Connecting Two Worlds
Christopher Columbus lands on the coast of the Americas, declaring it a part of Spain.
The New World, although given a number of invaluable items by the Old World, suffered terribly from the invasion of the Old World. It is true that Italians wouldn’t be famous for their tomato sauces and Western Europe would have starved without potatoes during the famine. But Columbus strode on strange land already inhabited by people and claimed as Spanish territory under Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. He and his people not only killed a large percentage of the native population (although not always intentionally), but they also destroyed the nature and culture of the area for one sole reason - gold.
The invasion of the Old World into the Americas had a very negative effect on the New World. With the arrival of the Spanish, many diseases were brought over to the already inhabited territory. Because the natives, otherwise known as American Indians, were not immune to these illnesses, many died of the sudden exposure. With his arrival, Hernando Cortez doomed one of the most advanced ancient civilizations of its time. He obliterated the Aztecs in Mexico, leaving nothing but ruins. And then he built on top of those ruins, almost completely erasing the existence of the magnificent Aztec civilization. Later, inspired entirely by Cortez’s conquest, Pizzaro repeated this act of injustice on the Incas. With the invasion of the New World, whole civilizations with records and a long history were destroyed and all the information and culture wiped off the face of the Earth. And why? Greed.
One of the main reasons for the voyage of Columbus was a quest for gold. As Columbus was undeniably a genius in many aspects, he was also a person who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. This means that the destruction of one or two civilizations consisting of millions was nothing to him, simply a bump on the road. Many still defend and justify the actions of the great explorer. It was said at his 500th anniversary that the death of the millions of natives was “inconvenient”, leaving them with fewer working hands. And what did this lead to? Slavery.
Africans were brought over from their homes to the Americas in order to fill the empty void the Incas and Aztecs left behind because of their weak bodies that were unable to hold out against the diseases brought over by the Europeans. Despite everything, like his “Great Discovery” and conquest of the New World, Columbus is still widely frowned upon because of the atrocities that he may or may not have initiated on purpose. But only when we look back on history are we able to realize that the death of all those people was significant, because at the time, it meant nothing. The land and the gold it held meant more to the Europeans than the lives of the natives.
The voyages that connected the Old World to the New World affected the Americas terribly. People were killed, either by the violence inflicted upon them, or the diseases that befell their unprotected bodies. Whole civilizations were destroyed, thousands of years of history erased. And despite all this we look at ourselves as with dignity. How is that possible, when our ancestors are responsible for the annihilation of millions of people? We justify those actions by calling them exploration. “In the name of discovery,” it was said. But was it worth it? There was probably a better way to deal with the situation of stepping on foreign and alien soil, but we cannot undo history. The only thing we can do is prevent it from repeating itself.
