The motivations of Christopher Columbus

The motivations of Christopher Columbus and other figures in The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus, edited by J.M. Cohen, are varied and contradictory. Certainly, those motivations were not purely the result of high religious principles, for the lure of gold, land, slaves, power and prestige also played a major role in driving these men to seek, reach and exploit the New World. The reader must keep in mind that the book is written by men who were likely presenting what they saw as a positive portrait of their activities and intentions. Nevertheless, the full range of their motives comes through. One passage from the account of Columbus's son demonstrates the jumble of motives at work in the hearts and minds of these Europeans in their relations with the natives:

On receiving such kindnesses and such samples of gold from these people the Admiral almost forgot his grief for the loss of the ship, for he considered that God had allowed it to be wrecked in order that he should make a settlement and leave some Christians behind to trade and gather information about the country and its inhabitants, learning their language and entering into relations with the people. Thus, when the Admiral returned with reinforcements, he would have people to advise him in all matters respecting the occupation and conquest of the country.

In that single passage, the gamut of these men's motives is expressed (gold, adventure, danger, God's will and Christianity, destiny, land, trade, knowle

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estion, properly, why the King and Queen of Spain would have any doubt or hesitation about converting the people, as Columbus suggests is the case. The problem was that the people of the New World were seen by Columbus and his fellows as resources of various sorts, not as primarily souls for the saving in the name of Christ. They were seen as having the keys to hidden gold, as repositories of knowledge about the New World, and as laborers or even outright slaves. The latter possibility flew directly in the face of their potential as members of the Kingdom of the Christian God. For Columbus, what was needed above all was "rapid successes or victories in order to get renewed backing for his explorations." The first islands he "discovered" were relatively poor, however, and conquest over a peaceful people in a poor land was not much of a victory. Here the conflict between saving the people and exploiting them clearly arose: The only wealth of the country lay in its human inhabitants, who could be made to work as slaves either in Spain or at home. The settlers quickly forced them to dig for non-existent gold, and Columbus advocated almost at the start their export to Spain as labourers. But these ideas offended the religious fervor

Category: History - T