The Quest for Spices, Gold, Converts, and Glory

“TIERRA! Tierra!” (Land! Land!) This jubilant cry shattered the silence of the night watch on October 12, 1492. A sailor on the Pinta had sighted the faint silhouette of an island. The interminable voyage had finally been crowned with success for the ships Santa María, Pinta, and Niña.

At first light, Columbus, his two captains, and other officials waded ashore. They gave thanks to God and took possession of the island in the name of Spain’s monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella.

Columbus’ dream had been realized. He now looked forward to discovering gold (the gold nose-​rings of the natives did not pass unnoticed) and returning to Spain in triumph. The western route to India was his, he thought, and the frustration of the past eight years could be forgotten.

The Dream Takes Shape

At the close of the 15th century, two commodities were in great demand in Europe: gold and spices. Gold was needed to buy luxury goods from the Orient, and spices from the East made monotonous meals palatable during the long winter months. European traders wanted direct access to lands where such merchandise could be obtained.

The Portuguese merchants and navigators were busy establishing a monopoly on trade with Africa, and they eventually found a route to the East via Africa and the Cape of Good Hope. Meanwhile, the thoughts of the Italian navigator Columbus turned west. He believed that the shortest route to India and its coveted spices was across the Atlantic.

For eight weary years, Columbus shuttled from one royal court to another before finally obtaining the backing of Spain’s king and queen. In the end his unwavering conviction won out over doubting sovereigns and reluctant sailors. The doubters had their reasons. Columbus’ project was not without its flaws, and he audaciously insisted that he be appointed “Grand Admiral of the Ocean” and perpetual governor of all lands he might discover.

But the main objections centered on his calculations. By this time most scholars did not dispute that the earth was round. The question was, What stretch of ocean separated Europe and Asia? Columbus reckoned that Cipango, or Japan​—which he had read about in the account of Marco Polo’s journey to China—​lay some 5,000 miles [8,000 km] west of Lisbon, Portugal. He thus placed Japan in what is now the Caribbean.a

Largely because of Columbus’ overly optimistic estimate of the distance separating Europe and the Far East, royal commissions in both Spain and Portugal dismissed his venture as ill-​advised. The possibility that there might be a large continent between Europe and Asia apparently occurred to no one.

But Columbus, supported by friends in the Spanish court, persisted, and events worked out in his favor. Queen Isabella of Castile, a fervent Catholic, was enticed by the possibility of converting the East to the Catholic faith. When Granada fell to the Catholic sovereigns in the spring of 1492, Catholicism became the religion of all Spain. The time seemed ripe to risk some money on a venture that might pay large dividends, both religiously and economically. Columbus got the royal consent and the cash that he needed.

The Voyage Into the Unknown

A small fleet of three ships was quickly fitted out, and with a total complement of some 90 men, Columbus left Spain on August 3, 1492.b After restocking in the Canary Islands, on September 6 the ships headed westward en route to “India.”

The voyage was a trialsome one for Columbus. Hopes were raised and then dashed by winds fair and foul. Despite promising sightings of seabirds, the western horizon remained stubbornly empty. Columbus constantly had to stiffen the resolve of his sailors with promises of land and riches. When they were, according to Columbus’ “personal calculation,” some 2,000 miles [3,200 km] out into the Atlantic, he gave the ship’s pilot the figure of 1,752 miles [2,819 km]. Then he wrote in the ship’s log: “I did not reveal this figure [2,121 miles] [3,413 km] to the men because they would become frightened, finding themselves so far from home.” (The Log of Christopher Columbus, translated by Robert H. Fuson) On many occasions it was only his unflagging determination that kept the ships from turning back.

