Christopher Columbus Otherness

The idea of ‘otherness’ is a term that is used to describe the way people tend to view people or even nature that are unfamiliar and barbaric. In earlier colonial years, individuals described foreigners as being the ‘other’ who were not like them. They had the inability or refusal to see similarity between them and the ‘others’. Who are the ‘others’? They were identified as barbarians, savages, minority groups or people of color. Labeling these cultures for their exoticism imposed a divide between two groups: ones that embodied the norm, us, and those who didn’t, them (Staszak). Ironically, the phenomenon of us versus them is like a mirror, each entirely different yet connected by their reflection. The reflection shouldn’t be left unnoticed

Their culture seemed friendly and humble. While on his first voyage he visited several other islands, including what is now Cuba and Haiti, and founded the small settlement of Navidad on the island of Hispaniola (Entertainment Guide). He then secured an agreement with the local Taino chief to allow Columbus to leave men in this permanent settlement. After returning to Spain and informing his benefactors of his discovery, Columbus headed back to the islands in 1493. When he arrived at Navidad he found everything destroyed and all his men killed by the natives. Columbus believed that the Tainos were potentially profitable trading partners so therefore he chose not to retaliate. Instead he started a new settlement on the island and took some of the natives and transported several of them back to Spain as slaves. By Columbus’ third voyage he was desperate to see a financial gain on his explorations and began to attempt intense exploitation of the local Tainos for gold. He established a system of gold tribute owed to the Spanish settlements that was punishable by death if unmet (Entertainment Guide). His behavior was tyrannical and he consistently used violence as punishments against the natives for not finding him large amounts of

Not only were the Caribbean people ruthlessly overworked in a futile search for gold, successive epidemics of European diseases like smallpox wiped out as many as 90 percent of natives within a generation of Columbus's arrival. But not to say all of Columbus’ actions were horrific. He recognized the ‘others’ and their actual existence in his letters home. By documenting the Taino customs by living among the native people, observing their way of life and recording what he learned of the people. In letters he would describe their interactions, their way of life as well as what he experienced on the island. Unfortunately, because of Columbus’s exaggerated reports and promises, his sense of duty began to spiral downward. It could have been because of his refusal to be the “other” on the island. His insecurity led to a massive genocide rather than an international culture and knowledge