Christopher Columbus
...of the land Columbus discovered were extremely primitive. They all walked around naked with the exception of a few women who wore leaves in certain areas. They had no iron or steel weapons, and they share everything they have. They did not speak any language known to Columbus, so when Columbus and his men stuck a flag in the ground and stated that this land was now in Spain’s possession, no one objected because they did not know what was happening. The Spanish then took the natives of the land captive and read them their rights, which were useless because the natives did not speak the same language as the Spanish explorers. On one of his voyages, Columbus chose some of the best males and females from the group of natives, and announced that for the rest of the natives, “whoever wanted them could take as many as he pleased.” The Italian nobleman who recorded this, Michele de Cuneo, also writes that “Among them were many women who had infants at the breast. They, in order the better to escape us… left their infants anywhere eon the ground and started to flee like desperate people.” Before Columbus’ arrival, the health and life expectancy of the natives had been far greater than even the European’s. However upon Columbus’s arrival, this was no longer true. The natives were not immune to the diseased brought by Columbus and his men. Many of them became sick and died. This was only the beginning of the deaths that Columbus and his men were at fault for. On Columbus’ second voyage to the new land, he brought with him hundreds of Priests. Disease was brought with them on this voyage, and thousands of natives died because of what is possibly swine influenza brought by the pigs. The Spanish soldiers were looking for gold in the land, for they believed this new place was rich with it. According to David E. Stannard’s article titled “The American Holocaust: Columbus and the Conquest of the New World,” wherever the Spanish soldiers went, they killed as though for sport, and ordered locals to hand over food, women, slaves, or whatever else the soldiers wanted. When Columbus fell ill, he lost all control over his men. Stannard states that “the troops went wild, stealing, killing, raping, and torturing the natives..” They also demanded to know where the gold was. The Indians at first fought back, but the Spanish weapon power was far too strong for them and they were forced to flee. When Columbus’ health returned to him, he organized his men’s wildness to his advantage. They set off across the country and slaughtered natives by the thousands. Bartolome de Las Casas, a Spanish missionary, wrote “The pitilessly slaughtered everyone like sheep in a corral.” He also writes of the torture the natives suffered. “They would test their swords and their manly strength on captured Indians and place bets on the slicing off of heads or the cutting of bodies in half with one blow.” He also states that they burned or hanged the captured chiefs. Ever Indian on the island who was not a child was ordered to deliver to the Spanish a certai...