th. In no way did he talk about his voyage in a negative manner. He talks about how the Indians treated him and his crews like kings. Instead of making himself look like a failure, I feel that he made himself and the Europeans in general look like very greedy people. Columbus did not stumble upon a deserted island and claim it; it was a populated island with humans that spoke a different language and had a very different way of life. There I found very many islands filled with people innumerable, and of them all I have taken possession for their highnesses, by proclamation made and with the royal standard unfurled, and no opposition was offered to me. (Worlds of History, P.19)From this passage taken from Columbuss letter to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, we see just how positive Columbus was trying to be. When he states that he was offered no opposition by the island natives to claim the land, he was either stretching the truth or the natives did not understand what the outcome of the transaction would be and therefore did not see a reason to oppose. When we talk about Native Americans, particularly the ones that Columbus stumbled upon throughout his voyages, we can see the extent of the selfish nature that the Europeans portrayed. Not only did Columbus and his men take over the land they discovered by bringing in European plants and animals to reproduce them, but they also infiltrated the entire Indian population with the diseases they brought with them. At one point, the Native Americans were almost made scarce by these diseases. Because they did not have a built immunity to the diseases that were brought over, the death toll was extremely high. Native Americans were replaced not only by horses, sheep, and goats, but also by Africans and Europeans.(The West and the World, p. 5). The natives could not have been kind and accepting after they saw what was happening to the world, as they knew it. It is interesting to ...
