Christopher Columbus Dbq Essay

Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in the republic of Genoa, Italy. Christopher Columbus sought to find a way to the Indies to find gold and spice. After receiving significant funding from Queen Elizabeth and King Ferdinand, he set sail on August 3, 1492 with three ships, the Pinta, Nina, and Santa Maria, with 104 men. The voyage he took to find gold and spice led him not to Asia but to the discovery of America which wasn’t the place he expected to arrive at. Christopher Columbus is responsible for the death of the Tainos because he used the kindness of the Tainos to his benefit, ordering his men to enslave and mistreat the Tainos, and his bad governing skills.

Columbus’s voyage to get gold and spice lef to America in which he was very warmly welcomed by the Taino
Indians. This led to Columbus taking advantage of their friendly welcome and gifts to reach gold he was desperate for. “Columbus received presents from the people he encountered and gives them some red caps, glass beads, and many other things of little value” Document A. This proves how friendly and welcoming the Tainos were. This kindness is what led to Columbus taking advantage and having interest on them to get signal of where to find gold. “The only reason you showed kindness to the Taino on your first trip was so they would agree to show you the source of gold. This justifies why he was friendly to the Tainos. Therefore Columbus who benefited from the generosity of the Tainos was on the main reasons he was responsible for the death of the Tainos.

Christopher Columbus was the person who was physically present and ordered all the torture and enslavement.
Though he did not actually do any of the killing and torture himself, he ordered it all and any spaniard who disobeyed were punished as well. “Some had their ears slit and some the nose” Document A. This proves how cruel and violent Columbus would get if they were to not get enough gold he demanded. “Those who didn’t return every three months with the amount of gold demanded were punished by having their hands chopped off” Document B. These documents explains how he killed and administered the Tainos. Some Tainos made it clear that they wanted to leave but you wouldn’t let them go. “Making it clear that they wished to leave, you refused to release them” Document B. This proves that Columbus was already thinking of making them slaves. Columbus than incorporated the Tainos into his crew and took them away to Spain as slaves. “On your second voyage to the Indies, you ordered your men to roundup Indians and had over 500 shipped to Spain as slaves” Document B. Torturing and kidnapping the Tainos was one of the main reasons why Columbus is responsible for the death of the
Tainos.

Christopher Columbus was granted viceroyalty and governorship of any land he discovered. Although he was granted this power, his greediness and cruelty made it a “bad government. ”He structured the government so the Tainos were mistreated. In Document B it states “Columbus started a policy of forcing Indians, age 14 and older to collect gold for him.” It also stated, “Ordered men to spread terror among the Indian when there was rumor of resistance” Document B. This proves that he used the Indians to find gold for him instead of Columbus and his men finding it. In Document A it states, “The king and queen was upset over the negative report of Columbus’s bad government, sent a commissioner to take charge of Espanola.”
Columbus who governed brutally was one of the reasons why he was responsible for the death of the Tainos.