Christopher Columbus

1. Christopher Columbus

2. Columbus Info • Born in 1451 (two years before Constantinople fell to the Ottomans) • Genoa, Italy • He was a store clerk and part-time weaver. • His dad was a skilled weaver. • Columbus would become an expert sailor.

3. Isabella and Ferdinand • The King and Queen of Spain were Isabella and Ferdinand.

4. Columbus was the man for the job! • Columbus wanted: • 10% of the profits • Governorship over new-found lands • The title: Admiral of the Ocean Sea

5. The Arawaks greet Columbus • The Arawaks were naked when they ran to greet Columbus and his men bringing food, water, and gifts. • Some of the gifts included balls of cotton and spears. • The Spanish carried their swords and when the Arawaks grabbed them, they cut themselves not understanding that the swords were sharp.

6. Arawaks • Lived in the Bahamas. • Much like Native Americans • Never lived as people did in Europe. • Very generous by nature!!

7. Arawaks • Lived in village communes • Developed agriculture of corn, yams, cassava • They could spin and weave • No horses or work animals • They had no iron but did wear tiny gold ornaments in your ears.

8. Columbus wanted gold! • Columbus knew the world was round but thought that it was 5,000 miles smaller in circumference. • Spain was a modern nation-state. • Most of the population were peasants who worked for the nobility. • Spain sought gold to gain wealth.

9. Seeking Gold • Columbus forced the Arawaks to help him find the gold. • Sailed to Cuba and Hispaniola (today’s Haiti and Dominican Republic) • There were bits of gold in the rivers . • A gold mask was presented to Columbus by a local Indian chief. • Columbus assumed there was a great deal of gold available to him and the Spanish.

10. Navidad • On Hispaniola the Santa Maria ran aground. The timbers from the ship were used to make a fort. • It was called Navidad. • 39 members of the Spanish expedition were left behind.

11. Return to Spain • The Spanish gathered Arawaks and took them back as slaves. • Some refused to go. To “convince” the rest Columbus pulled out his sword and “ran it through” two of them and they watched as the two bled to death. • There was less resistance.

12. The Return • The weather would become cold. • The Indians would begin to die.

13. Columbus claimed… • He had reached Asia. • “Hispaniola is a miracle. Mountains and hills, plains and pastures, are both fertile and beautiful…the harbors are unbelievably good and there are many wide rivers of which the majority contain gold…. There are many spices, and great mines of gold and other metals….”

14. He claimed the Indians… • Naïve and free with their possessions • They never say “no”. • Share with everyone. • Lack of an economy such as known in Europe. • He believed in order to get what Columbus wanted he would need to ravage, kill, mangle and destroy them.

15. Spanish • Spanish grew conceited. • When the Spanish were in a hurry they would ride on the backs of the Indians. • Indians were forced to carry large leaves to shade the Spaniards. • The Spanish would test the sharpness of their knives by cutting off body parts.

16. These Spanish Christians committed wrongs…. • One day two Spaniards met two Indian boys, each carrying a parrot. They gook the parrots and for fun beheaded the boys. • The Indians’ attempt to defend themselves failed. • When the Indians ran away, they would be found and killed.

17. Slave labor • Arawaks were forced to work in the mines. • Mountains were stripped, stones were moved, and dirt was carried in an attempt to acquire gold. • When mines would get water in them, the Arawaks would have to scoop the water out with pails.

18. Many would die. • The men would have to work 6-8 months in the mines. • Up to a third would die. • Their wives would be left to farm. • The men and women only met every 6-8 months. They would be depressed—so much so that many would not procreate.

19. Population Declines • The newborns often died early as their mothers didn’t make enough milk to nurse them. • Some mothers even drowned their babies from sheer desperation….

20. Population • From 1494 – 1508 over 3 million people had perished from war, slavery, and the mines. • Should Columbus Day be celebrated?

21. Necessary? • Looking back, was this a necessary evil?

22. Historical Pattern • What Columbus did to the Arawaks of the Bahamas, Cortes did to the Aztecs of Mexico, Pizarro to the Incas of Peru, and the English settlers of Vierginia and Massachusetts to the Powhatans and the Pequots.

23. Ottomans • The Ottoman Turks took over Constantinople and eastern Mediterranean and controlled the land routes to Asia. • A sea route to Asia was needed.

24. The Ships • Nina • Pinta • Santa Maria • The Santa Maria was the largest of the three ships. It was 100 ft long.

25. Columbus was Lucky! • Columbus would never have made it to Asia. He was lucky that ¼ of the way there he came across some islands. • 33 day voyage • Land was spotted October 1492 -branches were sited in the water by Rodrigo

26. Rodrigo • Rodrigo was a sailor on the ship. Early morning October 12 he hollered out that he spotted land. • Isabel and Ferdinand had promised the person who spotted land first 10,000 maravedis a year for life. • Columbus claimed it for himself.