The Role Of Christopher Columbus’ First Voyage

In his entries, Columbus wrote about his daily discoveries at what he thought to be the costs of Asia. Columbus expressions of his interests and thoughts on his logbook, helps us understand what was going on in global history at the beginning of our period. However, it is important to primarily abide the concept of the West not being the dominant player before Columbus, and that European voyages derived from a desire to share in and control the wealth prevenient from the Indian Ocean. Therefore, the desire of Columbus to find a direct ocean trading route to Asia sounds very logical. Columbus had an apparent interest to find the Great Khan, as expressed in his writings from October 21st, 28th, and 30th. This tells us about the influence that Marco Polo’s tales had among the educated people of Europe at this time. Furthermore, if one makes the connections, we come to the realization that Columbus was looking for the court of a Mongol Emperor that had been overthrown by the Ming Dynasty about a century before. Finally, we can analyze Columbus way of talking about gold and spices and identify the importance of these materials for the Spanish crown, and therefore for the other monarchies. Again, if we make the connections, we would notice that most of the gold used to come from the ports of Africa. It is reasonable for Columbus to try to seek another source of this mineral. As it was said in the paragraph above, the reason for Columbus to make this voyage was his desire of finding a direct ocean trading route to Asia. This desire was stimulated by the occupation of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire. It is essential to acknowledge the importance of Constantinople when it came to trade since it was the area Europeans had to pass through in order to connect with the spices trade. This explaining why Columbus would mention gold and spices as something he was constantly seeking for when he arrived at the Islands.

We can attribute Christopher Columbus’ mindset of adventure to his readings of Marco Polo’s tales, in which he describes his amazing adventures in Asia. Columbus created an image on his head of all the goods he could extract from these well-described places. Although it is not mentioned in the logbook, religious matters were also the reason for Columbus to explore new lands. The passion and fervor ignited by the Christian Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula encouraged the Spanish to continue their Christian fight. Because the remaining Muslim states were too strong to defeat, the Iberian Peninsula turned their attention elsewhere. Columbus’ plans were rejected by the Portuguese in 1483 and by Fernando and Isabel in 1486. Apparently, when introducing his plan to the Catholic kings, he also introduced some request that seemed ridiculous to give to someone as insignificant as Columbus was by that time. However, history says that Isabel was the one interested in the project, and she made sure to convince her husband. Therefore, the project finally won the backing of the Catholic Iberian kings in 1492. As said before, their main reason to support him was their necessity for a new commercial route. This, combined with their eagerness to earn profits and spread Christianity turns out to also be a desire for glory and the urge to chart new waters. At this point the Spanish were stronger than before and in the position to support foreign ventures, as it is said in the second volume of Understanding Western Society; From the Age of Exploration to the Present. Although his disappointment after realizing that the Great Khan was not there, Christopher Columbus knew he had found lands that he could take advantages of. An example of this comes from an extract of chapter 6 of the textbook that states that the “Indians” he met (called like that because he thought he had arrived at East India) in the Bahamas were tall, well built, and ignorant of iron weapons. This description appeared to be perfect for future slaves.

The textbook also explains that Columbus eventually sent about five hundred “Indians” to the markets of Seville. By somehow communicating and observing their adornment that was made out of gold, he soon realized that was the kind of land he had been dreaming about. This good news was expressed in the letters that he sent to his sponsors, and it soon became a major notice throughout Europe.

For the next decades, Columbus would take new settlers to the New Spain. The Spanish would follow a policy of conquest and colonization, rather than one of equal exchange. Even though he died thinking he was somewhere near China, we can say that Christopher Columbus found more than what he was seeking for. The entries that the Genoese explorer left, offer invaluable information about that first contact with the New World. Without actually meaning it, Columbus gave us material to understand his way of seeing the “Indians” and his thoughts about putting names everywhere as he found convenient. Because he would mention a lot the sizes and gave descriptions of the islands, we can now figure out that instead of arriving at the costs of Japan, he actually got to the Bahamas, and what he thought to be Indians, were natives from a continent that had never been discovered. Also, the way he named new territories allows us to notice his devotion and respect for the Spanish crown. When he says on the entire from October 24th, “The island of Cipango of which marvelous things are told”, he gives proof of that admiration that people used to feel about China.

These pieces of information help to put a story together, and bring out as many details as possible. This text also serves as a tool to prove what was going on around the world. As a conclusion, we can agree that the effect of Columbus’ voyage would bring terrific consequences for the natives of the American continent. However, history is also there to argue that it was just a matter of time for this to happen because of men’s adventurist spirit.