"Christopher Columbus's Journal from His First Voyage, 1492-3"
Audience
The King and Queen of España (King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I)
Sponsored Columbus's Voyage
Spanish Noblemen & Other Government Officials
Financial Backing
Provided 3 Ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and Santa Maria
Gave him a crew, totaling 88 men
Why did they sponsor his voyages?
To spread Christianity (More specifically Catholicism)
To discover a shortcut to Asia
To create a more powerful Spain
To find more natural resources
To increase their social status
Author
Who is Christopher Columbus?
Italian
Received training in Portugal
Studied Navigation and Sailing
Conducted 4 voyages b/w 1492-1504
Text
Interactions with the Native Americans
Thursday, Oct. 11 (Pg. 2) - First Interaction
"We saw naked people, and I went ashore in a boat with armed men... I took the royal standard, and the captains each took a banner with the Green Cross...."
"I could see that they were people who would be more easily converted to our Holy Faith by love than by coercion, and wishing them to look on us with friendship..."
Sunday, Oct. 28 (Pg. 4) - Natives inform the Spaniards of gold & Columbus officially dubs them as "Indians."
"The Indians tell me that there are gold mines and pearls on this island, and I saw a likely spot for pearls, wit clams, wich are a sign of them."
Monday, Nov. 12 (Pgs. 4-5) - Columbus and his crew kidnaps some Nativs
"A canoe came alongside us yesterday with six young men. Five f them came abroad, and I ordered them to be seized and have brought them away with me. I then sent men to a house on the west side of the river, and they brought back seven females, some young and some adult...."
Why did he do this? To show the Queen and King?
Do you think these captured Natives ever made it back to their homeland?
Tuesday, Dec.25 (Pgs. 7-8) - The Santa Maria hits land & the Natives help
Leader of the indigenous peoples cried - "He burst into tears when he heard the news of our misfortune, and sent all his people from the village in numerous large canoes."
"From time to time he sent one of his relatives to me in tears to console me and tell me not to be distressed or downcast, for he would give me everything he had."
"The king and all his people kept weeping as if deeply affect by our loss."
Why are the indigenous people so upset about this accident?
Do you think the indigenous people volunteered to help? Or, were they enslaved and/or coerced into helping the Spaniards?
Descriptions of the Natives
"... they appeared to be a very poor people in all respects" (pg. 3)
"... for with fifty men one could keep the whole population in subjection and make them do whatever one wanted..." (pg. 3)
Submissive, Timid, and Weak
"...that a long way away there are men with one eye, and others with noses like dogs who eat human flesh; when they capture someone they cut his throat and drink his blood and cut off his private parts" (pg. 4)
Portrays some of the Natives as animals, savages, and cannibals.
"... for I can see from my own observations that these people have no religion, nor are they idolaters" (pg. 4).
Irreligious
Convertible to Christianity?
"I, with my small company, could walk all over these islands unmolested, for I have already seen three of my seamen go ashore and a whole multitude of Indians flee from them without being threatened" (pg. 6).
"They are like the people I have seen, with the same beliefs; the thought we had come from Heaven. They will give you whatever they have, straight away, in exchange of anything at all, never saying that it is not enough, and I think they would do the same with spices and gold if they had them...." (pg. 6)
"They have no weapons or fighting skills, and all of them are naked. They are very timid; three men could put a thousand of them to flight , so they could easily be commanded and made to work, to sow, and to do whatever may be needed, to build towns and be taught to wear clothes and adopt our ways..." (pg. 6).
Is he basically informing the King and Queen that the Natives can be easily conquered and enslaved?
Do you think he is telling the truth?
Is it important for the Natives to "adopt our ways"?
Themes
Importance of Spreading Christianity
Nov. 16 (pg. 5) - "I am leaving a cross planted everywhere I land in these island and territories..... We knelt before [the two timbers in a shape of a cross] in prayer, and I have ordered a great high cross to be made using the two timbers."
Nov. 27 (pg. 6) - "And Your Majesties, in my opinion, should not allow any foreigner to do business or gain a foothold here, but only Catholic Christians, for that is the beginning and end of the whole enterprise; it should be or the growth and glory of the Christian faith, and you should allow no one but good Christians to come here."
The New World symbolizes a mythical paradise and/or Heaven
Oct. 11 (pg.3) - "The islands are very green and lush, with sweet breezes..."
Oct. 16 (pg. 3) - When describing the fish, Columbus writes, "No man could look at them without amazement and delight, the colours are so beautiful."
Oct. 19 (pg. 3) - "I do not know where to go first, and my eyes never weary of seeing such marvelous vegetation, so different from our own."
Nov. 27 (pg. 5) - "The beauty and freshness of the river, so clear that we could see the sand on the bottom; all the various sorts of palm tree, taller and more beautiful than any I have encountered before; the endless variety of other trees, so tall and green; the birds; the greenness of the level ground-all this made me want to stay here forever."
Symbols
Lightning Bolt
Sep. 15 (pg. 1) - "Early in the night we saw a marvelous bolt of fire fall from the sky into the sea...."
"These various things are disturbing and depressing the men, who are interpreting them as signs that we have taken a dangerous course."
What do you think the lightning bolt symbolizes? Upcoming danger and hardship?
Dolphins
Sep. 17 (pg. 1) - "We saw large numbers of dolphins, and they killed one from the Nina. These signs are coming from the west, where I trust that the great God in whose hands all victory lies will give us a landfall."
In Ancient Greece, dolphins often served as a sign of blessings & adventure, and they also acted as a sea messenger for the Gods.
Is this a bad sign?
Why kill an innocent creature?
How do you think the King and Queen reacted?
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