As the days dragged by, the sailors became more and more restless. “My decision has not pleased the men, for they continue to murmur and complain,” wrote Columbus. “Despite their grumblings I held fast to the west.” By October 10, after more than a month at sea, complaints were increasing on all three ships. The sailors were only appeased by Columbus’ promise to return the way they had come if land was not reached within three days. The following day, however, when they hauled aboard a green branch with flowers still on it, faith in their admiral returned. And when dawn broke the next day (October 12), the sea-​weary mariners feasted their eyes on a lush tropical island. Their epoch-​making voyage had reached its goal!

Discovery and Disappointment

The Bahamas were idyllic. The naked natives, wrote Columbus, were “well-​built people, with handsome bodies and very fine faces.” But after two weeks of savoring the tropical fruits and exchanging goods with the friendly inhabitants, Columbus moved on. He was searching for gold, mainland Asia, converts, and spices.

A few days later, Columbus reached Cuba. “I have never seen anything so beautiful,” he remarked when he disembarked on the island. Earlier he had written in his log: “I am now certain that Cuba is the Indian name for Cipango [Japan].” Thus, he dispatched two representatives to contact the khan (the ruler). The two Spaniards found neither gold nor Japanese, although they did bring back reports of a peculiar habit among the natives, that of smoking tobacco. Columbus was undeterred. “Beyond doubt there is a very great amount of gold in this country,” he reassured himself.

The odyssey continued, this time toward the east. He discovered a large mountainous island near Cuba that he named La Isla Española (Hispaniola). And at last the Spaniards found a fair quantity of gold. But a few days later, disaster struck. His flagship Santa María went aground on a sandbank and could not be refloated. The natives willingly helped the crew to salvage everything possible. “They love their neighbors as themselves, and they have the softest and gentlest voices in the world and are always smiling,” said Columbus.

Columbus decided to establish a small settlement on Hispaniola. Earlier, he had ominously observed in his log: “These people are very unskilled in arms. . . . With 50 men you could subject everyone and make them do what you wished.” He also envisioned a religious colonization: “I have great hope in Our Lord that Your Highnesses will convert all of them to Christianity and they will all belong to you.” Once the settlement was organized in a place he called La Villa de la Navidad (The Town of the Nativity), Columbus decided that he and the rest of his men should make haste to Spain with news of their great discovery.

Paradise Lost

The Spanish court was euphoric when the news of Columbus’ discovery finally reached them. He was showered with honors and urged to organize a second expedition as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Spanish diplomats moved quickly to secure from the Spanish pope, Alexander VI, the right to colonize all lands Columbus had discovered.

The second expedition, in 1493, was an ambitious one. An armada of 17 ships carried over 1,200 colonists, including priests, farmers, and soldiers​—but no women. The intention was to colonize the new lands, convert the natives to Catholicism, and, of course, any gold or spices that might be discovered would be more than welcome. Columbus also intended to continue his search for the sea passage to India.

Although more islands were discovered, including Puerto Rico and Jamaica, frustration mounted. La Navidad, the original colony in Hispaniola, had been decimated by bitter feuding among the Spaniards themselves, and then it was almost wiped out by the islanders, incensed at the greed and immorality of the colonizers. Columbus chose a better site for a large, new colony and then continued his search for the route to India.

After failing to circumnavigate Cuba, he decided it must be mainland Asia​—perhaps Malaya. As stated in The Conquest of Paradise, Columbus “decided that the entire crew should declare under oath that the coast they had been sailing along . . . was not that of an island at all but in fact ‘the mainland of the commencement of the Indies.’” Upon returning to Hispaniola, Columbus found that the new colonists had behaved little better than the previous ones, having raped the women and enslaved the boys. Columbus himself compounded the animosity of the natives by rounding up 1,500 of them, of which 500 were shipped to Spain as slaves; they all died within a few years.

Two more voyages to the West Indies did little to improve Columbus’ fortunes. Gold, spices, and the passage to India all eluded him. However, the Catholic Church did get its converts, one way or the other. Columbus’ administrative abilities were well below his gifts as a navigator, and failing health made him autocratic and even ruthless to those who displeased him. The Spanish sovereigns were obliged to replace him with a more capable governor. He had conquered the oceans but floundered when he went ashore.

