Columbus really is to blame for how the native Americans were treated. As the leader of the first group that encountered the natives, Columbus set the stage for how the natives would be treated in the future. After someone has already established something routine (such as an opinion of the natives and a way of treating them), people tend to follow it unless they encounter a problem. Clearly, no other explorers encountered a problem with treating the natives less than humanely.
Columbus never tried to understand any of the natives customs. He refused to believe that they had their own language, and instead modified their words into spanish sounding ones. He interpreted their meanings completely wrong. Because of this, he believed that the natives were stupid. How many explorers in the coming years tried to point out that the natives weren't stupid and actually quite advanced? Not many.
Columbus also saw the natives as not owning their own property. He refused to even accept the already given names for islands and renamed them himself. He had no respect for their land. He also moved onto these islands and claimed them for his own (slash for the crown). Other explorers noted that Columbus never encountered too much trouble with this and acted in the same manner.
I definitely agree with you that Columbus was not interested in trying to understand the natives. Most of what you have to say dates back to written work from De Las Casas, where he begins to write to Charles V of all the abuses he witnesses. Nevertheless, I'm not fully convinced that Columbus set the course for further European conquests in the Americas. For one, if we begin to analyze the manner that other conquistadors, such as Cortes and Pizarro, took over empires in the Americas, you note that there are particular differences in their rise and consolidation of power. I personally believe that the behavior Columbus displays towards the natives of the Americas has to do with Europe's history of conquest. There had never been any particular respect for others, and I believe Columbus carried this with him when he went to the Americas.
ReplyDeleteI agree that what Columbus was wrong (no one can really disagree with that), but I don't think it's really right to demonize him personally. If it hadn't been him, it would've been some other explorer. It's not the person to blame but the culture that made men like him so blinded by lust for money and power that they would commit genocide to get it
ReplyDelete