Discovery

“In fourteen hundred ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”

I’ve learned a lot about Christopher Columbus throughout school, but today we learned more about why and how Columbus and his contemporaries discovered and conquered the Americas. Most importantly, I wondered consequences of this connection. Spain and Portugal dominated Atlantic Ocean navigation during the 1400’s . The countries were rivals, competing for dominance over trade in the Atlantic. After the Spanish succeeded in expelling the moors out of the country and state affairs were going well, Queen Isabella agreed to finance Columbus’ journey to find a route to Asia. The kings and queens of Europe wanted to discover new land, riches, and trade routes. However, Columbus and his crew encountered much more than they expected.

What Columbus actually discovered was a new continent, instead of his anticipated new route to Asia. This opened up something that no one could have imagined. They encountered new peoples, cultures, animals, plants, and new ways of life. Columbus didn’t just bring new things back to the old world. The new world was also completely changed. Columbus and the other newcomers almost killed off the indigenous population through their attempts to conquer and from bringing in new diseases. The environment was also affected, from cutting down trees and bringing in new species. Once the connection between the Old and New World was established, everything evolved irreversibly.

The contact would have been made eventually, but at this particular time of discovery the Europeans had a ‘conquer’ type of attitude. They wanted to obtain riches (especially gold and silver), control more land and resources, gain slaves, and spread Christianity. From the European perspective, the newly discovered land was theirs for the taking. They did not stop to consider the ways in which they affected the people already inhabiting that land. This will happen later on again and again, causing destruction. Why do newcomers believe they can just ‘take over’ what others have already built? Columbus actually reported to Queen Isabella that the people he encountered in the Caribbean didn’t seem to have a religion. Supremacist attitudes- ‘these people are pagans and don’t know how to live’- is just harmful. Many Europeans that came to the Americas didn’t stop to think about how they affected the people they encountered. Learning how other people live can enrich your own life. It even saved many colonists lives later on. The first thanksgiving is an excellent example. Gaining knowledge from others is beneficial for both sides, rather than trying to take over and dominate.