Soon after completing his fourth voyage, he died at the age of 54, a wealthy but bitter man, still insisting that he had discovered the sea route to Asia. It would be left to posterity to confer upon him the lasting glory that he had so dearly yearned for all his life.

But the routes he charted had paved the way for the discovery and colonization of the entire North American continent. The world had changed dramatically. Would it be for the better?

[Footnotes]

[Map/​Picture on page 6]

(For fully formatted text, see publication.)

COLUMBUS’ VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

SPAIN

AFRICA

Atlantic Ocean

UNITED STATES

Bahamas

Cuba

Hispaniola

A Clash of Cultures

SOME five hundred years ago, in a small town in the heartland of Castile, Spanish diplomats wrangled with their Portuguese counterparts. By June 7, 1494, their differences were ironed out, and a formal treaty was signed​—the Treaty of Tordesillas. Today, hundreds of millions in the Western Hemisphere speak Spanish or Portuguese as a result of that agreement.

The treaty reaffirmed papal bulls of the previous year dividing the unexplored world between the two Iberian nations. A north-​south line was drawn “370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands.” Spain could colonize and evangelize the lands discovered to the west of that line (North and South America, with the exception of Brazil) and Portugal all land to the east (Brazil, Africa, and Asia).

Armed with the papal blessing, Spain and Portugal​—with other European nations close on their heels—​set out to rule the waves and thence the world. Fifty years after the treaty was signed, sea-​lanes across the oceans had been established, the major continents bridged, and far-​flung colonial empires had begun to emerge.​—See box, page 8.

The repercussions of this explosion of discovery were vast. Commercial and agricultural systems were revolutionized, and the racial and religious divisions of the world were also transformed. It was gold, however, that set events in motion.

The Winds of Trade

Columbus was right. The gold was there, although he personally found very little. Before long, galleons began transporting to Spain enormous quantities of plundered American gold and silver. The wealth, however, was fleeting. The influx of vast amounts of precious metals brought in its wake disastrous inflation, and the surplus of easy money sabotaged Spanish industry. On the other hand, the bullion from the Americas greased the wheels of a growing international economy. Money was available to buy exotic goods, which ships transported to and from the four corners of the world.

By the close of the 17th century, one could find Peruvian silver in Manila, Chinese silk in Mexico City, African gold in Lisbon, and North American furs in London. Once luxury items had paved the way, staples such as sugar, tea, coffee, and cotton began to flow across the Atlantic and Indian oceans in ever greater quantities. And eating habits began to change.

New Crops and New Cuisines

Swiss chocolate, Irish potatoes, and Italian pizza all owe a debt to Inca and Aztec farmers. Chocolate, potatoes, and tomatoes were just three of the new products to arrive in Europe. Often, the new flavors, fruits, and vegetables took time to catch on, although from the outset Columbus and his men were enthusiastic about pineapples and sweet potatoes.​—See box, page 9.

Some crops from the East, such as cotton and sugarcane, came into their own in the New World, while the South American potato eventually became a major source of nourishment for many European households. This interchange of crops didn’t just give more variety to international cuisine; it brought a fundamental improvement in nutrition, which contributed to the enormous growth of the world population in the 19th and 20th centuries. But there was a darker side to the agricultural revolution.

Racism and Repression

The new cash crops, such as cotton, sugar, and tobacco, could make the colonists rich, provided they had sufficient cheap labor to work their estates. And the obvious source of manpower was the native population.

The European colonists generally viewed the natives as nothing more than animals with the gift of speech, a prejudice that was used to justify their virtual enslavement. Although a papal bull of 1537 concluded that the “Indians” were indeed “true men endowed with a soul,” this did little to stem the exploitation. As a recent Vatican document points out, “racial discrimination began with the discovery of America.”

