Roll it!

Spanish in the AmericasSpanish in the Americas

Christopher Columbus

• In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.• Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria• King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella

Stop, stop, stop! This is all so horribly

boring.Who cares??

What did he DO anyway?

Learning TargetsI can evaluate the impact Christopher Columbus had on the eventual formation of the United States.• I can describe Columbus’s motives for

sailing in 1492 and for colonizing the Americas.

• I can describe the treatment of Native Americans by the Spaniards.

• I can describe the Columbian Exchange and its effects.

• I can predict how Columbus’s actions will impact future colonization in the Americas.

Columbus’s Motives for Sailing• Wanted to find a fast route to Asia

– To avoid the Middle East “middlemen”– To make more money with trade

Motives for Colonization• Native inhabitants were the

Arawaks.• Columbus describes them as:

– “friendly and well-dispositioned people who bear no arms.”

• Two days later, he writes:– “You could control and subjugate

them, making them do whatever you want.”

What does it mean to “subjugate” them?

To make them slavesTo make them slaves

Why does Columbus want slaves?

To make them mine for gold, and so he can feel

superior

To make them mine for gold, and so he can feel

superiorIt’s about

MONEY and POWER!

Bartolomé de Las Casas• He recorded the brutality of the

Spanish.– Forced Arawaks to carry them on their

backs.– The token system—without a token

around your neck, your hands got cut off.

– Arawaks were hunted for sport.– They were killed to use as dog food.– They began committing mass

suicides to escape the torture.– Women aborted their babies, so they

would not be subjected to the Spaniards’ cruelty.

• By 1555, all Arawaks were dead.

Columbian Exchange• Columbian Exchange - Exchange of goods

and ideas to and from Europe, Africa, and the Americas

• Diseases from Europe weakened or killed the Arawaks—(hence the inability to fight back).

Learning Targets

I can evaluate the impact Christopher Columbus had on the eventual formation of the United States. I can describe Columbus’s motives for

sailing in 1492 and for colonizing the Americas.

I can describe the treatment of Native Americans by the Spaniards.

I can describe the Columbian Exchange and its effects.

I can predict how Columbus’s actions will impact future colonization in the Americas.