How accurate would it be to assert that by 1492 the Caribbean region was part of world civilization?

by prettywoman2778 (student)

University Degree Historical and Philosophical studies

The word “civilization” is easier to describe than it is to define have often been the remark made by historiams. “Civilization” comes from the Latin adjective “civili”s, a reference to a citizen. Citizens willingly bring themselves together in political, social, economic, and religious organizations as they merge together in the interests of the larger community. As time surpassed, the word civilization refers to a particular shared way of thinking about the world as well as a reflection on that world in art, literature, drama and a host of other cultural happenings. By 1936, an archeologist V. Gordon Childe published his book “Man Makes Himself”. Childe identified several elements which he believed were essential for a civilization to exist. He included: the plow, wheeled cart and draft animals, sailing ships, the smelting of copper and bronze, a solar calendar, writing, standards of measurement, irrigation ditches, specialized craftsmen, urban centers and a surplus of food necessary to support non-agricultural workers who lived within the walls of the city. 1 Other historians agreed with Childe but added that a true definition of civilization should also include money collected through taxes, a privileged ruling class, a centralized government and a national religious or priestly class. In this essay we will examine “how accurate it is to assert that by 1492 the Caribbean region was part of world civilization”.

In 1492 there was a transition from the Old World which included Europe, Asia and Aftica to the New World which included the Western Hemisphere and the Americas which was led by a renouned Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus for years proposed his plans to the Portuguese and Spanish kings, but he was turned down each time. Finally, after the Moors were expelled from Spain in 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella reconsidered his requests. Columbus promised to bring back gold, spices, and silk from Asia, spread Christianity, and explore China. Columbus set sail on August 3 1492 with three ships, the Pinta, Nina and the Santa Maria and 104 men after receiving funding from the Spanish monarchs. Resupplying and minor repairs were done at the Canary Islands after which the ships set sail across the Atlantic. Many crew members died from contracting diseases, hunger and thirst. On October 12 1492 Rodrigo de Triana, sighted land in area of the present-day Bahamas. When Columbus reached the land, he believed it was an Asian island and named it San Salvador. Because he did not find riches, Columbus decided to continue sailing in search of China. Instead, he ended up visiting Cuba and Hispaniola.2

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The Spanish explored and conquered parts of the New World was motivated by three basic ideas; gold, glory and god as reported by Columbus upon his return. Columbus reported the natives trading bits of gold for items of interest and also indicated he believed there would be mines rich of gold . Columbus and the Spanish were extremely interested in wealth. The search for gold became an obsession with the Spanish. Rewards by titles of nobility, land, money and labourers were given to men who won battles or performed other great deeds. As land was limited in Europe, the discovery of huge amounts of land in the New World became a big motivator for individuals to seek personal glory there. The end of the war with Spain and Moors helped fuel religious fervor among the Spainsh. In addition, the Papal decree of 1492 gave Spain the authority and duty of converting any and all natives in the New World to Christianity. The three motivating factors, gold, glory and god in conjunction with superior technology and disease fueled the Spanish to conquer most of the New World. The legacy of Spanish culture and the tragedy of the extermination of the indigenous peoples of these areas would change the course of the world forever.3

When Columbus discovered the islands in 1492, he also discovered primitive tribes which included the Caribs and Arawaks. Their lifestyles were simplistic. These two cultures remained so primitive that they are not normally regarded as “civilization”. Both societies did not develop beyond the family-village settlement stage. Farming activities were carried out almost entirely by the women whilst fishing was done by the men. The Carib society was militartistic, training boys as warriors to be ushered into manhood; attacking the Arawaks and starving and ceremonially killing their captive men to be eaten while the women became the concubines of the Caribe warriors. The Arawak society was hierarchical and pacific, seafood, vegetables and pepper were their main food. Each Arawak community was ruled by a “Cacique” a hereditiary ruler who also acted as the high priest and judge. The Arawaks were independent, justice was carried out on a personal level. A lesser civil leader supervised the farming and fishing activities but his authority was subordinate to that of the war leader the “ouboutu”. The worship of zemis or idols believed to control the forces of nature formed the basis of Arawak religion. The “cacique” acting as high priest, presided over all religious ceremonies and belived in a heaven to which souls went after death. Caribs religion was essentially spiritualistic. Special boys were trained as priest and they had the most powerful “maboua” or good and evil spirit which each person had their own “maboya”. Both Caribs and Arawaks flattened the foreheads of their babies and enjoyed singhing, dancing, music and tobacco-smoking. The Caribs and Arawaks were skilled at constructing and using dugout canoes for fishing and transportation purposes. Their stone tools, spears, bows and arrows and clubs were fairly well made but pottery items were crude and soft. Women wove excellent straw baskets, cottong cloth and hammocks and farming methods produced a variety of crops including cassava, corn, cotton and tobacco.4

Christopher Columbus returned to Spain in 1492 and narrated his voyages to a Spanish pope named Pope Alexander VI who recognized the need to separate the “New World” lands between Spain and Portugal and issued a “Papal Decree” (Papal Bull). The Spanish and Portuges monarchs signed the “Treaty of Tordesillas” on June 7 1494 which was a signed agreement to avoid unwanted confusion on the claim of the land in the New World, thus dividing divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe.5

Europeans came into contact with the Caribbean after Columbus's momentous journeys in 1492. The desire for expansion and trade led to the settlement of the colonies. The indigenous peoples, deemed peaceful Tainos and warlike Caribs, proved to be unsuitable for slave labour in the newly formed plantations. As the slave trade which had already begun on the West Coast of Africa provided the needed labour, Africans were flogged and tortured in an effort to assimilate them into the plantation economy. Slave labour supplied the most coveted and important items including sugar, coffee, cotton, cacao, tobacco, rice, indigo and gold. 6

It is recorded that in 1493 Columbus took sugar cane plants to grow in the Caribbean. The climate there was so advantageous for the growth of the cane that an industry was quickly established, proving the sugar cane industry to be profitable.7 Because of the wealth generated from the slavery trade and the sugar industry in the Caribbean the Spanish was unable to hold on to this power of wealth as other countries were drawn to the Caribbean.

Only after Columbus’s discoveries of the New World did the pirates such as Francis Drakes and John Horkins emerged at sea attacking the Spanish at sea to steal their “New World” riches.

In conclusion, “it would not be accurate to assert that by 1492 the Caribbean region was part of world civilization” as Christopher Columbus maiden voyage in 1492 initiated the “New World” from the “Old World” and from this said maiden voyage the introduction of the Caribs and Arawaks as primitive tribes of the Caribbean was discovered. By 1492 only the Spainsh colony controlled the Caribbean. Additionally, only after the slavery trade and sugar industry wealth in 1493 and the “Treaty of Tordesillas” 1494 did any other colony take interest in the Caribbean hence the Caribbean was not part of world civilization.

REFERENCES

Steven Kreis “The History GuideFebruary” 28, 2006 27 Oct 2011

Amanda Briney “Christopher Columbus A biography of the Explorer of the Americas” 27 Oct 2011

“Project History” “Spanish motivations in the new World -Gold, Glory and God”

27 Oct 2011

Peter Ashdown and Francis Humphreys “The Caribs and the Arawaks” Caribbean Revision History For CXC 1998

Maya Pallai “Treaty of Tordesillas” 27 Oct 2011

Dr Leon Litvack “Slavery and the Caribbean” 13 May 1997 27 Oct 2011

“How sugar was made – the History” 27 Oct 2011