From Letter.., Christopher Columbus

Sanne Bergh
Eng48A
Journal for Columbus
Dec. 6, 2011

Author Quote
"To the first island which I found I gave the name San Salvador, in remembrance of the Divine Majesty, Who has marvelously bestowed all this; the Indians call it 'Guanahani.' To the second I gave the name Isla de Santa Maria de Concepcion; to the third, Fernandina; to the fourth, Isabella; to the fifth, Isla Juana, and so to each one I gave a new name (32)".

Internet Quote
Columbus called the island (in what is now The Bahamas) San Salvador; the natives called Guanahani. Exactly which island in the Bahamas this corresponds to is an unresolved topic; prime candidates are Samana Cay, Plana Cays, or San Salvador Island (so named in 1925 in the belief that it was Columbus's San Salvador). The indigenous people he encountered, the Lucayan, Taíno or Arawak, were peaceful and friendly.

Brief Summary
Essentially, Columbus landed on an island and "conquered" it, therefore making it Spanish territory. He gave it a name, despite the fact that it already had a name. He brought the indigenous people back with him to Spain, with hopes of Christianizing them and making them servants.

Response/Ideas
Columbus represents the superiority complex that the Spanish possesses. He acts as a vehicle to symbolize their greed and desire for more and more power. It is understandable to go out to new countries to seek out a land that is different and new, but to rename the entire land and dub it as Spanish is a whole other matter. What essentially makes Europeans more powerful than "indigenous" countries or settlements is their bigger weapons. They had fancier armor, guns and boats and therefore held more precedence. It automatically created a sense of superiority and power over those who may not have possessed such items. For example, had the Indians of Guannahani created mutiny and rebelled against the Spanish, perhaps taking the weapons, would the Spanish become the indentured slaves of the indigenous people? Maybe in the eyes of the Europeans, they would have felt that these "savages" would have eaten them or simply sent them away. It's the very peacefulness and kindness that the Indians had that made the Spanish so quick to take them back with them. The Europeans were too quick to believe that the Indians did not have any intelligence. The true barbarianism lies in the fact that the Europeans went to another land, renamed it, kidnapped the people and called them stupid and faithless. It's also ironic, considering their will was to Christianize them and to give them morals, when the Bible itself could sense some hypocrisy in the entire matter.