Christopher Columbus: First Expedition To The America

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The first time Christopher Columbus speaks about Christianity, he mentions the conversion of the Native Americans. He talks about how he believes that the way to help the conversion go smoothly, is to show kindness and not convert them through force. Therefore, he gave them gifts and in return, the Native Americans offered them gifts as well. Though his plan of converting them through kindness sounds admirable, it is quite condescending because he is assuming that they want to convert in the first place. The second and final time he mentions Christianity, he says that the Native Americans would be easily converted because they are good servants. Then he mentions that they are intelligent only because they very easily repeat what he says. This in itself is very demeaning because he is taking their kindness as a form of submission so even though he claims he will not convert them by force, it is very clear what his intentions are. He shows no interest in wanting to learn about their culture, only in the conversion of their religion. He fully intends to convert them by any means necessary.

One of the first things I believe a woman would fixate on in writing would be describing how beautiful the new world is. Christopher and his crewmates only mentioned in one sentence the beauty of this new world. I think that women, especially in that time period, would have really appreciated the beauty of their world and culture. Second, I believe that a woman would write more about the family dynamic that the native Americans had with one another. The male crew wrote about the way they painted their faces, the way their weapons and figures look, but I think women would write about the love a kindness they have toward one another.

The only conclusion I could come to is that the reason Columbus did not see many women was due to fear. We know that the Native Americans were afraid when the strange Europeans came to their land so it is definitely possible that the men tried to keep their women and children away from the European settlers for as long as possible. In my opinion, I dont believe he finds the fact that there is only one woman among the men who bring him gifts remarkable because she is only mentioned once. After she is mentioned, Columbus goes into great detail about the physical features of the males. I believe he finds it remarkable how different the male population of Native Americans looks to the regular European male. Not only are they tanner but they also look much more in shape and healthier than a regular European male during that time. I also think that he finds their tools remarkable; when he talks about the fact that their weapons were not as modernized as theirs is an example of that.

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