Week 3

I first heard of Christopher Columbus in elementary school through a lesson taught by my 4th grade teacher. In that lesson I learned that when Columbus landed on America he originally landed on a island in what is now the Bahamas in 1492. But compared to what I learned this week learned about the caste system and that slaves and indigenous people being low and the caste system. I also learned that if a Spaniard and an indigenous person have a kid it’s listed as a “mestizo on the caste system. I also learned in Christopher Columbus’s journal he talks about his discovery with native people and his first encounters. On October 11 he recalls that the Admiral came across a large number of islanders who, in his opinion, could be won over to Christianity by love rather than coercion. He gifted them parrots, glass beads, and crimson caps, which they later traded for other goods. Young, well-built youths with distinctive coloring and short, coarse hair lived on the island. The lack of iron and inadequate armament made it impossible for the populace to defend themselves. The Admiral thought they were taken prisoner from the mainland, but they processed the information fast and concluded that they could be readily won over to Christianity. It took six aboriginal people for the Admiral to teach the ship to speak. The Admiral then ordered the populace to study their language on October 14 and return, but they declined. The Admiral went back on November 4 to hunt birds and found that the Indians had left behind a wealth of pearls, gold, pepper, and cinnamon. He also discovered that the South had a lot of goods and big ships. He also discovered that there were cannibals that only had one eye and cannibals that ate dog noses; when they were caught, they would behead the victims and drink their blood. The Journal of Christopher Columbus (During His First Voyage), and Documents Relating to the Voyages of John Cabot and Gaspar Corte Real, Clements R. Markham, ed. and trans. (London: 1893), 37-68.