The Columbus Controversy

Is there more to this colonization than meets the eye?

It has just come to our attention that on November 19, 1493, an ambitious young explorer by the name of Christopher Columbus discovered yet another island through his colonization attempts in the New World. This is Columbus’ second discovery in one year; on October 12 of last year, Columbus made his first remarkable discovery of San Salvador, Bahamas. This new island has been identified as Puerto Rico, which is located between the Greater and Lesser Antilles. Originally, the island was dubbed San Juan Bautista, for St. John the Baptist, and the town was given the name Puerto Rico due to its magnificent possibilities. However, the lieutenant to Columbus, Juan Ponce de León, suggested these names should be switched; hence, the island permanently became Puerto Rico. These voyages were funded by the gracious Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, and they were clearly smart in their choice in explorers.

The first voyage paled in comparison to this discovery. Columbus departed from Cádiz, Spain with 17 ships and approximately 1,500 men. More importantly, the ships brought livestock, such as horses, sheep, and cattle, on the voyage for the first time, as well. Luckily, we were able to retrieve a comment from Columbus during his travels: “I cannot explain the elation I felt when I saw land for the second time amidst the infinite blue sea. Once we broke land, I knew this would be another day to remember.” According to Columbus, the natives of the island were very similar to the peoples he encountered on the island of the Bahamas. There, he named the natives “Indians” because he was initially under the impression that he had reached the East Indies. Clearly, the name stuck; on the island of Puerto Rico, Columbus saw approximately 50,000 Taino Indians who greeted him with kindness.

Unfortunately, Columbus and his fellow travelers did not exactly return the kindness. After the initial discovery, the Spanish began to colonize the island. According to sources, the Tainos were soon forced into slavery by the new inhabitants. The conditions of the enslavement have not yet been released. However, we can safely assume that these conditions are not favorable to the Tainos. Furthermore, to make matters worse, Columbus and his men brought with them infectious diseases. One can see the effect of this situation immediately; the native Tainos have no immunity to the diseases. So, one can easily imagine the devastation caused by the colonization. Columbus himself stated: “There was no way we could have known the destruction our arrival would cause. We were just trying to expand our knowledge of the New World in the name of the Spanish monarchy.” Whether these are the true sentiments of Columbus and his men, we may never know. We do know, however, that the Tainos were pushed to near extinction because of the harsh conditions of slavery and the diseases to which they were exposed.

Overall, one may wish to celebrate this discovery as a victory for mankind because we are able to converse with new peoples and learn the true vastness of the world in which we live. However, others may see this discovery as an opportunity to dominate and exploit innocent peoples, not to enhance our cultural knowledge. What we can all agree on is that the next step for Puerto Rico is going to be the most important one. The fate of this new island lies in our hands.

Sources:

History of Puerto Rico http://welcome.topuertorico.org/history.shtml

"CIA - The World Factbook." Welcome to the CIA Web Site — Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 03 Sept. 2011. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rq.html>.