Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus' Discovery and Subsequent Impact on Native Americans Although Christopher Columbus used his courage and navigation skills to voyage to a place unknown to the western part of the world many native people suffered from his voyages to the west. In 1492 Columbus set out to find a shorter route to Asia by sailing west to get east. His adventures and discoveries cost the Native Americans more than just their land. In the years after his historic voyage, the Spanish conquistadors and missionaries arrived and destroyed their culture, their civilization and the environment. When Christopher Columbus landed on what is now San Salvador, he brought together two entirely different cultures. The Europeans with their social hierarchy and strong sense of country and spirit had difficulty relating to the Native American's naturalistic way of living. These differences caused problems over land ownership, religion and trade. (Trickel 35-37) The Native Americans had not encountered the light skinne
They put the Native Americans to work to produce gold and eventually silver. "It is possible that the plants and animals that he brings with him have caused the extinction of more species of life forms in the last four hundred years than the usual processes of evolution might kill off in a million. The "New World" had a wide range of plants that were unknown to the Europeans such as potatoes, corn, and chocolate, silk and many other plants. The name stuck and the race was on for the resettlement, colonization and conversion of this "New World". Missionaries from the Catholic Church were perhaps the most vigilant in completing the work of conversion. This promise of riches to come was enough for him to gain the backing needed to finance three more voyages. A smallpox epidemic swept the land and decimated the population. The conquistadors had other ideas though. Christopher Columbus brought invaders, slavery and disease to a pristine land and his actions caused many Natives to die. If they had known what awaited them and their land it is doubtful that they would have welcomed the Europeans with open arms as they did. While it is true that the exploration, colonization, and conversion of the "New World" would have taken place without him, it is also true that Christopher Columbus' discovery spelled doom for the Native Americans. When Christopher Columbus landed on the island of the Native Americans were gentle and peaceful and traded with Columbus. These factors combined with the overall self important stance of the Spanish led many natives to believe that these new people were gods. Neither had they seen guns or horses.
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