Document Interpretation 1 The Clash of Cultures

Christopher Columbus Extracts from His Journal written by his own hand
1. I was surprised at how Columbus was able to estimate the distances, which could be
considered quite accurate despite the lack of measuring tools.
2. The way that Columbus described the indigenous people from Guanahani as called by
the Indians or San Salvador as named by Columbus was really detailed. He paid attention clearly
to their friendliness, appearance, age range, etc. And I think it is important to have a closer look
at the community because it would help him get to know the lifestyles of the people living there
before he governed the island.
3. The indigenous people appeared to Columbus to have no academic knowledge (like
language) and no religion, which made him believe that they would become good servants and
Christianity followers.
4. Trading seemed really peaceful and was made based on good will. They came loaded
with balls of cotton, parrots, javelins, and other things too numerous to mention; these they
exchanged for whatever we chose to give them.
5. They were able to discover not only the islands which they would eventually conquer,
but also abundant valuable metal like golds.
6. When they discovered a couple of villages while sailing north-north east along the
coast, the people there seemed to be unexpectedly cheerful and somewhat misperceived them as
Godsends coming from heaven. I think it was because the villagers believed where the ocean met
the sky was heaven, from which people appeared must be celestial beings.
7. Even though there were language barriers and they needed to communicate through
signs, most of the recorded conversations were well-interpreted. Or it could be vaguely assumed
by Columbus.
8. I would never think of the scenarios which the San Salvador natives who were taken
on board would eventually decide to escape. I am curious what made them want to run away
instead of coming along with Columbus. Was that they missed their families and habitats or they
were mistreated while on the ship with the crew?
9. There was such an indigenous species called dumb dogs, which did not bark and
already went extinct since the sixteenth century.
Columbus Letter to King Ferdinand - First Voyage
10. The people of Espanola appeared to be easily frightened of strangers approaching
them. And I think this is not something unusual at all because being aware of people whom you
are not acquainted with is kind of like an instinct for everyone. It is hard to tell whether they
approach with a good or bad intention.
11. Columbus gave loads of good things to the people of Espanola and expected in return,
they would devote themselves to His Highness, become Christians, and be willing to give him
things he found useful, which they also have a great deal of, especially gold.
12. People of the island Carib were considered to be the fiercest among all islands and
ate human flesh.

13. Columbus found out that women tended to work more than men and the people did
not keep anything private to themselves because they appeared to share whatever they had with
one another, particularly when it came to things that were edible.
Columbus Contract with Ferdinand and Isabella
14. Not only Columbus was given the title of the Admiral, but his descendents were also
able to address themselves as Dons, Admirals, Vice-Roys, and Governours as an inheritance
from him.
The Devastation of the Indies written by Bartolom de Las Casas
15. Hispaniola was known to be the first land Spaniards arrived and also the first land in
the New World to be devastated by the Christians.
16. Viewing from Columbuss perspectives, it seemed to me that they treated the Indians
pretty well, but that was not the case. In The Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account,
Bartolom de Las Casas provided a more objective point of view saying that the Christians
committed other acts of force and violence and oppression which made the Indians realize that
these men had not come from Heaven.
17. One Christian consumed food in one day equivalent to those eaten by three houses
with ten Indians in one month. This could be considered the sin of gluttony in the Bible.
18. The Indians wanted to break free from the Spaniards, but was not strong enough due
to the lack of powerful weapons.
19. King Guarionex, who could have been able to seek revenge on Christians for his wife
was raped by a Christian officer, decided to go into hiding afterwards at the province called
Ciguayos. Eventually, he was captured and put on a vessel which was lost at sea, drowning many
Christians, the King along with gold.
20. Before Spaniards ever came to the Islands of San Juan and Jamaica, there were one
than million people living there. After the incident, there were no more than two hundreds
inhabitants.
After all the readings, I believe that there is never going to be one side of the story.
History is his story and story would be different from people to people as it is being told
numerous times distinctively; therefore, it could have a lot of versions, just like Christopher
Columbus and his voyages. From Columbuss point of view, he was providing good things and
good lives to the Indians. What he wrote in his journals actually led me to believe that they came
to the New World with good intentions. However, they were there not only to discover new
lands, but also to conquer them. On the other hand, what I learned from Bartolom de Las
Casass The Devastation of the Indies: A Brief Account was that the Spaniards treated the
Indians so horribly. They were raped and killed in the worst ways they could have imagined. At
the end, there were nothing left of the Indians besides regrets for having misperceived the
Christians as people who came from Heaven and for having allowed them to enter their lands in
the first place.