Christopher Columbus Reports On His First Voyage

Columbus Reports on His First Voyage
On March 15, 1493 Explorer Christopher Columbus wrote a letter to his financiers King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Castille announcing his discoveries in what he thought to be the eastern side of China, but was actually the first European contact with America. Columbus’ intention was to show how easy it was to conquer the “New World” and convert its denizens to Christianity.

Columbus started his letter by primarily announcing the newly explored lands after Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand to honor their royalty. Following that, he described his first interaction with Indigenous people when they fled from the Europeans as Columbus approached them. He also stated that Indigenous people had no fixed
The letter then goes on to emphasize the vastness of the discovered lands and adds random details about America, such as the sunny weather, the Indigenous people’s long hair, and how they ate hot food in moderate amounts.

Columbus concluded his letter by stating that the Indigenous people were not as moral as God had commanded them to be, and thanked Him for allowing him to find those “lost souls” to save. Christopher Columbus’ letter to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand is a vital primary source to historians because it was the first proof to Europeans that illustrated that there is more to the “Known World” than the Afro-Eurasia. By describing the landscape of America, the culture of the indigenous people, and announcing a new water route for trade, Europe started to gain an interest in extending its knowledge of the known world and eventually increased its interactions with America. Historians can assess Europe’s captivation of America by Columbus’ visionary of its landscape when he glorified its nature with large green trees, colorful fruits, fertile soil, sunny weather, and various kinds of singing birds and herbs. In addition, the lack of deformities, clothing, and combativeness were conflicting cultural elements to the Europeans, which inspired them to convert Indigenous people into Christianity and colonize
Although he made tremendous voyages to Iceland and America, no one seemed to believe Cabot’s claims because he was poor and not English. However, he made maps and globes to prove his voyages were true and said that he found lots of fish, silk, and wood throughout his trips. In addition, Cabot’s companions stated that they will import a lot of fish from America that they would no longer need fish exports from Iceland.

Moreover, Cabot said that he wanted to play a bigger role in global trade and decided to find a land in America that he would call Cipango where he would find various kinds of spices and precious stones of the world. Following that, he vaguely talked about Mecca and said that its spices come from around the world because its people didn’t seem to know exactly where they received them from.

Soncino concludes his letter by saying that King Henry VII will finance another trip for Cabot to achieve his dream of colonizing a land in America, and then interviewed a Burgundian voyage companion of Cabot who said that he would go to many voyages with Cabot due to the tremendous discoveries he