The Spanish Colony, La Isabela Essay

According to Document 6, Joel Barlow a renowned historian, Columbus was a remarkable young man who was proficient in geography, astronomy, and drawing, all of them necessary for his pursuit of navigation. His courage and perseverance had been put to test many times making him a universally known and respected man. But, even though he was well respected, he was not a good man. He was barbaric to the Native Americans even when they treated him with respect and fervor. He enslaved them for the good of “Christianity” and manipulated them because they were “idiots”.

Columbus started out on his first voyage in the middle of 1492. It turned out to be a great success and he won Spain many places in South America. The king, queen, and the people of Spain were pleased with Columbus. Isabella immediately ordered him to sail again. On this second voyage, he formed the first European settlement in the Americas. Colonists that accompanied him began to criticize Columbus and his adventures. However, Isabella continued to support him.

Columbus noticed that some of these Indians had little golden ornaments in their noses and ears, This made him take some of the Arawak Indians that they help prisoner onto the ship and insisted they guide him to where they were the source of the gold was, this had lead him to sail to what is now Cuba then to Hispaniola.# There bits of gold were visible in the rivers. Columbus and his crew built a fort and left thirty-nine crew members there to collect gold and store all they would find.

He became desperate to pay the dues back to the king and queen, so he order every native older than fourteen to collect a certain quantity of gold by three months. Once they had collected the amount, they would receive a copper to put around their neck, those without it had their hands cut off and bled to death. Many felt it was impossible to do this, and tried escaping but were always found and killed. When it was finally clear that there was no gold left, they took them all as slave labor to huge estates which are called encomiendas.

Him and his men went in groups to look for gold and round up any natives. They would take women and children then force them into being sex and labor slaves. In 1495 they went on a very large raid of the land and ended up putting 1500 men into captivity. Captivity as in they were put into cages like animals guarded by the spaniards and dogs. Of the 1500 they captured, the ones who they thought were the most healthy and fit were put on sale in Spain, but only 300 of them arrived. Only 300 arrived because on the way there 200 of the “best specimens” perished. Columbus still hadn’t lived up to his promises, so he had people search for copper. The “indians” who searched had to hang the copper they found around their necks, like a necklace. If they came back empty handed, you’d get your hands chopped off, and left to bleed out and die.

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.

This is when Christopher Columbus used their weaknesses and his search for gold to his advantage. He took some of the Arawak people as prisoners to guide him to where they got the gold. After finding the area where the gold was located, Columbus decided to make promises to the Majesties about bringing back more gold and more slaves. On his second expedition to find gold and slaves, Columbus took fifteen hundred Arawak men, women, children and enslaved them; then proceeded to pick five hundred of the best Arawak people on ship. Of those five hundred people, three hundred died on ship.

The first Spanish conquistadors’ motive that greatly affected the people living in the new world was the search for gold. You can see that this was a big motive by looking in documents two and three. In document two it talks about how Cortez got lots of money for going to the new world and he promised gold and Indian slaves to people going with him. This document shows how Cortez promised something valuable as gold to motivate people to accompany

He simply took over these lands, even going so far as to rename them all. In order to let everyone know of his great discovery, he returned to Spain with many new items, including kidnapped Indians (Fernandez-Armesto 89). He was attempting to glorify Spain and its monarchs while creating fame for himself.

Juan Ponce had explored the idea of traveling to Puerto Rico when the natives, Taino Indians, of a neighboring island had told him that the island had contained much gold, treasures, and fertile lands. In 1508, Ponce de León had gained permission from Ferdinand II of Aragon to set sail to the island. Later

When Columbus saw the people on this land, he assumed they were people from the West Indies, therefore he called them  “Indians”. In Columbus’ letter to Lord Sanchez, he described the people as “savages, [who are] naturally timid and full of fear” (document 13).  In document 2, his letter to Santangel, he goes so far as to say that when he tried to establish trading relationships with the Indians they acted primitive and uncivilized. Columbus also states in document 2 that he hopes they will become fond of the Spanish and establish trade relationships as had been requested. Obviously this would be a difficult feat because of the lack of coherence between cultures. Columbus worked very hard to ensure the development of trade relations.  As seen in document 9, Columbus writes many letters back to the King and Queen of Spain reporting on the status of his mission and updates on the relations with the people. One key detail from this document is Columbus’ opening line where he includes the statement “in obedience to your Highness's’ commands.”  This is significant because it shows that Columbus is working under the King and Queen's commands and that he is not entirely to blame for his actions. Columbus should not be held responsible due to the fact that he was abiding the orders of the King and

Columbus was told to be kind and to treat the Indians well, however Columbus and his men repeatedly ignored that order (Tindall & Shi 16). At one point Columbus had discovered his men had raped women and robbing villages. A man got caught stealing corn so his ears and nose were cut off and then he was sold into slavery (Lost document reveals Columbus as tyrant of the Caribbean). Columbus taught his brother to be the same way. A women was once dared to say Columbus was of lowly birth. She was then punished by Bartolome, Columbus’ brother. Bartolome had her strip down until she was naked and then walk around the colony (Lost document reveals Columbus as tyrant of the Caribbean). Columbus congratulated his brother for defending the

Cortés came not to the New World to conquer by force, but by manipulation. Bernal Díaz del Castillo, in the "Conquest of New Spain," describes how Cortés and his soldiers manipulated the Aztec people and their king Montezuma from the time they traveled from Iztapalaopa to the time when Montezuma took Cortés to the top of the great Cue and showed him the whole of Mexico and its countryside, and the three causeways which led into Mexico. Castillo's purpose for recording the mission was to keep an account of the wealth of Montezuma and Mexico, the traditions, and the economic potential that could benefit Cortés' upcoming conquest. However, through these recordings, we are able to see and understand Cortés'

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.

When Columbus returned in November 1493 he was surprised to learn that the settlement he had left behind had been destroyed. Some of the 39 men had clashed with the Taino Indians, and were killed. Other crewmembers had become sick, unable to cope with the harsh environment of the Caribbean. As time progressed, small settlements were founded across the island, and the heart of the Spanish conquest in the New World, Hispaniola, began to develop accordingly. In April 1493 a settlement on the northern coast called La Isabela was founded in what is now the province of Puerto Plata, and in 1494 Concepcion de la Vega was founded.