Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Columbus was not an "enlightened" man, but a mere practitioner of his own medieval mind. The author points out that Columbus's motives were (1) exploring the regions to the West so that a new passageway to the Pacific would be found, (2) an overwhelming religious zeal to convert the Caribbean-based "heathens" and "heretics," and (3) the need for human labor in the form of slavery. The paper concludes that the terrible and inhumane actions undertaken by Columbus and his men, all of whom were supposed to be "Christian" benefactors sent by the Spanish monarchy of Ferdinand and Isabella, set the pattern for cruelty and destruction, which continued for hundreds of years in the "New World" and the continent of North America and set a precedent, which would, unfortunately, be copied by other explorers.

From the Paper:

"Evidently, Columbus was soon reprimanded for his exportation of slaves, due to the fact that many of them did not survive the trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Bartolome de Las Casas writes that one Spaniard had told him that a compass was not needed to find one's way back to Spain because the sea was covered with the bodies of dead Indians that were simply tossed overboard. Thus, it is clear that Columbus was directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of native Indians, a reflection of his indoctrinated Catholic values and morality."

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