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Essay on The age of exploration
The effect of the age of exploration on the explorations
The effect of the age of exploration on the explorations
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In the late 14th century, Spanish expedition team reached the Canaries, and at the same time, Portuguese expedition team reached Madeiras. In the 15th century, they started the colonization, and starting to build the sugar plantations[.Core Essay: “Europe and the Americas, 1450-1607” GLOBALYCEUM Section 1]. Due to the lack of the people and big areas of land, they have to purchase native slaves to maintain the land, which has become the forerunner of what would happen in coming years in North America. In 1492, Christopher Columbus has become the first European to stand on the land of America. He was supported by Queen Isabel of Spain and he discovered America by a mistake. Columbus’s initial task was to explore Asia[ Ronald Takaki, A Different Mirror (Little, Brown and Company; First revised edition 2008) page 25], but instead, he explores Cuba and Caribbean islands. He used the wreckage of his ship the Santa Maria[ Core Essay: “Europe and the Americas, 1450-1607” GLOBALYCEUM Introduction] to build the first settlement on Hispaniola island, then he left. A year later, when he returns to his settlement, all he found was ruins and all his men were disappeared. After the investigation, Columbus’s Indian friend Guacanagari, the Chief of Taino, told him that the incident was done by a rival tribe, therefore Columbus went for his revenge. He defeated the rival tribe and enslaved many of the Natives. His first thought of America was to enslave the natives by the name of God and what potential profits could he get from this new …show more content…
Discuss religious, economic, and political motives of Europeans vs. English; discuss comparative attitudes of frontiers of inclusion and frontiers of
Columbus and de las Casas were both explorers of the new world. They both encountered Native Americans and their treatment of them was both similar and different. Columbus viewed the Native American as subhumans. He did not have much respect for the people of the land and treated them as such. In his letter to Luis de Santangel, Columbus says how he took possession of the native’s highnesses by proclamation. He also discloses how no one fought back which then made native Americans seem weak. He also states how he already took Indians aboard with him.At one instance Columbus had a dispute with Spainards and decided to give up Indians as a peace offering. Which he states in the letter to that tey were not his to give
As we all know from the memorable song, in 1492 Columbus sailed to find the New World, commonly known as the Americas. Many idolize Columbus for his accomplishment in colonizing the Americas and starting the Columbian Exchange. The Columbian Exchange is the sharing of plants, animals, diseases, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Western and Eastern Hemispheres as a direct result of Columbus’ arrival to the Americas. However, we often oversee the downfalls of the Columbian Exchange. Some consequences of the exchange are the spread of disease to the Native people and settlers, the destruction of the Native population, and the disappearance of the Natives custom’s, beliefs, and way of life.
On October 12, 1492 Christopher Columbus landed on unknown territory, however, in his perspective of Earth he thought he made a new route to Asia. He travels throughout the lands, soon, he discovers new forms of inhabitant plants, as well as, indigenous people that were native to those lands. Years later he soon unravels that it was all unaccustomed terrain. The monarchy of Spain also discovers Columbus’s new discoveries, then, they send more explorers to conquer the lands. In 1520, Hernan Cortes goes with the order from Spanish royalty to go to the newly discovered lands to conquer them, also, help expand the Spanish empire. Overall, Columbus and Cortes both reported the new lands they recently discovered back to Spain, however, their descriptions
In 1492, Christopher Columbus was a self-made man who worked his way up to being the Captain of a merchant vessel. He gained the support of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, for an expedition to the Indies. With the support of the Spanish monarchy, he set off to find a new and faster trade route to the Indies. Upon the arrival of his first voyage, Columbus wrote a letter to Luis de Santangel, a “royal official and an early supporter of his venture,” in February 1493 (35). The epistle, letter, entitled “Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage” was copied and then distributed in Spain before being translated and spread throughout Europe. The Letter is held in such regard with the people as it is considered the first printed description of the new world. Through his description of the nature of the islands, Columbus decided the future fate of the islands. His description of the vast beauty of the nature around him, declares both the economic and nationalistic motivations for colonizing the new world.
