Chris Columbus Journal

Columbus's Journal

In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain hoping to find a new route to India. Along the way, he and his crew discovered the new world. He kept a journal of the trip that recounts the natives he met.

Columbus described the natives as being friendly, sociable, and warm hearted. In his journal, he says "as I saw that they were very friendly to us, and perceived that they could be more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force." He also describes them as excellent swimmers and that they built large canoes made out of single tree trunks. Some of them were large enough to carry forty to forty-five men.

Columbus and his men traded with the natives who gladly traded balls of cotton, parrots, and numerous other things for anything that Columbus and his men had to offer. He said that the natives were friendly towards his crew, but fought among each other. Columbus said they were intelligent, but clueless to European society and technology. He describes them by saying the natives carried no weapons and were not acquainted with them when he stated "for when I showed them swords which they grasped by the blades, and cut themselves through ignorance."

The simple trading with the natives were not enough. In his journal, Columbus says "I was very attentive to them, and strove to learn if they had any gold." Columbus's focus turned towards the discovery of gold that he could bring back to his king and queen. He also believes the natives would be easy to conquer when he said "It appears to me, that the people are ingenious, and would be good servants and I am of opinion that they would very readily become Christians, as they appear to have not religion." Columbus also felt that it would not take more than 50 of his men to conquer the natives.

As Columbus continued to explore, he named the islands on behalf of