Christopher Columbus's First Voyage To The New World

One of the primary motivations for European interest in and colonization of the Americas was economic, including trade and the acquisition of wealth. Christopher Columbus's (1451–1506) original impetus in sailing west from Europe was seeking a new passage to Asia to facilitate trade for Europeans. Although Columbus was incorrect about finding such a direct route, he did make contact with the New World and found a number of possibilities for economic gain. These included acquiring gold, precious metals, and mineral wealth both from Native Americans and through the actions of colonists. Reports of the easy availability of gold and other precious metals motivated many early exploration and colonization efforts.

Before European contact, Native Americans acquired many precious metals in a number of ways. For example, native copper was found extensively in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, with smaller amounts located in New England, the southern Appalachians, and Nova Scotia. Native Americans living in Michigan collected copper pieces from the lakeshore. They believed that these copper pieces held formidable spiritual power as they were thought to be the scales of a powerful spirit world entity, the great underwater panther.
For example, after Columbus's first voyage to the New World, he established a settlement on Hispaniola called Navidad where the crew of his ship, the Santa Maria, was left when Columbus and the other ships returned to Europe in January 1493. Because the local Taino Arawaks seemed hospitable and because Columbus intended to return a few months later, he felt comfortable doing so. When he returned in the fall of 1493, Columbus found the settlement destroyed. The Spanish crew who had remained behind pursued gold and women with such vengeance that local chief Caonabo (?–1496) exterminated them. Despite this incident, Columbus continued to look for gold in the