CHAPTER 1:
COLUMBUS, THE
INDIANS, AND
HUMAN PROGRESS
Alas, Kenya
CH S 245
IN SEARCH OF GOLD
 Millions of people around the world celebrate
Columbus Day every October 12. But who was
Columbus in reality? Are we honoring people who
have created the greatest atrocities? Columbus was
very ambitious. He was able to persuade the Queen
and King of Spain to finance an expedition in
search of Gold and spices in the Indies and in Asia.
In return for bringing back gold, which was
becoming the new mark of wealth in Spanish, they
promised him 10 percent of profits, governorship
and fame. He set out with three sailing ships, the
largest with the name Santa Maria.
THE ARAWAK AND
COLUMBUS’ ARRIVAL
 Columbus upon his trip to Asia, he
came across the Americas. When he and
his Sailors came ashore in early October
1492, the Arawak ran to greet them
showering them with gifts and welcoming
them with great hospitality. Columbus
took the opportunity to befriend them
and later use that to his advantage.
TAKING OVER
 Columbus went from island to island looking for gold.
They found no gold fields but they had to go back with
some kind of dividend so they took hundreds of Arawak as
slaves. Some of the Arawak resisted consequently many
were murdered and mutilated causing their population to
greatly declined. In search of gold, he brutally and unfairly
took over the Indians lands for his own benefits without
merely thinking about what damage he was doing to the
people of the land. (pages 4-5)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF_unlvjccA This
video briefly explains what occurred during Columbus
brutal conquest.
MULTIVOLUME: H I S T O RY O F
THE INDIES
 Author: Las Casas, a young priest and critic of
Spanish cruelty, who participated in the conquest of
Cuba wrote several books on Columbus
Book Descriptions:
 The 1st book is a transcription of Columbus’
journal. Las Casas describes the Indians. He
focuses on their relationships and gender roles. It’s
amazing how well the woman were treated.
 The 2nd book is about the cruel treatment of the
Indians by the Spaniards
 Pages 5-7
CORTÉS AND PIZARRO
 The Aztec Civilization of Mexico came out of the heritage of
Mayan, Zapotec, and Toltec cultures. When Hernando Cortés
arrived ashore, the Aztecs welcomed him with great hospitality
believing he was the legendary Aztec man-god, the mysterious
Quetzalcoatl. Cortés had come from Spain with an expedition to
find gold. His tactic was to murder and deceive them in order to
paralyze the will of the population and have them in their hands.
 The Spanish conquistador Pizarro used the same tactic as Cortés
with the Incas in Peru.
 P.11 -12
ENGLISH SETTLERS AND THE
P OW H ATA N S
 The English settled on land that was ran by the
chief Powhatan whom did not attack. When the English
were going through a period of starvation, some of
them decided to join the Indians so they could be fed.
The English later wanted their men back but supposedly
they refused to give them back. In furry the English
decided to pay revenge by killing Indians and burning
their homes. In fear of the outgrowing number of
Americans, the Indians decided to fight back. As a
consequence, the English decided to exterminate them.
11-13
ENGLISH SETTLERS AND THE
P E QU O T S
 The Pilgrims came to a territory inhabited by tribes of Pequot
Indians. Under the command of John Winthrop, they created an
excuse to take the Indian land by saying that the Indians only had a
“natural” not “civil right” . They attacked and burned villages, which
resulted in a huge Indian population decline and massacre. 14-17
Z I N N ’ S, T H E AT U T H O R ,
C R I T I QU E S T OWA R D S
A P P ROAC H E S O F H I S T O RY
 Many historians lie about the past or omit facts when they wrote
about the past.
 The past is told in point of views of governments, conquerors,
diplomats, and leaders.
 Zinn prefers to try to tell the story by other points of view such as
the Arawak’s, the slaves, and the working class.
 Pgs. 8-10
HUMAN PROGRESS?
 Was it necessary for all the death and brutality to occur in order to achieve
progress? Were the intentions really for human to progress or to just benefit a
certain group? That’s the question many ask. For example, Columbus called
the Indians inferior. In order to gain power many Europeans and Spaniards
used “annihilation of races” as an excuse of progress. For example Columbus
in search of gold, he brutally and unfairly took over the Indians lands. For his
own benefits without merely thinking about what damage he was doing to
people of the land. Cortes and the Puritans took a similar approach. In search
of better lands and progress for their own civilization, they went and took over
others resources in order to be prosperous. While others progressed, others
suffered the consequences.
REDEFINING THE
CONQUESTS
 History Books all begin with heroic adventures of
Columbus, Cortéz, Pizarro, and etc. with no bloodshed.
Their atrocities are buried under mass of other facts of their
gloried conquests. Is it that the people that they conquered
and destroyed were inferior? In no way were these people
inferior. For example Columbus named them Indians
because the Indians had moved around in seek of land. In
that process had developed hundreds of different cultures
with the dependence of agriculture. In the meantime others
had began to live in communities were there was more food
and houses. They Indians greatly remained nomadic hunters
therefore they were seen as inferior.
TEMPORARY GLORY
 According to the author, all the killing and the glory of taking over
only lasts for a bit and it makes a land prosperous only temporarily for
example “For all the gold and silver stolen and shipped to Spain did not
make the Spanish people richer”(Zinn, p.18), all the costs and things they
did in order to gain such victory outweighed the end results. It makes us
wonder why people take this approach that just leads to a temporary
glorious moment of victory and ends with a worst condition.
REFERENCES
 Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York:
HarperCollins, 2003. Print.