Christopher …show more content…
His men had rounded up many of the Indians to transport as slaves to Spain, since Columbus had to send something in replacement of all the nonexistent gold. He also traded with the Indians unfairly, making they trade lopsided and bad for the Arawaks. This unethical treatment began to worsen more and more as the Spaniards under his command were at the island longer. Calling Christopher Columbus a hero is like saying the sky is green. The Europeans had taken many Arawaks as slaves and made them work on plantations called encomiendas. They also used the Arawaks for free labor forcing them to work in mines and separating families. However, the most unethical treatment of the Arawaks came when the Europeans became very interested in gold. Each Arawak was responsible for collecting a certain amount of gold in a couple months time. When they collected the gold, they would receive a medal from the Spanish. If an Arawak did not collect enough gold, they would be killed. These killings led to more and more. Eventually, the Spanish would kill the Arawaks just for fun, or to try out weapons. This led to a rapid decrease in the Arawak population due to death, disease, and suicide. Eventually, there were no Arawak Indians left in the