"From 'Letter to Fernand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage'"

This post is comprised of my notes and thoughts on "Letter to Fernand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage" as presented in the 7th edition of The Norton Anthology of American Literature Volume A. 

Text Notes:

• Written by Columbus on Jamaica on July 7, 1503
• Columbus opens his letter by stating that he weeps for his great and beautiful discoveries that he sees are "in an exhausted state" with infirmity that is "incurable or very extensive" (33).  He goes on to assert that people who were originally against his exploration should not be able to currently benefit from it.
• Columbus next indicates that he was originally given leave by the Spanish monarchs to rule all that he discovered in the West Indies, and says that he wanted this at the time as a means to avoid other people benefiting from his vision and his work unfairly.  
• Columbus describes the length of his service to the Spanish crown next, stating that he began his work when he was twenty-eight years old and that presently he has grown so old that he only has grey hair over his body.  He claims that all that he possesses has been stolen from him and puts forth a plea for the "restitution of [his] honor, the reparation of [his] losses, and the punishment of him who did this" (34).  He asserts that the monarchs doing this will spread word/fame of their nobility.
• The final argument that Columbus puts forth is one for his soul.  He asserts that his service to the crown has resulted in a lapse of proper religious devotion and offerings in his life.  He begs the crown to return him to Europe and allow him to perform various pilgrimages to Rome and other places in order to save his soul.

My Thoughts:

As much as Columbus gets a bad rep as someone who came in and totally ran over the native population on the islands he discovered, I can't help but feel bad for him.  By this point, the reader knows that he has been shipwrecked in Panama and is now shipwrecked again on Jamaica.  The way the letter is written is much more difficult to connect with and understand than his letter to Santangel about his first voyage, and one must wonder whether this letter was written before or after he had his mental breakdown.  

Though he is often not seen as sympathetic, I think that some of his arguments that he puts forth are ones that are sympathetic.  He is saddened by what is happening to his discovered islands and by who is benefiting from them.  I believe that this is not a sentiment that is unknown to the common reader.  In general, a person does not want Naysayer-X to benefit after all his nay saying in the first place.  Columbus is putting forth that exact sentiment.  He would probably not mind of people like Santangel were benefitting in the way Mister Naysayer-X over there was.  After all, supporters believed in his vision and supported his discoveries rather than saying that he was silly for believing in the endeavor.

The religious ending to the letter also strikes me as something with which I can sympathize.  I do not believe that it is Columbus claiming a sudden, inexplicable desire for religion.  Rather, it is a realization that he has strayed away from the religious fervor he had before his began his voyages.  I think this for two primary reasons.  First of all, he did not name any of his original islands after himself.  Instead, he named the first land he found San Salvador, after the saint he credited with his success.  The second island he named was after the Virgin Mary.  Only then did he begin naming after the monarchs and country of Spain itself.  Thus, it is my belief that Columbus did fervently adhere to the Catholic religion in his early career.  It does not seem unlikely to me that he wanted to reestablish that religious connection later in his life when he realized his religion had suffered during his voyages.

"From 'Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage'"

This post is comprised of my notes about "Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage" as presented in the 7th edition of The Norton Anthology of American Literature Volume A.

Text Notes:

• This letter was written at sea on February 15, 1493
• The letter details the islands that were discovered by Columbus on his first voyage to the West Indies.
• He begins his description at the Canary Islands.
• From there, it is 33 leagues, he states, to the island which the natives refer to as 'Guarahani' and which he names San Salvador.
• He then proceeds on to find and name Isla de Santa Maria de Concepcion, Fernandina, Isabela, and Isla Juana (which the foot note informs us is today's Cuba).
• He continues on to find what he first believed was China but later learns is yet another island.
• Finally, Columbus finds Hispaniola, which he believes to be the finest island of them all.  He notes it as being "beyond comparison" with the Canary Island, Tenerife.  
• The details that Columbus includes are not all that numerous; however, he notes that there are "people innumerable" on the islands and that he receives no opposition in claiming them for Spain.
• The other details included by Columbus focus on the beauty and wonder of Hispaniola.  He touches on its majesty, the fertility of the land, its harbors and coastline, the tallness and ever greenness of the trees, the birds, the fruits, and the availability of metal to be mined inland on the island.

