Gabriel Morada

History 7A
Prof. Michael Felix
5th May 2017
Document Interpretation 1: The Clash of Cultures Assignment
Columbus Contract
1. After reading the document titled Privileges and Prerogatives Granted by Their Catholic
Majesties to Christopher Columbus: 1942, I was surprised to read and see that King
Ferdinand and Queen Elizabeth were so generous and giving to Christopher Columbus
because they gave him the title Admiral of those Islands and Continent that he discovers and
conquers. I thought royalty would be more possessive back in those times.
2. In the document titled Sample Michele de Cuneo letter excerpts, I was shocked to read
how brutal they treated the Caribs after they were captured. I think cutting off the Caribs
head a bit too much even if he tried to escape. I didnt know ruthless they were, until reading
this.

The Devastation of the Indies by De Las Casas

3. After reading the excerpt titled The Devastation Of The Indies: A Brief Account, I felt a
little unhappy and taken back that the Spaniards went straight to taking advantage and
starting their first oppressions against the Indians. Being religious, I thought they would be
more considerate and friendly but I guess when you take into account conquering another
inhabited island they did whatever. They even took the women and children for their own
use. Its a little shocking to read how savage these Spaniards were against the Indians.
4. In the excerpt The Devastation Of The Indies: A Brief Account, I was surprised to read that
Christians ate so much more than the Indians. For one day, one person can eat as much food
that would feed about three houses filled with ten Indians. That so much food! How can
someone eat that much food? Its either that, or the diets of the Indians were insane. They
must have trained themselves to do that, so that they can proportion their supply of food well
for the many others that lived on the island.
5. Reading this document, you can really tell that the Spaniards had fun conquering Hispaniola.
A little part of me gets angry reading this because I never realized that they even did it in this
manner. They treated the raping and pillaging and killings as a game, and thats sickening to
me. They have no respect for these people, and I never took this into account when people
were trying to conquer other lands. All you read about in books is that they conquered them,
but reading it in detail I get why they dont add all of this in those books. The burning and
throwing them in the river exclaiming hurtful things was too much for me.
6. When I think about how Kings are and act, I usually see them as prideful and even a little
ruthless and harsh. But reading that King Guarionex was pacific and even generous by giving
gold, in the excerpt The Devastation Of The Indies: A Brief Account, was new and
unexpected. Totally the opposite of how I thought Kings acted especially to other Kings.
King Guarionex is so giving and wanted to treat the Kings of Castile well. He was ready to
welcome the Spaniards.
7. It was shocking to read that even though, King Guarionex was so giving and welcoming to
the Spaniards, that the Spaniards had no respect for him and even raped his wife. He felt so
broken that he went alone in hiding and exile, and went to live under protection of another
 chieftain. How could they do such a thing to someone who was being considerate, they had
no regard for these Indians. (The Devastation Of The Indies: A Brief Account,)
8. In this excerpt, I found it really funny that even the author said things like God desired to
manifest Himself when karma happened after the horrible things the Spaniards committed
against the Indians. The author seemed a little happy and glad that these types of things
happened. To me, it seemed like he was siding with the Indians and felt sympathy. This was
new to me because after reading much of this document, I thought the Spaniards didnt even
care about the Indians. (The Devastation Of The Indies: A Brief Account)
9. While reading the excerpt, The Devastation Of The Indies: A Brief Account, I found each
King the Spaniards had met were all different. It seemed as if each King was good at
something or had to offer; even their islands/lands were different. One had sugar, one had the
best sugar, one was the most populated. Details like this was a bit unpredictable and it caught
me off guard how diverse each island and king were.
10. This excerpt stood out to me and was surprising to me because the narrator actually admitted
to the faults that the Christians had committed against the Indians. Usually when someone
does something wrong, they either make an excuse or deny the wrong. But even the narrator
said that their actions were unjustifiable and that the Indians did no wrong. The author
recognized that they treated them so unfairly and that the wars were diabolical. (The
Devastation Of The Indies: A Brief Account
11. It was unexpected to me, that in the excerpt The Devastation Of The Indies: A Brief
Account, that the Christians were so systematic and treated the dividing of slaves with
hierarchy. I would assume because of how savage they were with killing these people, I
thought they would be savages with how they were picking the slaves. I thought they would
be more possessive and selfish, but they werent which was why it was unexpected.
12. The most shocking thing that I read in this excerpt was how many Indians the Spaniards had
killed. In the excerpt, it said that there were about one million inhabitants on the islands but
were reduced to about 200. Thats an insane drop, due to the killings of the Spaniards and the
exhaustion they had put them through. I didnt realize thats how many they killed during a
conquest like this. (The Devastation Of The Indies: A Brief Account)

