COLUMBUS DIANS their villages onto the beaches. Full of wonder, hen Christopher Calumious and his me ashore, carrying swords, the nto greet them. Columbus later wrote shout the Indians i log They. brought as blot pees cl aye hg, hh hy ecg be ls teal ond el, They lly ded vein hyo. They wee ml a wi pod oi nd bande estes. Tey teas, and ok ots fra he er tyke gem et eneloop, Try ha 0 ton The pat ae ade fe... Tey wae fine cert. Wi Sy en we cud igo ewe he nd then db wise we wank. (eh ttysxviant tH ay sagKa109 “The Arawak lived inthe Bahama Toland, Like Indians on the American mainland, they believed in hospitality and in sharing. But Columbus, the first messenge othe Americas fiom the cviiaa- tion of westem Europe, was hungry for money. AS soon ashe arrived inthe islands, he setzed some ‘Arawaks by force go that he could get information fiom them, The information that Columbus wanted ‘was thias Where isthe gold? Columbus had talked the king and queen of Spain into paying for his expedition, Like other ‘European states, Spain wanted gold. There was gold inthe Indies, asthe people of Burope called India and southeastern Asia. The Indies had other valuable goods, too, such as silks and spices, Bit traveling by land from Europe to ‘Asia was a Jong and dangerous journey, so the nations of Europe were searching for a way to reach the Indies by sea. Spain decided to gamble fon Columbus, In return for bringing back gold and spices, Columbus would get 10 percent of the profits. He would be made governor of any ‘newly discovered lands, and he would win the tile Admiral of the Ocean Sea. He set out with thtee ships, hoping to become the first European to reach Asia by sailing across the Aslantic Ocean, Like other informed people of his time, CCokambus knew that the world was round. "This meant that he could sail west from Europe to teach ‘the Eat The world Columbus imagined, however, was shal. He would never have made ito Asia, ‘ich was thousands of milos farther away than he thought. But he was icky. One-fourth ofthe way there he came upon an unknown land between urope and Asia “Thirty-three days after leaving waters known to ‘Europeans, Columbus and his men saw branches Aoating in the water and flocks of birds inthe ai. ‘These were signs ofland, Then, on October 1492, a sailor called Rodrigo faw the moon shin ingon white sands, and eied out. It was an island in the Bahamas, in the Caribbean Sea. The first ‘ant sight land was supposed to get large reward, but Rodrigo never got it. Columbus ‘aimed that he had seen a ight the evening before. He got the reward‘The Arawaks! Impossible Task BLE ARAWAX INDIANS Wo greeted Columbus lived in villages and pratied agriculture, Unlike the Europeans, they had no horses or other work ‘animals, and they had no ion. What they did have ‘was tiny gold ornaments in thei ears. ‘Tose little omaments shaped history. Because of them, Columbus started his relationship with the Indians by taking prisoners, thinking that they could lead him tothe source ofthe gold. He slled to several other Caribbean islands, including Hispaniola, an island now divided between two countries, Haiti and the Dominican Republi. ‘After one of Columbus's ships rn aground, he ‘used wood from the wreck to build fort in Hatt, ‘Then he sailed back to Spain with news of his ds cover, leaving thirty-nine erewmen atthe fort. ‘Tie orders were to find and store the god, The report Columbus made to the royal Spanish court was pur fact, part fiction. He Claimed to have reached Asia, and he called the Arawak “Indians,” meaning people ofthe Indies ‘The islands Columbus had visited must be off the coast of China, he sad. They were fl of rches: Setisp eamnincle Mounts dil, pins and pasts seh lesa bei. bela te ‘ty nd hae any wide ses of bide soy oan gel. Taran many sees get i of land ote mat the king and queen would give him just it tle more help, Columbus said he would make amather voyage. This time he would come back to Spain with “as much gold as they need... and as many slaves at they 28k” Columbus's promises won him seventeen ships and more than 1,200 men for his second expedition, The aim was clear: slaves and gold “They went from island to island in the Caribbean, capturing Indians. But as word spread among the Indians, the Spaniard found more and more ‘empty villages. When they got to Hai, they found that the sailors lft behind atthe fort were dead “The sailors had roamed the island in gangs loo jg for gol, taking women and children as slaves, ‘until the Indians had killed thera ina bate Columbus's men searched Halt for gold, with sno success, They had to fill up the ships return {ng to Spain with something, s in 1495 they ‘went on a great slave ald, Afterward, they picked five hundred captives to send to Spain, Two hun- Ared ofthe Indians died on the voyage. The rest aurived