The Voyage To The New World Essay

, Research Paper

The Voyage to the New World

First of all, King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castille got married in 1464. The main reason that they got married was to unite their kingdoms into Spain. The king and queen were Roman Catholic, so they gave power to certain people to convert non-Catholics to Catholicism. In 1482, the Roman Catholic monarchs renew the reconquista, the military crusade ordered to conquer the remaining Muslim state in Iberia, Granada. In 1492, the Roman Catholic monarchs ordered all non-converted Jews expelled from Spain. In April, 1492, Spain received reports that the Portuguese succeeded in reaching the Indian Ocean, therefore Spanish monarchs authorized Christopher Columbus to sail to Asia and establish trade and start to convert natives to Christianity. The reasons that the monarchs let Columbus sail were mainly to search for spices and profits, spread Christianity, and to use some of their new technology like the caravel. Columbus would receive one-tenth of all the profits, and governance of the new lands would be shared by the monarchs and by Columbus. There were mainly three different types of natives who lived in the Caribbean. There were the Ciboneys (in Cuba), Caribs (in the lesserAntilles), and Taino-Arawaks (in the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispanola, and Puerto Rico). The population of the Caribbean Islands was probably not too much more than 1,500,000 of which about 1,000,000 lived mainly in Hispanola. Hispanola was the center of Taino culture. Between 1509 and1520, the demand for native labor increased and the native population steeply decreased. Here is a table of how rapidly the population of the Tainos decreased: 1492- 1,000,000 (about) 1514- 28,0001508- 92,000 1518- 16,0001509- 62,000 1540- 2501510- 66,000 1570- 125 1512- 27,000By the 1540 s the native population of the Tainos did not even exceed1,000. In October 1492, Columbus s ships were bound for Japan, China, and the Indies, but they arrived in the Bahamas. In May 1493, Columbus departed for his second voyage. The new goals were to settle the land, cultivate the land, assert royal authority over the whole area, convert the natives to Christianity, and mainly to search for gold and send it back to Spain. There were 17 ships, and about 1500 men on this voyage. Between 1494 and 1495, Columbus implemented a series of regulations to control the natives and to gain lots of wealth. Each adult must have delivered a certain amount of gold every three months, or else they would be punished by the Spaniards. The natives didn t bring back all of the gold that Columbus ordered, so he started enslaving and selling the natives to generate some more wealth. In April 1494, Columbus and his brothers start to treat their own men harshly. This included hangings of their own men. In the fall of 1494, Columbus received total command of all the people on the voyage. In March 1499, the king and queen appoint Francisco de Bobadilla governor and is sent to Hispanola with instructions to Columbus and all Spaniards to submit to Bobadilla s authority. In 1500, the king and queen ban enslavement in Spanish colonies; natives are to be converted to Christianity, and Christians are not to enslave fellow Christians. In the Indies, they interpret this to mean that they can enslave natives who refuse to convert to Christianity. In August 1500, Bobadilla arrives in the Indies, and exerts his total authority. Columbus and his brothers do not submit to his authority, so Bobadilla has him arrested and shackled, and sent back to Spain. In about November 1500, Columbus is set free from prison, but the has no more power in the Indies. In 1506, Columbus dies in Spain. Aman named Bartolame de las Casas is against the extermination of the natives so he says if necessary, white and black slaves can be brought to the Indies. So in 1518, African slaves begin to be shipped to the Indies. In 1518 to 1519, there was an outbreak of smallpox. One-third of the remaining natives are killed as well as many of the Spainiards there. By 1518, more than 20 million (actually about 50 million)enslaved Africans were brought to the Americas. In 1519, Cortes was the general of an expedition to the Indies. In March, he landed in Cozumel with 11 ships, 580 armed Spaniards, 17horses, crossbows, dozens of guns, and 10 cannons. Cortes and his men fought their way up strong Mayan resistance up the coast. Whenever Cortes came upon a temple, he smashed the idols, had the blood-stained walls painted white, and installed a cross. In July 1519, some of his men were unsettled and were thinking of turning back, but Cortes sank all of his remaining ships. In August 1519, Cortes and his forces proceeded inland with 500 men, 15 horses, and the cannons destroying temples and putting in crosses continually. In November 1519,Cortes arrested Montezuma accusing him of ordering an attack on some of his men. In June 1520, Montezuma was stoned to death by his own men. In July 1520, Cortes and his forces flee Tenochtitlan for Tlascalan. At one particular battle, the Battle of Otumba, the Spanish barely escape the pursuing Aztecs. Only 400 Spaniards and 24 horses survive. All cannons and gunpowder were lost in the battle. In the Valley of Mexico, Tenochtitlan in particular, the people were stricken by an epidemic of smallpox. In the year of 1513, there was a document written in Spain called The Requirement. It was towards the Spanish conquistadors, but a