Columbus Letter to King Ferdinand

13. In the excerpt, Letter to King Ferdinand of Spain, describing the results of the first voyage,
it was surprising to read that whatever gifts Columbus had given to the Indians they
treasured it like a jewel. Its kind of crazy, that they seem to be so separated from the world
that they marveled at useless things like lace tips and broken crockery. It seems to me that
they havent met any foreigner ever.
14. It was really interesting to find out, in the excerpt Letter to King Ferdinand of Spain,
describing the results of the first voyage, the tactics of how Columbus wanted to trick and
convince the Indians. He tried to give them gifts as a sign of respect and affection so that he
can persuade the Indians to be Christians and slaves. Thats pretty sneaky because even I
would have fallen for that if I was in their mindset. He was trying to get all their possessions
by doing so, which is a sign of greed.
15. Before reading the excerpt Letter to King Ferdinand of Spain, describing the results of the
first voyage, I didnt know that they believed Columbus and his men were sent from the
heavens. But I guess when something so new and foreign to you comes face to face you
really dont know how you would react and really wonder where they came from. I cant
 imagine and believe how much they gave to the Christians; it seems like they gave up all the
possessions because they were so honored.
16. In the excerpt Medieval Sourcebook: Christopher Columbus: Extracts from Journal, I
found it really interesting and new with how the Admiral made an incentive for finding land.
It seemed to me that he was very eager for discovery, so he promised a silken jacket as a
reward. I thought this was really clever because that would really motivate someone to more
observant and to be more attentive. I didnt think they would care about clothing so that
something new that surprising also.
17. Before reading the excerpt, Letter to King Ferdinand of Spain, describing the results of the
first voyage, I have never read anyone who carried a royal standard or a flag to announce
who they were and who they worked for. I found it really interesting because thats a form of
respect and didnt know anyone that did this types of things.
18. When reading the excerpt Letter to King Ferdinand of Spain, describing the results of the
first voyage, I realized something new. To the Spaniards the Indians might seem poor
because of how they dress and the items they had but to the Indians themselves, they could
think that they are rich and full of many gifts given by nature. Its all about perspective. I
never really fully comprehended this, because all I thought about was how separated they
were from each other and how advance the Spaniards were compared to the Indians.

Christopher Columbus Extracts from Journal

19. After reading the excerpt Voyages of Columbus I realized how obsessive the Spaniards
were with trying to convert the Indians into Christianity. I thought on voyages they were only
trying to find new items like gold, spices, and such but I didnt realize they wanted to convert
many people including Indians to their religion.
20. After reading the excerpt Voyages of Columbus I realized how little of importance the
Indians thought gold were. They bartered gold for meaningless things. But then again this
shows how amazed they were of the Spaniards. There culture is so different from one
another. But another thing that was new to me was how they bartered. They knew not to give
up all the gold they had and did it in small portions. This showed how intelligent they were.

Summary:
The thing that stood out to me the most was how respectful and generous the Indians were. They
were so giving and welcoming when meeting the Spaniards. The thought that came to mind was
how could someone be so kindhearted and give all their possessions away to people they just
met? I have never met anyone so charitable like that. But it was also saddening to read in detail
the killings and raping and pillaging committed by the Spaniards. I felt so angry reading it
because the Indians really couldnt do anything because the Spaniards were to overpowering
with all the arms they had. It gave me a new perspective for the word conquest and not to take it
lightly. When reading these types of facts in history books back then, I thought it was pretty
interesting with how people conquered lands and that all these types of wars were happening.
But reading in detail with what they actually did was kind of shocking. I felt sympathetic
towards the Indians because they were practically robbed of all their possessions, half of their
nation was reduced, and taken as slaves. These are the things I will remember the most because
after reading these excerpts, these are the things I never realized when reading these types of
accounts in different history books. To me reading facts like this was so boring because it was
very one-sided. What I mean by this, is that I read it like it was told in a very monotone voice
and that it was unexciting book. I like to read things that are like stories and from different
perspectives, and after reading these excerpts I found it really interesting and was very attached
to it.