COLUMBUS' SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH VOYAGE (W2:D3)
Returning to Hispaniola, he found that the men he left were slaughtered by another tribe, Caribs - who were recorded to be cannibals - and that they had abducted Taino women, and enslaved and harvested others. Dr. Diego Alvarez Canca, a physician who accompanied Columbus on this voyage, journaled their visit to a Carib village, likely on the island now known as St. Thomas. He wrote of the horrible things they did to the women and how they cannibalized the bodies of the fallen. It was here that Columbus raised up arms against those tribes of other islands who would attack the Taino and his men. At this time, most of the tribes were going through a cultural revolution and beginning to speak the same language - Arawakan; even the Caribs of the local islands began learning the language of their captives. The Caribs themselves were a conquering people, who travelled north from mainland South America and began conquering the many Caribbean islands they came upon on their journey north. Note: up to 20% of the indigenous population were already enslaved by other tribes before Europeans arrived. From there, the relationship between the indigenous and the Spanish soured, from peace and help, to war and resistance. Columbus ordered that those who fought against the Spanish and were captured would not be killed, but imprisoned and shipped back to Spain, to be “civilized.” Nearly 550 indigenous people, some captive, and some volunteers, traveled back to Spain when he returned from his second voyage. Beyond the Spanish taking up arms against the Caribs, the natives began to die by the dozens, due to diseases brought from Europe that the Spanish were accustomed to, but the natives were not. Before leaving, Columbus completed three significant acts in the new world. First, he fortified the entire island of Hispaniola, building a second fort with soldiers and Taino working together. With their guns, horses, and other arms, they had subdued the tribes of the surrounding area. So, the second was to send Friar Ramón Pané to live among the tribes, learning their language and writing down their oral traditions, as the first anthropologist. The third was to begin the search for gold, ordering the Taino to do manual labor. Columbus returned to Spain and presented his findings. Third Voyage - When he returned on his third voyage, things had turned for the worst. Columbus was commanded to bring back representatives of the crown who despised him. Quickly, Columbuss enemies turned his loyal men against him. One such enemy, Francisco de Bobadilla, was a judge that was to observe Columbus in the new world. He sailed on Columbus’s third voyage as an Embassy of the Crown, and friend to the Queen. In 1500, soon after arriving, he charged Columbus with brutal treatment of the native people and tyrannical control over his men. Whether this is true, no one knows, because there are two opposing stories; Columbus’s journals and detailed documents from supporters and observers give one side of the story, including that of Friar Ramón Pané, who spent two years writing the stories of most the natives, and a 42-page document written by Bobadilla, with statements of witnesses. Columbus was quickly imprisoned and shipped back to Spain. The crown took control of the colony, which had been under the governance of Columbus and his brothers. A few months later, all charges were dropped and Columbus was released, due to opposing evidence. He was then provided a fourth voyage. Fourth Voyage – This is where most historians and textbooks stop, but the most interesting things occur in his fourth voyage. When Columbus returned to Hispaniola, they found that the Spanish had started slave raids and were enslaving the natives by the thousands. War had broken out among all the islands, and the indigenous people were dying by the hundreds. His replacement, Governor Francisco de Bobadilla, who accused Columbus of mistreating the indigenous people, was imprisoned by Juan Ponce de Leon, to be shipped back to Spain for misrepresenting Columbus, and for his mistreatment of the native people. The queen was not fond of slavery, or the mistreatment of natives. Columbus requested port in Hispaniola, because of a hurricane he was predicting, but was denied any help by the new Governor. At the same time, a fleet of 30 treasure ships left Hispaniola heading for Spain, not believing Columbus’s prediction. 29 were lost at sea, with over 500 men - one being Bobadilla, without telling his side of the story to the Crown. Columbus spent some time sailing among the islands of the Caribbean, possibly reaching even the coast of Honduras and Panama, and was stranded for a year in Jamaica. Winning favor of the natives, they paddled canoes to Hispaniola, asking the Spanish to rescue Columbus, but the new Governor, Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceresthen, who despised Columbus, denied any help. Later, another ship found Columbus and his men. He returned to Spain, to live the rest of his life. Activity #2: Thought Experiment: This experiment is to make you think and to be more reflective. Have you been accused of something that was not true? Tell us:
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________ Have you ever been accused of something that was true? What was that instance? Tell the story:
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________ How were the feelings you felt different each time? How did you react differently?
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________ When you look back, and you heard someone’s side of their story, and you told your side, were they the same? How did they usually differ? Who was usually believed?
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________ Things are not always what they seem, or there may be more to the story than you hear from one side. It is said that the “victor writes the history.” Then the question becomes, who was right? Was Columbus a tyrannical dictator over his men and the Taino, like his enemies wrote, or did he respect the tribe? Think on this?
What do you think about Columbus now, has it changed?
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
