Columbus greatly affected the Taino and their way of life in a cruel way. Before Columbus discovered the Taino land, on the Caribbean Island, they were happy with their way of life. They were skilled and creative people. One admirable thing they created was a hammock, which the Taino used for a comfortable night’s rest. They also were involved in trade. Many Taino were excellent sailors, canoe makers, and navigators. The Taino were the first Native Americans to encounter the Spanish. Columbus viewed the Taino as a way to accumulate his personal wealth. He selected many Taino and exported them to Spain as slaves. By 1497, most of the Native Americans died of starvation, European diseases, and Spanish brutality. Taino that were left behind were forced to search for gold mines and on plantations. Within 100 years of Columbus’s arrival, the Taino population was practically wiped out. In all, many people think Columbus is a brave sea captain who “discovered America”. But, from the Native American’s point of view Columbus was a selfish individual who cared only about his personal wealth. Columbus’s voyages benefited Spain, but brought much misery to the world of the Taino. …show more content…
(n.d.). Indians 101: Columbus and the Taíno. Retrieved October 01, 2016, from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/06/11/984238/-Indians-101-Columbus-and-the-Ta-no History.com Staff. (2009). Columbus Controversy. Retrieved October 01, 2016, from
Spain’s relations with Native Americans began when Christopher Columbus and his caravels, the Nina and Pinta, along with a larger ship, the Santa Maria, sailed west to in time, discover what he would then name, San Salvador. The islanders who lived on San Salvador called themselves Tainos. Columbus quickly realized they had beliefs that greatly differentiated from what he had seen in Europe. “Columbus’s landfall in the Caribbean initiated a thriving exchange between the people, ideas, cultures, and institutions of the Old and New Worlds that continues to this day.” “Columbus’s perceptions of the Tainos were shaped by European attitudes, ideas, and expectations, just as the Tainos’ perceptions of the Europeans were no doubt colored by their
Gabby Ryals SPAN 322 Prof. Ebacher Mini-essay 1 Columbus We must acknowledge that indigenous peoples inhabited the land for thousands of years before Christopher Columbus "discovered" it. Acknowledgement is the necessary step to construct a more equitable and just society. We must accept the consequences of colonialism, including indigenous peoples' displacement. We must acknowledge this truth in order to move forward and ensure the preservation of the land's and its people's history. We must take action to improve societal equity and justice.
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer who is well known for “discovering” North America. In reality Christopher was trying to get to China and thought he was in Japan all 4 times he went to North America. He was actually in what is now the Bahamas and Cuba. And really Christopher didn't even discover America. The Native Americans beat Columbus by thousands of years.
He even wrote in his journals that he believed that they would be very fine servants. Within sixty years of Christopher Columbus’s arrival on the island of Hispaniola the population of Taino that lived there decreased from what may have been two hundred fifty thousand people to maybe a couple hundred of
A heavily debated topic in this day and age is if Christopher Columbus was really a hero or a mass murderer. On one hand, he opened up access to the New World and created trade routes, on the other, he primarily unintentionally almost wiped out a population and abused Native Americans. I believe that Columbus was more of a hero than he was a villain because he had a normal mindset and goal for Spaniards during the time period, many things he is blamed for happened completely unintentionally or by accident, and Columbus wasn’t the only one who had servants and took Natives captive. Often when looking back into history, we unintentionally judge events, people, and actions based off of our current mindset, and Christopher Columbus was no exception.
1) What 's your gut reaction? - It is upsetting to see that although it was recognized that the Tainos were extremely good-natured people, and the Spaniards still decided to take advantage of them. They took advantage of their kindness without regard for their wellbeing. Ambition and a mindset of superiority turned these people into slaves and led to their decline.
According to Loewen, few textbooks explained how Columbus was involved in the slavery and the exploitation of Indians. Another error that we have learned in schools about Columbus is that he was the first person to “discover” America. However, this is an error because people from other continents had already reached America before 1492. In fact, we forget
According to Christopher Columbus, the Taino people of the Caribbean Islands that he encountered “were much delighted, and became wonderfully attached to us” (Journal, page 6). The Taino people were fascinated with Christopher Columbus and his
Some say Christopher Columbus was a hero because he was the explorer that discovered America. In reality, Christopher Columbus had an incredibly negative impact on the world because he enslaved the Native Americans, didn’t help the kind Natives when they got infected by diseases that the Spaniards had brought to America, and killed off most of the Native American population. The tactics he chose to use were violent and destructive by the standards back then and now. First, Columbus treated the Native Americans like uncivilized people by enslaving them and forcing them to work for him although they greeted him and his crew peacefully. ” They could make fine servants,”(document 2) he wrote in his journal,”I took them by force.
On October 12, 1492, an Italian merchant by the name of Christopher Columbus landed on an island in the New World. With him he brought three ships and a small crew of Spaniards. After exploring other islands, Columbus came one that he called Hispaniola; here, they found seemingly primitive and naϊve natives that they immediately began to take advantage of. However, little did they know that this first meeting would bring exploration of South and Central America that would wreak havok among the Natives. Throughout the period of European Expansion, Natives were ripped from their home and forced to work day in and day out.
(Huffington Post). Acknowledgement: Columbus’s actions were perhaps a form of self-defense in response to the violent and aggressive Taíno people. Response: Conflicts that occurred between Columbus and the Natives were a direct consequence of Columbus’ harsh treatment toward the Natives, who had no other options beside resistance. Warrant: Compared to the French and English responses toward the Natives, the Spanish responses were the least favorable.
Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred ninety-two. When one hears the name Christopher Columbus, they tend to think about his discovery of America. What they don’t consider is how his discovery changed and affected America. First of all, Columbus’ discovery provided the start of a long term colonization, which created what we know today as America. People, who immigrated from another country, traveled all over the world to make it to America in hopes of getting land in “The New World”.
Christopher Columbus is a man who is commonly depicted as a hero and great explorer who discovered our modern day America, but many of the so called “facts” are not all completely true as people would like to believe. Columbus was undoubtedly a courageous explorer who brought many new ideas, cultures, and resources to be exchanged between the New World and Europe. While this is true, it is not uncommon for people to forget the harmful effects brought along with the voyages made by Columbus and the darker details of his times in America. Columbus started from humble middle class family. Columbus was born in 1451 in the Republic of Genoa as the oldest of his four siblings.
“Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress”, chapter one of “A People’s History of the United States”, written by professor and historian Howard Zinn, concentrates on a different perspective of major events in American history. It begins with the native Bahamian tribe of Arawaks welcoming the Spanish to their shores with gifts and kindness, only then for the reader to be disturbed by a log from Columbus himself – “They willingly traded everything they owned… They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” (Zinn pg.1) In the work, Zinn continues explaining the unnecessary evils Columbus and his men committed unto the unsuspecting natives.
Columbus also found out that the Taino were easily able to convert to Christianity, in the mist of all things he wrote in his journal and saying that the natives “would easily be made Christians because it seemed to me that they had no religion” (dairy). Without the despite the locals disapproved his action. In one of his journal entries it said that "Shortly after landing, many of the island 's inhabitants assembled on the beach and Columbus gave those gifts of red hats and beads. The natives reciprocated with gifts of parrots, cotton and other goods. In describing the Taino natives, Columbus wrote: "They go as naked as when their mothers bore them, and so do the women, although I did not see more than one girl.