Rhetoric Of Christopher Columbus

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Christopher Columbus is one of the most remembered figures in human history. For centuries, Columbus has been viewed as a geographer and explorer of new lands, the carrier of the Enlightenment, and the distributor of Christianity to the frontier of civilization. However, the historical data and the rhetoric of Columbus’s letters show that Christianization was used only as a way to please the Spanish crown and strengthen the power of the Empire, to obtain wealth, and to establish European cultural dominance.
First of all, the conquering of the new lands reflected the ambitions of the European monarchies. The process of colonization required justification in the eyes among the public and the aspect of politics. At the time, the Catholic Church …show more content…
However, the cultural colonization followed by the discovery of America was only one of the ways of the reinforcement of the European economic dominance among the world. The Christianization was directed to enlighten the natives. These beliefs were later disregarded by the European colonizers. The primary goal of the colonization was the acquisition of power and wealth; the explorers were not truly interested in the fair evaluation of the culture. The colonizers made their conclusions from the position of power, given by the crown and God. “Columbus left numerous writing pieces, such as ninety letters, memoranda, supply lists, and the diary survived in a copy and abridged forms, which helps to understand his view on the geographic discovery” (West 267). It really makes me wonder as to why he wanted to leave so many of them. Sandra Ferdman made the point that that, “ In the traditions of the previous travelogues created by such explorers as Marco Polo, Columbus tried to present “marvelous” and unseen to the Europeans. Coming to America, the explorer expected to see Oriental" others and "Oriental" marvels.” (488). The texts demonstrate that Columbus wanted to see results like the medieval travelers had seen in the east before. The descriptions of Columbus creates ideas that is based on the members of the east and views of all non-European cultures exotic, which is completely opposite of what was expected. During his travels to the new lands he had to get a translator. He could not understand the languages. It has also been realized that the cultures were ruined by the Europeans. For instance, Christopher Johnson says that “The examination of the religious beliefs in the Caribbean religion that were later colonized and, thus, could longer preserve their culture, shows that ecstatic practices, which were condemned by
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