Christopher Columbus Dbq Essay

Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in the republic of Genoa, Italy. Christopher Columbus sought to find a way to the Indies to find gold and spice. After receiving significant funding from Queen Elizabeth and King Ferdinand, he set sail on August 3, 1492 with three ships, the Pinta, Nina, and Santa Maria, with 104 men. The voyage he took to find gold and spice led him not to Asia but to the discovery of America which wasn’t the place he expected to arrive at. Christopher Columbus is responsible for the death of the Tainos because he used the kindness of the Tainos to his benefit, ordering his men to enslave and mistreat the Tainos, and his bad governing skills.

Columbus’s voyage to get gold and spice lef to America in which he was very warmly welcomed by the Taino
Though he did not actually do any of the killing and torture himself, he ordered it all and any spaniard who disobeyed were punished as well. “Some had their ears slit and some the nose” Document A. This proves how cruel and violent Columbus would get if they were to not get enough gold he demanded. “Those who didn’t return every three months with the amount of gold demanded were punished by having their hands chopped off” Document B. These documents explains how he killed and administered the Tainos. Some Tainos made it clear that they wanted to leave but you wouldn’t let them go. “Making it clear that they wished to leave, you refused to release them” Document B. This proves that Columbus was already thinking of making them slaves. Columbus than incorporated the Tainos into his crew and took them away to Spain as slaves. “On your second voyage to the Indies, you ordered your men to roundup Indians and had over 500 shipped to Spain as slaves” Document B. Torturing and kidnapping the Tainos was one of the main reasons why Columbus is responsible for the death of the