5/26/2023 0 Comments When did columbus discover america![]() ![]() He asked the monarchs and the Pope to send priests who would learn the native language and instruct the people in the Christian faith prior to baptism. He specifically saw the Indians as “a people who would be better freed and converted to our Holy Faith by love than by force,” as he wrote in his diary. Myth: Columbus forced his religion on the natives.įACT: Columbus was a devout Christian who desired to introduce the native peoples to Christianity, but he did not force any to convert. He even adopted the son of a native chief as his own son. He recognized them as humans with immortal souls and was concerned for their salvation and their right to choose freely to embrace the Christian faith. In a time when some would question whether the native peoples of America were truly human, Columbus immediately acknowledged their humanity and innate dignity. Columbus himself is well-documented to have advocated for just treatment of the natives.įACT: Columbus often sought to restrain his men from mistreating the native peoples. Facing rebellion and under duress, Columbus allowed a system of labor already instituted by the rebels. However, Columbus’ men violated these standards. When he consented to using native laborers, he sought to compensate them properly as vassals of the Spanish crown. He expected his own men to build the settlements, search for natural resources, and perform their own labor. Myth: Columbus sought to force the natives to work.įACT: Columbus resisted efforts to force the natives to work. Even today, enemy combatants are often captured and imprisoned, and criminals are often assigned to do manual labor. However, slavery was not Columbus’ goal friendship with the native peoples was. Myth: Columbus introduced slavery to the New World.įACT: “Slavery was common, even among people in the Caribbean,” according to former Stanford anthropologist Carol Delaney. This is a tragic, unintended consequence of the encounter between two cultures, but certainly not something for which Columbus - or anyone else - can be held responsible or culpable. The vast majority of indigenous peoples who died in the years following the European settlement of the New World perished from disease rather than from conflict or abuse at the hands of European settlers. Some diseases may also have been spread to the Europeans by the natives. Myth: Columbus is to be blamed for bringing diseases to the New World that killed many natives.įACT: Inadvertently, Europeans did bring communicable diseases to the New World for which the native peoples had little or no immunity, and great numbers died as a result. Furthermore, the vast majority of the natives who died in the years after Columbus’ arrival succumbed to communicable diseases inadvertently transmitted by the Europeans rather than from any intentional act on the part of Columbus, his men or the settlers. Scholars like Stanford professor emeritus Carol Delaney describe his interactions with the native peoples as generally benign and his motivations as religious he was not violent, hostile, or cruel to those he encountered. Columbus punished and even executed some of the settlers who went against his orders and abused the natives. In exploring and settling the New World, Columbus frequently ordered his men to treat the natives well and not commit injustices or atrocities against them. His intent was trade and evangelization, not conquest. He had intended to sail to Asia, a land both populous and technologically advanced. He sought to form good relationships with the native peoples of the New World and had no intention of doing them any harm. Viewed from either side, his was most certainly a voyage of discovery.įACT: Columbus did not commit genocide. He brought together diverse cultures previously unknown to each other and sparked a mutually beneficial exchange of goods and ideas. ![]() His voyage initiated the first continuous engagement between the peoples of the European and American continents. When he set sail in 1492, no one on either side of the Atlantic knew the other was there. Myth: Columbus did not actually discover anything.įACT: Columbus discovered America.
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