My Thoughts:

 The idea that Columbus puts forth about receiving no opposition from the native people of the islands when he puts down a banner to claim the land for Spain is kind of silly to me.  It's nice and all for Columbus and Spain, I suppose, but as he is the first explorer (presumably) to find these islands, of course there are no Europeans to dispute Spain's claim.  And as for the natives?  Well, what experience do they have that would allow them to understand that the placing of Spain's banner on the land thus claimed it for the country?  None.  Still, it's a nice sentiment to send back to Spain to be sure.  No opposition for the claim means that there won't be any fighting to keep it from somebody else who wants it (at least for the time being). 

My other primary thought on the letter is that there must be purpose for the great detail that Columbus goes into about Hispaniola.  To me, it seems clear that the reason is all told in the footnote and the Christopher Columbus headnote.  He spends such a great amount of time discussing the island most probably because he is writing the letter to Luis de Santangel, a man who "helped secure financing" for his voyage (32, footnote).  Because of Santangel's backing, Columbus is telling all the best parts of the voyage to him in order to illustrate that his faith and backing was well-placed and that the discoveries being made are worthwhile and will make money for Spain and Santangel. 

Finally, the headnote about Columbus let's the reader know that it is the island of Hispaniola on which Columbus establishes settlements.  This suggests one of two things in terms of an either/or scenario.  On one hand, Columbus may have settled Hispaniola because it had the most obvious resources, space, and general awesomeness for said settlement.  On the other hand, it could be because Columbus was so taken with the island and liked it the most.  Either way, Hispaniola seemed to be Columbus's favorite of the islands discussed, based on this letter alone.

"Christopher Columbus"

This blog post is comprised of my notes on the headnote section on Christopher Columbus in the 7th edition of The Norton Anthology of American Literature Volume A.

"Christopher Columbus"

• Lived 1451-1506
• Won the support of Ferdinand and Isabella for his 'enterprise of the Indies' in 1492 and had a series of four voyages between 1492 and 1504.
• Over the course of his voyages, Columbus's feelings shifted from that of wonder, to being gripped with the disasters he experienced, and finally ended in great disappointment.
•  1492:  friendly relations with the Taino Indians on Hispaniola --> Columbus then leaves Hispaniola --> The settlers who remain at Hispaniola demand gold and sex from the Taino Indians --> 1494: Columbus returns to find no living Europeans on Hispaniola
• From there, Columbus establishes another settlement --> He leaves once again -->1496: He returns to Spain to clear his name of charges brought against him by other Europeans in the Indies in the aftermath of total disorder in the second settlement he left.
• In 1498, Columbus begins his third voyage during which he found the South American mainland, which he believed to be near Paradise on Earth.  Unfortunately, his illusions of Paradise fall apart when he returns to Hispaniola to find his Spanish settlers openly rebelling against his authority.
•  Columbus is able to squash these rebellions by creating a truce in which he allows the Taino Indians to be enslaved by the settlers, though he is not happy about the enslavement.
•  In 1500, Columbus is arrested again and brought to Spain to face more charges brought against him..
• Finally, he heads a fourth voyage with the intent of clearing his name after the charges brought against him.  His intentions to reclaim his reputation falls short as he becomes shipwrecked and stranded in Panama and then in Jamaica before he finally suffers a breakdown and is saved and returned to Spain where he dies shortly thereafter.
• Writings from Columbus's voyage exist, but the journal from the first voyage was written by a cleric rather than by Columbus himself; therefore, the letters that Columbus wrote to the king and queen, to a royal officer, and to a woman of the Spanish court are the most authentic writings available for study.