I believe Columbus choice to highlight the opportunity his discoveries created for the spread of Catholicism for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Both the king and the queen were devout catholics, and I believe Columbus chose to highlight this opportunity…
The English arrived in North America in 1606 looking for raw materials. At the time their biggest competition were the Spanish who conquered Mexico, central America, and parts of south America. The Spanish had the new world like a “ATM machine” because they took vast amounts of gold and silver from the native people. At that time all the countries had a philosophy that the country with the most gold had the most power. For that reason the English when to the northern new world to try to find the same wealth.…
Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, born in the year 1451, voyaged across the Atlantic in search of a westward passage for direct trade with Asia in 1492. With burning ambitions, Columbus traveled to claim wealth and power for Spain and to convert the “pagans” of the New World to Christianity. Following in Spain’s footsteps to expand their country’s empires to the Americas, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands would send elite navigators to venture across the Atlantic Ocean in hopes to claim land and acquire power, only to soon realize a gigantic landmass blocked the western route. In addition, the English were also interested in the New World’s offers to its country; multitudes of opportunities to become rich and powerful, as well as offering an expedition that seemed promising with the abundance of information that came about from other European countries’ past voyages and various maritime technological advancements.…
Columbus’s letter to the king and queen of Spain was full of discourse regarding how, what he thought was India, would benefit the country economically. He crafted the letter to make sure that the rulers of Spain would see the many benefits of continuing the conquest of the Americas. For example, he stated that “It has many ports along the sea- coast” and the land possessed “ many spices, and vast mines of gold and other metals”. By stating these things he is setting a scene for the future that if Spain continues to conquest these lands adn to finance more exploration it will benefit financially without having to assert much effort. The spices and gold would be exported and could be shipped to Spain easily through the many seaports he describes and inevitably help Spain economically.…
Also, with gold almost to the point of extinction; and sugar being considered a luxury in Europe; Cristopher Columbus sailed himself into a journey to find riches for his queen. Columbus desired fame and fortune more than anything, and he found sympathizers in The Spanish monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. They aimed to obtain the same fate, along with the opportunity to expand Catholicism to lands across the globe. After conquering the only area that had resisted the Reconquista, the campaign that aimed to expulse the Arabs out of the Peninsula in the 1200’s, the first Catholic Monarchs wanted to become a world potency. Upon arriving and seeing with his own eyes the first group of inhabitants of the New World, Columbus became perplexed and so he remarked: “…
Two of the major powers in Europe quickly took the lead in settling the New World. The first, Spain, was very interested in acquiring huge amounts of gold, silver, and other rare valuables. In fact, the only reason they stumbled upon America is because they were en route to the Far East in search of the "fabled wealth of the Indies." What they found turned out to be much more valuable than a shipload of gold. A new continent was discovered-- one with unbelievable potential. Spain was able to take great advantage of its new found wealth, but made some bad decisions that in the long run did not help to solidify their existence in America. The pursuit of riches was not the only motivation for the Spaniards to come to America, though. Some men wanted to create a "profitable agricultural economy" as well as spread the Christian religion.…
The first Spanish conquistadors’ motive that greatly affected the people living in the new world was the search for gold. You can see that this was a big motive by looking in documents two and three. In document two it talks about how Cortez got lots of money for going to the new world and he promised gold and Indian slaves to people going with him. This document shows how Cortez promised something valuable as gold to motivate people to accompany him on his journey to the new world. In document three it is Cortez again telling his men that if they stick with him and fight the war against the Native Americans he can make them rich men. So as you can see Cortez is using gold as a big motive for going to the new world. Now when you look at how did this affect the Native Americans and it is plain to see in documents two and three that these motives greatly hurt the Native Americans.…
Other than discovering a route that permanently linked the shores of the Atlantic, there was nothing good that came from any of Columbus‘ voyages. He was deceitful and merciless, stopping at nothing to obtain what he wanted. When Columbus reported to Spain, he exaggerated about the amount of gold that was there, reporting that there was an abundance of gold when there was really very little gold, only scarce amounts in riverbeds. The largest amount of gold he received was on his first arrival and was an accumulation of many years. The natives of the land, the Arawaks, were responsible for collecting a certain amount of gold. If they did not…
Columbus and de la Casas make two very different observations of the new world. Columbus made many detailed descriptions in his letter to the King Ferdinand, who had financed his journey with the intentions of completing three very clear goals. The first, “to procure riches for the Spanish empire,” the second, “to find a new route to the East Indies,” and lastly, “to convert native peoples to Christianity (Casper et al., 4).” de la Casas had a much different intention than Columbus for why he journeyed to the new world. He traveled as a son of a poor merchant and observed all of the wrong doings that were happening to the native people. He later returned to Spain for the remainder of his life to write about all of the awful things that happened in these overtaking’s. He wrote a book titled, The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies. It was written “based on his own testimony advocating a new legal code in 1542 (Casper et al., 9).”…
-Columbus states that the new world is a land that is safer and better for farming than the Island of Espanola. He then says “ That for the better and more speedy colonization of the said island...” Here he clearly says that it will be better and faster than some island. Another reason that I think is for gold, there are at least seven of thirteen short paragraphs on gold, the rules and taxes. All these reasons are not only hinted but stated in his letter.…
The Spaniards came to the new world in search of more land to expand the country. The voyage was under the command of Christopher Columbus. Originally Columbus had wanted to sail to Asia and conquer more land with financial support from Isabella and Ferdinand, Spanish royalty. Upon arrival on the coast of the "New World" Columbus made contact with the Native Americans. When those back in Spain wanted updates, Columbus and his men put their "encounters" with the Natives as delicately as possible. These encounters were really what Columbus and the other men did to the Natives. When the Natives refused to work for the Spaniards, the natives were brutally attacked. Some small wars broke out between the Spaniards and Natives causing more casualties to the Natives than the Spaniards. When the news of these casualties finally reached Spain, the pope decided to take control of the situation, sending over missionaries and teacher to compensate for the early harsh treatment to the Natives.…
“Columbus Day churns up a stormy sea of controversy every year. A gifted navigator or reckless adventurer? Here are some things to consider the next time you hear someone recite: In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue…”(Myint 2017). But what did Columbus actually do when he got to America and to the Native Americans?…
After the the Ottoman Empire shut down the Silk Road, Spain and other European powers still wanted to solidify their position as the prime global empire. To achieve this, they were to find a more efficient way to access the Indies. The only sensible pathway now, was to go around Africa. However, prince Henry from Portugal already had successful efforts by reaching Africa before they did. Considering Spain and Portugal’s rivalry it is evident why Spain would be in a rush to find this new pathway. Which is why Columbus’ encounter with the new world was so significant. It curated a new sense of hope for Spaniards at that time such as Bartolome De las Casas. It additionally intrigued citizens of the potential wealth and rumors of “gold, spices,…
Columbus had a very important task when he traveled to the new world. He was sent by the king and queen of Spain to discover new land. Columbus said, “The melody of the birds was so exquisite that one was never willing to part from the spot”(Columbus 62). Now Columbus’s journey was far different than Equiano's primarily because of the reason but we will be focusing on the other reasons primarily.…
Christopher Columbus was not the first person to find American, it was the Indians. The arrival of Columbus…