alive in Spain and were put up for sale by 4 locl church official. Columbus, who was fll oF religious tal, later wrote, “Let usin the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending ll the slaves that can be sold” ‘But too many slaves died in capi. Columbus ‘was desperate to show a profit on his voyages. He ‘nad to make good oi his promises oil the ships with gold. Ina part of Haiti where Columbus and his men imagined thre was'much gold, they ordered everyone over the age of thirteen to collect eld for them, Indians who did not give gold to the Spantards had theirhands cutoff nd bled to death ‘The Indians had been given an impossible task. The only gold around was bits of gold dustin streams. So they ran away. The Spaniards hunted them down with dogs and killed them. When they took prisoners, they hanged them or burned them to death. Unable to fight agsinst the Spanish sol ders! guns, swords, armor, and horses, the ‘Aawaks began to commit mass suicide with po son, When the Spanish search for gold began, there were a quater of a milli Indians on Halt,sxviant Hi axy saanni09 {In ho yeats, through murder or suicide, half them were dead. ‘When it was clear that there was no gold lft, the Indians were enslaved on the Spaniards” huge estates, They were overworked and mistreated, and they ied bythe thousands. By 1550, ony five Jnundzed Indians remained. A centary late, no ‘Arawaks were eft on the island Telling Columbus's Story (Caribbean islands after Colurnbus came because of Bartolomé de Las Cars. Hle was a young priest who [helped the Spanish conquer Cuba, Fora while he ‘owned a plantation where indian saves worked. ‘But then Las Casas gave up his plantation and spoke out against Spanish cruelty. Las Casas made a copy of Columbus's journal, and he also wrote a book called History of the Indies, In this book, he descetbed the Indians’ soc ‘ety and thee customs. Heals told how the Spaniards treated the Indians: As forthe sy or, hyde enti boaae the ter ove od albedo) had 0 silt ete, ad rh tao, whe wa in Cuba, 7200 cilden did nthe month, Se other even drowned hl babi rc ser depen: ‘Mon... tn hay ucande ded inthe mies, ve ld st work chien ded om ak of nl... My pea sen tesa Frelgn o rn ae, and ow ele wit “This was the start ofthe history of Europeans in the Americas. twas a history of conquest, slav- ey, and death, But for along time, the history books given to childven inthe United State told a Afferent story tle ofheroic adventure, not bloodshed. The way the stor s taught o young, people is just beginning to change. ‘Te story of Columbus and the Indians shows 1s something about how history gets written, One ofthe most famous historians to writ about CCokumbus was Same! Eliot Morison, He even sailed across the Atlantic Ocean himself retracing CCohumbus’s route In 954 Morison published a popular book called Christopher Columbus, Mariner. He ssid that cruel treatment by Columbus and the‘Europeans who came after him caused the “com plete genocide” ofthe Indians. Genocide ea harsh word. Iis the name of terrible crinye—the deli ate killing ofan entire ethnic or caltural group, Morison did not le about Columbus, He did not leave out the mass murder. Bathe mentioned the truth quieléy and then went on to other things. By burying the fact of genocide in lot of other information, he seemed to be saying that the mass ‘murder wast very important in the big pltare By making genocide seem like a small part ofthe story he took away its power to make us think dif ferently about Columbus. At the end ofthe book, Morison summed up his idea of Columbus as a {reat man, Columbus's most important quality, “Morison said, was his seamanship, A historian must pik and choose among fects, deciding which ones to put into his or her work, ‘hich ones to leave out, and which ones to place at the center ofthe story. Bvery historians own ideas and beliefs go into the way hear she writes Ihstory. In turn, the way history i written can shape the ideas ind beie&of the people who read it. A view of history ke Morisor's picture ofthe past that sees Columbus and other like him as rss soe, ut sy aot engl hence, ca make 0m rh wi thy as it Teale ne nd ven tty ve gen schon teething ha comme wea mune he rie of pores Tis enue yf then ik ht itor serorperment enqus nar aeons he ps ity is sta tooo. The aca in sys est a what about Tangs, presidents, and generals, But factory workers, farmers, people of olor, wore aind children? They make history, 00. “The story of any country includes fierce com in conquerors and the conquered, fics betwee ee maser and ves, people wth pve and te tvthout power. Writing history is always 2 matter dof taking sides. For example, I choose to tell the story ofthe discovery of America from the point of ‘ew ofthe Arawak, I ill tll the story of the US. the staves Constitution