Being a Christian himself, Columbus very much wanted to spread the Christian faith all over Asia as well as Europe. He would have gained the Church’s respect and trust if he converted Asians. However, although nobody supported him when he first expressed his wishes to travel West, he was adamant that he was the ‘Chosen One’. When the Church refused to fund his expedition, he didn’t dare speak against him as it was illegal to speak against the Church and you could be burned at the stake for it. He did, though, ask for an audience with the Queen to ask the crown to sponsor his voyages. She had refused at first to subsidize his plan to sail to the Indies, and it actually took her one to two years to agree to his conditions. Even though he had the little disadvantage of not having the Church behind him, that didn’t stop him from wanting to spread his religion and belief in God. Religion would clearly have been a long term consequence as religion is passed down through generations and faith and loyalty for God never ends. Especially in the time when Columbus existed, the Church was extremely powerful and strict, which is another reason why he wanted to spread the Christina faith. Columbus wanted to gain the Church’s trust and wanted them to supply him with equipment, men and gold for future expeditions.
Another factor of Christopher’s journeys was his spirit of adventure. He was curious and was eager to learn more about the Earth. He wanted to discover new trade routes from Europe to India and China without having to take the African route as it takes approximately a year to reach those two countries. Since the turks had closed the route by land, it was even more important to find a new way to get to Asia. This also would have been a merit to him and his country as they could trade more and new things such as silks, spices, metals, gems/jewels, gold, medicines...etc.
Of course, let’s not forget Columbus’s big theory: the world is round and not flat. Back in the olden days, people believed that the world was flat, and if you sailed too far, you would fall of the edge of the earth. Additionally, then believed that sea monsters inhabited the edges of the world, which was why sometimes explorers would set off on expeditions and not return.
As we move on to consequences, we find that there are many negatives aftereffects of the discovery. For one, the genocide, or mass murder of the natives. They were not all necessarily murdered, but some were also worked to death. This led to spread of fear and the idea of white or western dominance/supremacy. The natives were led to be afraid of the Spaniards and their modern technology and power over them. They were also forced into religion conversion, as they had their own gods and beliefs before being influenced by the Spanish. In fact, there was an exchange between Columbus and the leader of the natives:
C.C: ‘we’re bringing more people’
N(atives): ‘why?’
C.C: ‘to bring the word of God’
N(atives): ‘we have a God’
C.C: ‘to bring medicine’
N(atives): ‘we have medicine’
This shows the natives were actually getting along pretty well before the Spaniards came. They had their own god, their own beliefs, their own crops, their own medicine...etc., and were managing without the foreigners and their own customs.
Racism is also another consequence. It is believed to have started when an European called a native a ‘monkey’. The Europeans believed that the world belonged to them, and they were only helping these tribes and people, not conquering them.
The discovery also led to a large increase of the Spanish empire, and their power. It meant they gained more land and allies. Not to mention this opened a new route for other explorers to travel to the Americas. Establishment of colonies and buildings started as well, along with destruction of rain forests for supplies like wood and to make space for the new buildings.
Crops and animals were exchanged between the two cultures and countries such as rice, coffee, olives, chocolate, and horses, cows, pigs and chickens were introduced to the Americas. The Europeans in return had beans, squash, potatoes, peanuts, vanilla, pineapple and tobacco brought back to them. There was also medicinal knowledge and animal and plant species exchanged between the two, as well as the language of Spain, which is now the second most popular language in America. This is clearly a long term consequence as we are still speaking Spanish in America today. Diseases and illnesses such as small-pox and syphilis also followed in the footsteps of the cultural exchange.
Mass slavery also followed the discovery of the Americas. In fact, Christopher Columbus is known as the first As Columbus believed it was India where they arrived at, he also thought there was gold there. He and his men started a tribute system, where natives had to bring a certain amount of gold to Spaniards every three months as a sort of ‘tax.’ However, this failed as there was no gold in the first place. Since none of the Europeans believed them, the natives would be punished and have their hands chopped off. If hey refused to work, Columbus would cut off a nose or an ear. If slaves tried to escape, he would have attack dogs hunt them down, then tear off the ‘traitor’s’ arms and legs while they were still alive. If the Europeans ran out of meet to feed the dogs, they would slaughter native babies for dog food. Next came the encomienda system, which forced the natives into hard labour. In fact, slavery was so intolerable to this peaceful people that at one point, 100 of them committed mass suicide.
Another form of slavery Columbus forced the natives into was sexual slavery. Young girls, mostly at the age of 9 or 10, were sold to men casually like one would a farm.
Most people would be shocked by this cruel man’s intentions and actions but all of these negative consequences actually did originate from this ‘hero’. Of course, not all of the aftermaths of the discovery were negative, some were also positive, like the cultural exchange and exchange of knowledge, crops, animals and plant species. However, even though Christopher Columbus’s failed expedition to India led to many negative side effects, it also introduced us to a new age- ‘The New World’. It had made a huge impact on people’s lives and changed the world.
