Third grade seems like such a long time ago, yet I remember the Christopher Columbus story like it was nothing. It started out with a boy named Christopher Columbus; he was born and raised in Genoa, Italy. He grew up wanting to be an explorer. He also grew up believing the earth was round, yet no one believed him, so the great explorer intended to prove it. He w

When Columbus and his men returned to Haiti in 1493, they demanded food, cotton and gold. Whatever the Indians had, they wanted. To ensure cooperation of the Indians, Columbus used punishment by example. When an Indian committed any type of offense, the Spanish cut off his ears or nose.

Columbus was upset because he couldn’t find any gold, so he set up a system. All Indians who were 14 years old or older would have to go out and find a hawk’s bell of gold dust; all the others were to have 25 pounds of cotton. Whenever an Indian delivered his portion, he would receive a brass or copper token which he must wear about his neck as proof that he had made his “payment”. With a fresh token, an Indian had three months to find more and receive a new token. If an Indian were found without a fresh token the Spaniards would cut of the Indians’ hands. Eventually this system deteriorated so Columbus started the encomiedna system. Columbus “commended” villages to individual colonists. Let’s just say it was another word for slavery. He first kidnapped 500 Dieno and brought them to Spain. Half died on the way there and the other half died in Spain because they couldn’t withstand the climate. In 1502 he made the encomiedna system an official law in Haiti. He sent the first slaves across the Atlantic, and sent more slaves, around five thousand more than any other individual. Queen Isabella opposed slavery and returned some back to the Caribbean, but other nations soon imitated Columbus, beginning slave trading.

The Indians could only take so much of this, soon they said enough is enough and began to revolt. They refused to plant food for the Spanish and they abandoned towns near the Spanish settlements. Finally, they began to fight back but their weapons were nothing compared to the Spaniards rifles and cannons. The attempt of resistance gave Columbus an excuse to start a war. On March 14, 1495 he set out to conquer them. He had 200 foot soldiers and 20 cavalry with crossbows, cannons, lances and swords, not to mention horses and 20 hunting dogs. Of course, the Spanish won. From then on, Hispaniola just became a land of chaos. Spaniards hunted Indians for sport and murdered them for dog food. They would make bets as to who could kill a man in one blow. They would hang the Dienos from a stake a few feet away from the ground. The Spaniards would put sticks and logs underneath them and start a fire. The helpless Indians burned alive.

as going to find a westward route to India. To go on this exploration, he needed ships and men and the only one who was willing to provide him with this was Queen Isabella of Spain. She provided Columbus with three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. He set sail in 1492 and after about two months they had reached land. Columbus believed he had reached India. He had no idea he had encountered another part of the worl

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