"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue..."
Growing up, that's as much as I knew about
the man who was said to have discovered America.
I also knew that like me, he was of Italian heritage,
and that celebrating his birthday was a day off
from school! Hooray!
Navigator and Explorer
Christopher Columbus
1451-1506
It was not until many years later that I learned
the real story behind this legendary early explorer and navigator,
who was not only determine to discover new lands across the sea,
but, in the vivid recount of his journeys to the islands of Hispaniola,
and the West Indies, Columbus was purported to have been led by a vision
to bring the native peoples there to know and accept the Lord Jesus Christ.
However, according to the book, "The Light and The Glory" written by
Peter Marshall and David Manuel, once he discovered the pristine tropical
paradise of the New World and encountered the
indigenous people there, who were at first more cautious of these
"white gods" landing on their shores in big ships, then they
were friendly, the vision which Columbus had carried in his
heart for so long was forgotten, especially after he and
his crew members saw the beautiful gold worn by these primitive
people. In his journal, Columbus described the native peoples
as "a handsome race... tall and well-proportioned,
with no large bellies on them."
The Indians of these beautiful islands were also
naked, and as unabashedly innocent as babies, with no
knowledge of the weapons of warfare used by Europeans.
Columbus recounted, "..I showed them swords and they took
them by the blade and cut themselves through ignorance."
A Map of the West Indies, Mexico, and New Spain
The natives were further indifferent to these light-skinned strangers
overwhelming curiosity about the gold they wore, nor did they
realize the extreme measures which would be taken by these
men to find and obtain what must have been a fairly common
adornment for the natives, along with sea shells and smooth
ocean-washed pebbles from the beach.
In the chapter, "If Gold Be Your Almighty" when Columbus returned
to the Spanish settlement of La Navidad, which was located in what is today
the island nation of Haiti, he was horrified to discover that the 39
colonists left behind there had been killed, some by each other,
and others by the tribe of Indians they had befriended.
According to the harrowing account in
"The Light and The Glory" no sooner had Columbus'
ship, the Nina, departed a year before, then the Spaniards left behind
started to regularly indulge their pent-up sexual lusts with Indian
woman and girls, while refusing to barter with the natives for gold.
The colonists just stole it and fought with any Indians who protested
their thievery, often enslaving or killing them.
They also fought among themselves and the
settlement became divided into two warring factions as gold
fever increased, however, in their lust for wealth the colonists
grew increasingly careless about their safety and many were ambushed
and killed by angry Indians seeking revenge against these
white-skinned devils who had taken over their homeland.
But truth be told, once word got back to Europe that Columbus
had discovered gold in the West Indies, the way of life for the
native peoples of the New World would end in tragedy, with many of them
dehumanized by being forced into slavery, after the arrival of more gold
hunters from across the sea, while hundreds of others succumbed to
the terrible diseases brought to them by the Europeans.
Although Columbus turned a blind eye to much of the rape and
torture and enslavement of the indigenous peoples
that continued unabated in the New World, towards the
end of his relatively short life (he died at the age of 54)
he was said to have suffered from terrible guilt and shame over
losing his original vision to convert the Indians to Christianity.
He was said to be heartbroken over so much blood shed
and loss of life due to his own greed and insatiable lust for gold...
And yet, in his journal, Columbus wrote:
"I declare that I am at the fountainhead (of the gold in the New World).
Genoese, Venetians, and all who have pearls, precious stones, and other
things of value, all carry them to the end of the world to exchange them,
to turn them into gold. Gold is most excellent. Gold constitutes treasure,
and he who possesses it may do what he will in the world, and may
so attain as to bring souls to Paradise."
The navigator's own words sound very much like the
familiar idiom: "He who owns the gold makes the rules."
Furthermore, acquiring gold and other worldly treasures
through the abuse and enslavement of others hardly
qualifies in bringing souls to Paradise.
Columbus should have taken his cues from the
ancient Egyptians, whom we all know buried their riches
and even their favorite pets and slaves with them in their tombs.
The extravagant wealth of the Pharaohs was still there when
those tombs were exhumed thousands of years later,
proving to the excavators and the rest of the world that,
"You can't take it with you".
It seems the vision that Columbus believed God placed in his heart
was sadly overshadowed by his own self-centered pride and
lust for earthly wealth and power.
However, as only God sees the true heart of man,
perhaps Columbus sincerely repented of his sins before the end of his life.
According to the account of his death in "The Light and The Glory"
on Ascension Day 1506, after receiving the sacraments of the Church,
Columbus said these words: "Father, into Thy hands I commend
my spirit" and went to be forever with the Savior whose name he bore."
Information sources and excerpts
for this post were taken from the book,
God's Plan For America
"The Light and The Glory"
1492-1793
By Peter Marshall and David Manuel
(1977)
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