Harsh treatment, along with the spread of “European diseases,” decimated the population. In the space of a hundred years, it declined by as much as 90 percent according to some estimates. In the Caribbean the natives were all but wiped out. When local people could no longer be conscripted, the landowners looked elsewhere for strong, healthy farmhands. The Portuguese, who were well established in Africa, offered a sinister solution: the slave trade.

Once again racial prejudice and greed inflicted a terrible toll of suffering. By the close of the 19th century, convoys of slave ships (mainly British, Dutch, French, and Portuguese) had probably shipped more than 15 million African slaves to the Americas!

With its racial overtones, it is not surprising that the discovery of America by Europeans is deeply resented by many native Americans. A North American Indian stated: “Columbus didn’t discover the Indians. We discovered him.” Likewise, Mapuche Indians from Chile protest that ‘there wasn’t a real discovery or an authentic evangelization but rather an invasion of their ancestral territory.’ As this observation implies, religion was not blameless.

Religious Colonization

The religious colonization of the New World went hand in hand with the political one.a Once an area was conquered, the native population was obliged to become Catholic. As Catholic priest and historian Humberto Bronx explains: “At first they baptized without oral instruction, practically by force. . . . Pagan temples were converted into Christian churches or hermitages; idols were replaced by crosses.” Not surprisingly, such arbitrary “conversion” resulted in a peculiar amalgam of Catholic and traditional worship that has continued down to this day.

After the conquest and “conversions,” obedience to the church and its representatives was strictly enforced, especially in Mexico and Peru, where the Inquisition was established. Some sincere churchmen protested the unchristian methods. Dominican friar Pedro de Córdoba, eyewitness of the colonization of the island of Hispaniola, bemoaned: “With such good, obedient, and meek people, if only preachers entered among them without the force and violence of these wretched Christians, I think that a church as fine as the primitive one could be founded.”

Different but Not So New

Some see the discovery, colonization, and conversion of America as an “encounter between two cultures.” Others view it as “exploitation,” while a few condemn it outright as “rape.” However it may be judged, it was undoubtedly the beginning of a new era, an era of economic growth and technical development, albeit at the expense of human rights.

It was the Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci who in 1505 coined the phrase the “New World” to describe the new continent. Doubtless, many aspects were new, but the fundamental problems of the Old World were also endemic in the New. The futile attempts of so many Spanish conquistadores to find the legendary El Dorado, a place of gold and plenty, reveal that human aspirations were not satisfied with the discovery of a new continent. Will they ever be?

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 8]

Columbus, Forerunner of the Age of Discovery

THE 50 years following Columbus’ discovery of America saw the remaking of the map of the world. Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Dutch, and English sailors, searching for new routes to the East, discovered new oceans and new continents. By 1542 only the continents of Australia and Antarctica remained undiscovered.

South America First Columbus and soon thereafter Ojeda, Vespucci, and Coelho charted the coastline of Central and South America (1498-1501).

North America Cabot discovered Newfoundland in 1497, and Verrazano traced the Eastern seaboard of North America in 1524.

Circumnavigation of the World It was first accomplished by Magellan and Elcano, who also discovered the Philippines after an epic voyage across the vast Pacific Ocean (1519-1522).

The Sea Route to India via the Cape of Good Hope After rounding the southern tip of Africa, Vasco da Gama arrived in India in 1498.

The Far East Portuguese sailors reached Indonesia by 1509, China by 1514, and Japan in 1542.

[Box/​Picture on page 9]

Plants That Changed the World’s Menus

THE discovery of America revolutionized the world’s eating habits. There was a rapid interchange of crops between the Old World and the New World, and many plants cultivated by the Incas and the Aztecs are now among the most important food crops of the world.

The Potato. When the Spanish arrived in Peru, the potato was the basis of the Inca economy. The potato also thrived in the Northern Hemisphere, and within two centuries it had become the staple food of many European countries. Some historians even attribute to this humble but nutritious tuber the rapid population increase that accompanied the European industrial revolution.