Without intention, in 1492 Christopher Columbus initiated an event that is perhaps the most important historical turning point in modern times to the American Continents. . “For thousands of years before 1492, human societies in America had developed in isolation from the rest of the world. ”(P. 4) Christopher Columbus and other European voyagers ended all this beginning in 1492 as they searched for treasure and attempted to spread Christianity. For the first time, people from Europe, Africa, and the Americas were in regular contact. Columbus was searching for one thing and discovered something entirely different.
The first instance of colonialism forced upon the inhabitants of the Dominican Republic was the “discovery” by Christopher Columbus on October 12, 1492. Ernesto Sagas and Orlando Inoa presented the interaction in their book The Dominican People: A Documentary History. The confrontation between these two diametrically opposed cultures proved to be “far from equal; the Amerindians’ Stone Age culture was no match for European military technology. The initial encounter took place on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, part of which is now the Dominican Republic” (Inoa pg. 1). This was the first step in a trek through five and a half centuries of Dominican Republic history, and unfortunately much of it was filled with the horror of colonialism. In fact, the Dominican Republic became the “hub” for the colonization of the America’s, and acted as the stepping-stone for European colonizers into a vast, never before exploited goldmine for both natural and human resources. As Sagas and Inoa discuss, the island of Hispaniola, "became the center of the Spanish colonial enterprise in the New World. It was in Hispaniola where the first major contacts between Europeans and Amerindians took place, where the first exploitative economic activities in the New World were developed, where Europeans first established permanent settlements and colonial institutions, and where the stage was set for the colonization of the rest of the New World (Inoa pg. 1.)." Thus the groundwork was established for colonialism not only for the Dominican Republic, but for the entire hemisphere. According to Sagas and Inoa, colonization was inevitable because interaction with Europeans was predictable. They wrote, “[i]f Christopher Columbus had...
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. However, even after centuries later, little is truly known of the mysterious voyage and findings of the new world.1 By examining “Letter from Columbus to Luis Santangel”, one can further contextualize the events of Columbus' exploration of the New World. The letter uncovers Columbus' subtle hints of his true intentions and exposes his exaggerated tone that catered to his lavish demands with Spain. Likewise, The Columbian Voyage Map read in accordance with the letter helps the reader track Columbus' first, second, third, and fourth voyage to the New World carefully and conveniently. Thus, the letter and map's rarity and description render invaluable insight into Columbus' intentionality of the New World and its indigenous inhabitants.
Columbus discovered the New World (America) in 1492, soon after, many other European colonies followed and expanded. One Spanish conquistador stated, "that he and his kind went to the new World to serve God and his Majesty, to give light to those who were in the darkness, and to grow rich, as all men desire to do" (Parry, p.33). The majority of Europeans that would follow, desired the same. In order to achieve this goal the Europeans murdered, starved, enslaved, stole land, and brutalized people for centuries to follow. During Columbus second voyage to the New World, he had captured 1600 Native Americans, and enslaved 550. At this point, the Native Americans lives were changed forever. The Spaniards continue to explore the new world, leaving a wake of death and destruction in their path. Along with the Europeans came diseases that th...
This letter between Christopher Columbus and Luis de Santangel, the financial advisor of the spanish crown, establishes that Columbus found “many islands” and took “possession for their Highnesses” (p. 263). He confirms that there are inhabitants “beyond number” in this territory; however, he quickly glosses over the natives to describe the abounding fertility of the islands (p. 263). Columbus is care in highlighting the natural resources, species, and the ability the islands have for agriculture. Once his initial description of the land is completed Columbus begins to describe the simple lifestyle of the natives. He places special emphasis on the natives’ docile and generous nature, and writes in detail about trading with the nativ...
