent wars.

A People’s History of the United States Name: Rendale Rose K. Dahuya Date: August 8,

He first laid foot on Caribbean soil and encountered the Taino people, who densely inhabited the islands of Cuba, Trinidad, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. Justified by El Requerimiento, Columbus and other conquerors seized entire lands originally owned by natives (Document 5). Following this, he put the natives to work on extremely dangerous silver mines. Mercury, a toxic element to humans, was used to extract silver from the earth. As a result of this, many workers got mercury poisoning. In an effort to prevent their children from working in the mines, many families would mutilate their offspring. Haciendas, which were essentially Spanish plantations, also caused death and destruction to the area. Natives were used as the main labor forces on them and were treated as slaves. The harsh working conditions combined with the ruthless hacienda owners led to the death of hundreds of thousands of natives. Any natives with an intent of rebellion against the Spanish conquistadors were burnt at the stake (Document 7). The deaths of natives grew exponentially as time passed. In the years following Columbus’ voyages to the Caribbean, the entire Taino group was

Columbus viewed the culture of the native people of the islands as inferior to his own which resulted in a belief that he and his men have the right to harm and treat them harshly. ‘…On my arrival, I had taken some Indians by force from the first island that I came…’ By enslaving some of the Indians, Columbus showed that he believed that he had the right to enslave them because they were inferior to him in some way. ‘…to bear witness that he before all others took possession of that island for the King and Queen…’ With this statement, Columbus stated the belief that the Island did not even belong to the native people to begin

The Legacy of Christopher Columbus Abstract After many centuries, a lot of controversy still surrounds Christopher Columbus. He remains to be a strange figure in history regarded as a famous explorer and a great mariner who made many discoveries in his days. Other people still regard him as a visionary and a

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.

Though the main problem was the King and Queen of Spain, we cannot blame them entirely as well. In this case, it may not have been a human that caused the crime. It is true that Columbus’s men did the killing, and the King and Queen of Spain did give out the orders that forced Columbus to get more gold, but what caused them to think like this, what caused them to go on a plunder for gold and not worry about being the Tainos. The system of empire is to blame for all this. The European society of that time told them that mankind had to have property in order to feel secure and dominant. The more property someone owned, the more powerful the person. In order to get more wealth, Columbus’s men forced the Tainos into slavery, and justifying themselves

When one thinks of Christopher Columbus, he or she might think some of the following things: Columbus was a great explorer, he discovered America, and that he knew that the world was round. While some might be true, teachers for younger students tend to put false images about Christopher Columbus in people’s heads about what he

Everyone knows the saying Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. However, there is a lot more to Christopher Columbus than what everyone was taught in elementary school through high school. Columbus is thought to be a hero, but just being classified as a hero is a fallacy. Several works including Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies and The Lies my Teacher Told Me have been published about the real Christopher Columbus and his legacy.

The people on the island had no clue what a sword was so they would cut themselves when they would touch the blade. Christopher Columbus thought it was going to be easy if needed to fight with them. They had no way of protecting themselves. He and his men ended up killing these poor people little by little. Even when they tried to help them out by directing them to find gold or help them when they got hurt. On his trip when he arrived in Hispaniola the Taino people living on the island welcomed and were gentle with him and his men. When Columbus left the island he left forty of his men and those men raped and fought the Tainos after they helped them out.2 On his second trip Columbus set up a permanent colony and again his men raped, stole gold ornaments and food that provoked war with the Tainos. The Spanish killed tens of thousands out of population and the ones who did survive the Spanish ended up chopping off their hands if they did not provide their allotment.3 At the end the Spanish wiped out the islands either by killing the people or they left to surrounding countries.

Historiography of the Columbus Myth Reflection Historians use historiography, the study of historical writing, to research topics from different perspectives. The historiography of the Columbus myth showed how several authors caused Columbus to be thought of as a hero. Washington Irving wrote a book which characterized Columbus are brave and heroic, and Samuel Eliot Morrison depicted Columbus as a great sailor in his book. Many things about Columbus were proven false, such as how Columbus was the only one who believed the world was round, yet many people still believe in the myth today. These two books helped me understand how historical writings caused people to believe in the Columbus myth despite its many

When Columbus first arrived he found the island populated by thousands of Taino Indians who made the mistake of showing Columbus gold nuggets in the river. This was all Spain needed to finance its crown. Differences between the Spaniards and the Taints began around two years later when Diego Salcedo was killed by the Indians. The Taino Indians revolt against the Spaniards was met with no success and many left the island or fled into the mountains where they began new lives.