from the point of view of ann the story of the Civil War from the point of view of the Irish in New York Ci. T believe that history can help us imagine new for the future, One way itcan do this possibilitiesIs by letting us see the hidden pasts ofthe past, the times when people showed that they could resist the powerful or join together. Maybe our future ‘an be found in the past's moments of kindness and courage ather than its centules of warfare. ‘That is my approach tothe history ofthe United States, which start withthe meeting beeen. (Columbus and the Arawals, More Meetings, More Fighting “The tragedy of Columbus and the Arawakshap- pened over and over again. Spanish conquerors Heman Cortés and Francisco Paro destroyed the Antecs of Mexico andthe Incas of South America When English stUers read Viggnia and Masnachusets, they did the same thing tothe Indians they met Jamestown, Virginia, was the fest permanent ngs setdement in the Amerieas. 1 was built inside tertory governed by an Indian eh named Powhatan, He watched the English sete‘on his land but didnot attack, In 1607, Powhatan spoke to John Smith, one of the leaders at Jamestown. The statement that has come down to ‘as may not truly be Powhatan words, butt sounds a Tot ike what other Indians sald and ‘wrote at later times. We can read Powiatan's tate sent asthe spirit of what he thought as he ‘watched the white men enter his terstory wt dence ween ce and ware tan ny nn ny ct. Wy lou be yee what oma hae ty lo? Why wy dato ho sup you wt fl Wha can ye get yw? Why se ysl of? Weareanemed a wiling give wht yous fence anne nd nt simple roo no tt nach eter etd re se comfy te gue wth ny ive nd he, gh oe me nth the gd ale fer tion ts han a ny Ses then nd aed the wads, and edn 0, roach ah ad bo ed ht canter atone erp In the winter of 609-1610, the Bnglish at Jamestown went through a terible food shortage they called the "starving time.” They reared the woods looking for nuts and becres, and they dug, up graves to eat the corpses. Ot of five hundred colonists ll but sixty died Some ofthe colonists ran off to join the Indians, wire they would at last be fed. The next ‘summer, the governor ofthe colony asked Powhatan togend them back, When he refused, the colonists destroyed an Indian settlement. They ‘kidnapped the queen of the tibe, threw hee cil dren into the water'and shot them, and then stabbed her “Twelve years ltr, the Indians tied to get rid of the growing English setlements, They masracred 347 men, women, and children, From then omit was total war. The English could not enslave the Indians, and they would not lve with them, so they decided to wipe them out ‘To the north, the Pilgrims settled in New England. Like the Jamestown colonists, they came to Indian land, The Pequot tribe lived in southern Connecticut and Rhode Island, The colonists ‘wanted this lan, so the war with the Pequots ‘began, Massacres took place on both sides, The English used a form of warfare that Cortés had ‘used in Mexico. Toil the enemy with terror, they attacked civilians, people who were not warriors,‘They st fire to wigwams, and as the Indians ran ‘out fo escape the flames, the Fnglish cut them to bite with their swords, ‘When Columbus came tothe Americas, 10 ‘milion Indians lived north of what is now Mexico. ‘Aller the Europeans began taking tat land, the number of Indians was reduced unt in time, fever than a million remained, Many Indians died fiom diseases brought by the wits. ‘Who were these Indians? Who were the people sho came out onto the beaches with presents for Colunbus and his crew and who peered out ofthe forests at the first white stlers of Virginia and Massachusetts? ‘Aa many a8 75 million Indian lived throigh- ‘out the Americas before Columbus, They had hundreds of efferent tebal cultures and about two thousand languages. Many tribes were nomads, wanderers who lived by hunting and gathering food, Others, were expert farmers and lived in settled communities. Among the Iroquois, the most powerful ofthe northeasters tribes and did not belong to individual, It belonged tothe centive community. People shared the work of {farming and hunting, and they alo shared food. ‘Women wereimportant and respected in Iroquois society, and the sexes shared power, Children were taught tobe independent, Not only the Iroquois ‘but other Indian tribes behaved in similar ways So Columbus and the Europeans who followed him did not come to an empty wilderness. They came toa world that was, in some places, 35 crowded as Burope, The Indians ad their ovn history, laws, and poetry. Tey lived in greater equality than people in Europe did, Was “progress” enough ofa reason to decimate theit population and wipe out thelr societies? The fate ofthe Indians reminds us to lookat history as something more than just story of conquerors and leaders,