Document 3: Columbus Meets the Arawaks (Tainos)
When Christopher Columbus traveled from Spain to the New World in 1492, he kept a log (diary) of his trip. Below is the part of Columbus' s log in which he describes the people he met on the island where he first landed--San Salvador in the Bahamas.
Paragraph 1
As I saw that they were very friendly to us, I gave them some red caps, and strings of beads to wear upon the neck. They were delighted, and became attached to us. Afterwards they came swimming to the boats, bringing parrots, balls of cotton thread, and many other things which they exchanged for articles we gave them, such as glass beads.
Make a list of 3 things that can be morally good or bad in this paragraph.
Paragraph 2
They seemed to me to be a very poor people. They all go completely naked, even the women . Everyone I saw was young, not more than thirty years old, well made, with fine shapes and faces; their hair was short and coarse, combed toward the forehead, except a small portion which hangs down behind, and which they never cut. Some paint themselves with black, others with white, others with red, and others with such colors as they can find.
2. Make a list of 3 things that can be morally good or bad in this paragraph.
Paragraph 3
They have no weapons. They have no iron, nothing more than sticks. They are all a good size and handsome. I saw some with scars of wounds upon their bodies, and I asked by signs the cause of them. They answered me that people from other islands came and tried to make prisoners of them, and they defended themselves.
3. Is everything Columbus writes true in this Paragraph? Why or why not?
Paragraph 3 & 4
It appears to me that the people are intelligent and would be good servants. I think they would very easily become Christians, because they seem to have no religion.
They quickly learn words that are spoken to them. Intend at my return to carry home six of them, so that they may learn our language. I saw no beasts in the island, nor any sort of animals except parrots.
4. Make a list of 3 things that can be morally good or bad in this paragraph.
Based on Columbus's diary, did Columbus have moral intentions?
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