Unwavering, resourceful, unshakable, optimistic, and fearless. Christopher Columbus, a lionhearted explorer who paved the path for exploration, is all the above adjectives. Born in 1451 Genoa, Italy, Columbus was one of the numerous explorers to discover America. Columbus went from weaving wool to working on trade ships to becoming one of the world's most eminent known explorers. Utilizing only a quadrant, compass, sand glass, and Celestial Navigation Columbus made his way to America. Looking back one can see, technological advances have profoundly progressed since Christopher Columbus set sail in 1492. For example, Martin Behaim, a German geographer, is known for making “the oldest known western terrestrial globe” in 1492[1]. One can conclude then that Columbus didn't have many tools to assist him in his
Some of the problems when studying history are the texts and documents that have been discovered are only from perspective. Furthermore, on occasion that one perspective is all there may be for historians to study. A good example of this textual imbalance can be found from the texts about the discovery of the New World; more specifically, the letters of Christopher Columbus and Pêro Vaz de Caminha during their voyages to the New World. Plenty of the text from this time is written from the perspective of the Europeans, as the Indigenous population did not have any written text. What this means is that it provided only one perspective, which can drastically hinder how history is interpreted. Columbus’s letter of his first voyage to the Caribbean
One of the main sources of disillusionment that would reveal most about the challenges to come is the relationship between the native peoples and the Europeans. Columbus’ crew did not realize the complexity of the relationships that they would face with the Indians, especially since Columbus embellished his interactions with the native peoples from his first voyage. He describes them as bringing gifts, giving thanks to god, and even praising them as if they had “come from heavens”. He gives several other accounts of the natives bringing gift to the Europeans, and overall being of a mild disposition. It is easy to see where Columbus’ later crews would have formed their preconceptions about the Indians, and why they may have been shocked when they traveled to the Caribbean themselves. This tension helps predict the future difficulty involving the relationships between Europeans and Indians, because their relationship would never be an easy one after that. By expanding their empires into the Americas in their relentless quest for gold and other profits, the Europeans faced the issue of what to do with the Indians. A great number were killed by foreign disease, more would be killed by violence as the empires expanded into Mexico and further, and the others would be forced to labor under the encomienda system. Although this system worked out rather well for the Europeans, since their empires increased on an enormous scale and they did find great profit, a large number of Indians would still suffer, and some Europeans like de las Casas would not be afraid to speak out about it. The preconceptions they had about the native people would lead to difficulty for later Europeans because the relationship they developed with them would reflect a greater unequal power structure.
The discovery of America was the best thing to happen to mankind during the year of 1492. Let’s face it, the political landscape has changed over the past centuries in an astronomical way. How we view the world today, may have not been how they viewed the world in the late 1400s. The greatest question to ask is if history was wrong in the past. Perhaps the founding fathers would have surrendered to the British Empire; if we lived in a world of that, would we consider history on our side today? What if Nazi Germany had won World War II and Adolf Hitler’s ideology was placed worldwide, would we agree with it today? Understanding the perspective of Christopher Columbus and his role in history is vital to understanding the age of exploration
Although this essay is historically accurate it lacks important details, which might paint a different view of Columbus. Boorstin writes favorable of Columbus and depicts him as a heroic and determined figure who helped shape history, but he neglects to include Columbus’ unethical acts committed in the world that was not supposed to exist, the Americas. When Columbus first discovered the New World, he took care that the royal standard had been brought ashore and he claimed the land for Spain in front of all, including the indigenous population who had been sighted even before Columbus made landfall. According to the medieval concepts of natural law, only those territories that are uninhabited can become the property of the first person to discover them. Clearly this was an unethical act. Thus, the first contact between European and non-European worlds was carried out through a decidedly European prism, which ensured Spanish claim to the islands of the Americas. Faced with a colony in an inhospitable area, the Spanish soon inaugurated the practice of sending regular military parties inland to subdue the increasingly hostile natives. Members of the indigenous population were captured and enslaved to support the fledgling colony. The object of Columbus’ desire changed from exploration and trade to conquest and subjugation.
Cristóbal Colón landed on an unknown island in the Caribbean on October 10, 1492. He planted banners in the beach claiming the land for the Spanish throne. Colón’s perceptions and interactions with the indigenous people, the Taino, sparked the events that lead to the colonization of the Americas. Colón’s perceptions of the Taino were misinterpreted by him. His misconceptions about the Taino were built from a compilation of his own expectations, readings of other explorers, and strong religious influence in Western Europe. The Taino also misunderstood the Spanish as well. Their false beliefs about the Spanish were driven by their religious beliefs as well as their mythology. Through misunderstandings backed by the religions, physical appearances, and the histories of both the Taino and the Spanish, the Taino believed that the Spanish were god-like figures that fell from the sky, while the Taino were perceived by the Spanish as simplistic, uncultured natives, that would be easily converted to Christianity and used as servants (Wilson, Hispanola p. 48-49).1 To better comprehend these events one must look at the preceeding events in both the lives of the Taino and The Spanish.