1

Examine the engravings by Theodore de Bry on p52 and the design for the Columbus monument at the Chicago World’s Fair p54

a. How do the representations of the impact of the conquest of the New World compare?

De Bry’s image depicts and in a sense ‘sensationalises’ atrocities committed by heavily armed Spanish soldiers against the naked and defenceless native population, therefore presenting the ‘discovery’ of America as something which led to crimes against humanity. The design of the Columbus monument for the Chicago World Fair in 1893 presents an extravagantly impressive monument to human progress, presenting a futuristic and ‘over the top’ feat of engineering, as a symbol of ‘enlightenment’ like progress of the human race, with no acknowledgement of the impact of Columbus’s voyage on the people of America.

2

Look at the wall cartoon at the bottom of page 55 of the article

The cartoon alludes to a common misconception amongst young people that there was no civilised life in America before Columbus’s voyage. A similar misconception is that there was no civilised life in Britain before the Roman invasion, and that the indigenous population lived as complete savages, waiting to be ‘civilised’ by morally and intellectually superior nations

3

Research the author of the article (just do a simple Google search)

a. How do his academic credentials influence your view of his authority?

b. Should we expect him to be unbiased? If so, why?

c. Does the fact that he is a British historian, or that he is working in America have an influence on the authority and trustworthiness of his article?

Armitage is an endowed professor at one of the world’s most prestigious universities (Harvard); together with his record of publications, this gives considerable authority to the article, given the highly competitive nature of such awards, and the quantity of his work which has been peer reviewed and found to be worthy of publication. Both these things mean that he has high status in the ‘community of practice’ of professional historians.

4

Dominican Friar, Antonio de Montesinos

a. What is the views of the Dominican Friar, Antonio de Montesinos about Columbus?

His views were very critical of the impact of Europeans on the New World in the aftermath of Columbus’s voyages, foregrounding the atrocities and exploitation of the natives by the invading Europeans. It needs to be remembered that Europe at this time consisted of a number of competing nation states, who were rivals in terms of trade and influence, and who were also often at war with each other, so Spain often had many enemies, and these accounts of Columbus’s impact served as useful anti-Spanish propaganda. This was exacerbated by religious divisions in Europe, with northern European states becoming staunchly protestant, and therefore hostile to catholic Spain

5,6,7

5. What do the views of Lipsius, Daniel and Montesquieu about Spain ‘conquering the New World’ have in common? In what ways might their nationality influence their views?

Lipsius, Daniel and Montesquieu argued that Spain’s involvement in the America’s was actually a strategic mistake, and that the ‘treasure’ which was collected was outweighed by financial overstretch, population depletion, and loss of economic vitality and enterprise.

6. In not more than 10 lines, summarise the views of Edward Gibbon and Adam Smith about the significance of Columbus’s expeditions. (See pages 52 and 53).

Gibbon and Smith saw the impact of Columbus’s voyage as mixed. As thinkers at the time of the Enlightenment, they shared the dominant view that human beings were part of a ‘progress narrative’, where accumulated knowledge and human experience would lead inevitably to the progress of civilisation, but they both acknowledge that in the case of European involvement in the Americas, this caused some unfortunate ‘collateral damage’ to the well-being and prosperity of the native populations.

7. Why were Americans, from 1792 onwards, generally positive about Columbus and his impact on history? (See pages 54 and 55)

Unlike Europe, North America did not have a historical record which could be traced back to the time of the Greeks and the Romans; in a sense, America was looking for a history to call its own, to match that of European nations, and Columbus’s voyage gave them a ‘starting point’ or ‘birth of a nation’ moment, similar to the myths about the founding of Rome, or the uniting of England as one nation, the birth of the French nation in 1789, the birth of a united Poland, Spain, Sweden, Germany etc.