Landing of Columbus by John Vanderlyn, 1847
By 1492, Africans and Europeans already had a long and sometimes difficult history of contact with other civilizations. However, this year marked the dawn of the relationship between Europe and the Americas. In Howard Zinn's History of the American People, he quotes the journal of the famed explorer Christopher Columbus, as he recounts his first contact with the Arawak people of the Caribbean Island on which he first landed:
They...brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned...They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane...They would make fine servants...With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."
Unfortunately, this type of observation would negatively color the relationship that came to exist between the Europeans and the people of Africa and the Americas.
Essential Questions
- What caused the expansion of European economies?
- What impacted the expansion of European trade and exploration on the civilizations of Africa and the Americas?
Warm-Up
Take a moment to reflect on Christopher Columbus' quotation, which you read in the introduction section of this topic. Then, write the explorer a letter that explains how you feel about his viewpoint of Native Americans. Be sure to include whether you agree or disagree with him and why.