The people of this island called themselves Arawak, and were known for their generosity. Columbus wrote of them in his diary "They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword and they took it by the edge, cutting themselves out of ignorance they would make fine servants with fifty men, we could subjugate them all, and make them do whatever we want (Churchill 3)." This would be a continuing trend in the thoughts and behavior of Columbus in particular, and Spanish explorers in General. Columbus later noticed that many of the Arawaks wore bits of gold in their ear lobes as jewelry. This led Columbus to take a number of natives captive to show him the source of the gold. After being led to streams and rivers with gold particles in the water, Columbus sailed to modern day Haiti and the Dominican Republic presumably with dreams of lands flooded with riches. Here, the cruelty of the Spanish explorer would be made dreadfully
The people of this island called themselves Arawak, and were known for their generosity. Columbus wrote of them in his diary "They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword and they took it by the edge, cutting themselves out of ignorance they would make fine servants with fifty men, we could subjugate them all, and make them do whatever we want (Churchill 3)." This would be a continuing trend in the thoughts and behavior of Columbus in particular, and Spanish explorers in General. Columbus later noticed that many of the Arawaks wore bits of gold in their ear lobes as jewelry. This led Columbus to take a number of natives captive to show him the source of the gold. After being led to streams and rivers with gold particles in the water, Columbus sailed to modern day Haiti and the Dominican Republic presumably with dreams of lands flooded with riches. Here, the cruelty of the Spanish explorer would be made dreadfully