Compare And Contrast Columbus And Cortes

Despite their differences in familiarity with indigenous societies, both Columbus and Cortes demonstrated a shared perspective as expanders, driven by their goal of Spanish conquest.

Columbus emphasized the unfamiliarity of the Americas, while Cortes compared it to previously conquered civilizations. Their different perspectives may have stemmed from the separate time periods of their writings. In March 1493, Christopher Columbus wrote a letter to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella after his first voyage to the Americas. This letter provided detailed descriptions of Native American land, society, and people from Columbus’ perspective. Columbus wrote about the native societies in a very alienated, foreign, and never-before-seen manner. In his

Columbus highlighted the common language and land layouts of the people. He stated, “In the island, which I have said before was called Hispana, there are very lofty and beautiful mountains, great farms, groves and fields, most fertile both for cultivation and for pasturage, and well adapted for constructing buildings.” Columbus first stressed the beauty of the mountains and fields, but then focused on the opportunities the land provided for agriculture and city support. This made the island more desirable for the Spanish to settle in. Columbus also noted the uniformity of language spoken by the inhabitants across the various islands, “a circumstance most favorable for what I believe our most serene King especially desires, that is, their conversion to the holy faith of Christ; for which, indeed, so far as I could understand, they are very ready and prone.” Columbus may have exaggerated the people's willingness to convert to Christianity, as he needed to prove the success of his expedition to his funders, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Cortes also described the lands and culture of Tenochtitlan in a militaristic perspective, as he wrote, “There are four avenues or entrances to the city, all of which are formed by artificial causeways, two spears' length in width.” Cortes not only highlights the city's entrances but also the bridges, depicting them in terms of spear length to portray his militaristic perspective on the city's structure. Cortes also created plans for leaving the island in case the Tenochtitlan people were to prove untrustworthy: “I made great haste to build four brigantines, which were soon finished, and were large enough to take ashore three hundred men and the horses, whenever it should become necessary.” In anticipation of potential betrayal from the Tenochtitlan