The Sweet Potato. Columbus encountered sweet potatoes on his first voyage. He described them as somewhat like “great carrots” with the “flavor proper to chestnuts.” Now, the sweet potato is a staple food of millions of people throughout a large portion of the earth.

Corn, or Maize. So important was the cultivation of corn to the Aztecs that they viewed it as a symbol of life. Now corn is second only to wheat in world acreage planted.

The Tomato. Both Aztecs and Maya cultivated the xitomatle (later called tomatl). By the 16th century, the tomato was grown in Spain and Italy, where gazpacho, pasta, and pizza became cuisine favorites. Other Europeans, however, were not won over to its virtues till the 19th century.

Chocolate. Chocolate was the favorite drink of Aztec ruler Montezuma II. At the time Cortés arrived in Mexico, the cocoa beans, from which chocolate was extracted, were so highly esteemed that they were used as money. In the 19th century, when sugar and milk were added to improve the flavor, chocolate became an international best-​seller, both as a drink and as a snack in solid form.

[Picture]

Arrival of Columbus in the Bahamas, 1492

[Credit Line]

Courtesy of the Museo Naval, Madrid, (Spain), and with the kind permission of Don Manuel González López

[Picture on page 7]

Copy of the Treaty of Tordesillas.

[Credit Line]

Courtesy of Archivo General de Indias, Seville, Spain

[Picture on page 10]

Mexican victims of the Catholic Inquisition

Mural entitled “Mexico Through the Centuries,” original work by Diego Rivera.

[Credit Line]

National Palace, Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico

The Real New World Awaiting Discovery

“A NAME is an uncertain thing, you can’t count on it!” This sober observation has proved to be true in the case of Columbus.

In harmony with the meaning of his first name, Christopher, Columbus did make an attempt to be a “Christbearer” of a kind. After all, the Spanish sovereigns had sent him forth in “the service of God and the expansion of the Catholic faith.” But after teaching some uncomprehending natives to make the sign of the cross and to sing the Ave Maria, he concentrated on more tangible rewards: finding gold and the elusive route to India.

Some Catholics have argued that Columbus should, nevertheless, be made a “saint” because of his pivotal role in extending the boundaries of Christendom. But the mass “conversions” that came in the wake of his discoveries did little to take the authentic Jesus Christ to the people of the New World. Genuine Christianity has always been extended by peaceful means, not by the sword. The use of force to spread the gospel is a gross contradiction of what Jesus taught.​—Compare Matthew 10:14; 26:52.

Columbus (Spanish, Colón) had somewhat more success in emulating his surname, which means “colonizer.” It was he who founded the first two European colonies in the New World. Although these came to naught, others were soon established. The colonization of the Americas pressed ahead, but it was by no means a happy one, especially for the colonized.

Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas, who witnessed the initial colonization of the West Indies, protested to Philip II, king of Spain, about ‘the travesty of justice to which these innocent peoples are subjected, destroying them and shattering them without just cause or reason other than the greed and ambition that move those who commit such evil works.’

Although the worst abuses were later corrected, selfish motives and ruthless methods continued to dictate policy. Not surprisingly, such rule became odious. By the 20th century, most countries of the Americas had discarded the colonial yoke.

Converting continents to Christendom and administering a just rule over myriad tribes and tongues is admittedly a formidable task. And it would be unjust to blame Columbus for all the failures of the immense enterprise he unwittingly launched when he crossed the ocean and initiated what some call the “Encounter of Two Worlds.”

As Kirkpatrick Sale points out in his book The Conquest of Paradise, “an opportunity there certainly was once, a chance for the people of Europe to find a new anchorage in a new country, in what they dimly realized was the land of Paradise.” But discovering a new world is one thing; creating a new world is another. It was not the first time attempts to build a new world had failed.

Another Epic Journey

Two thousand years before Columbus set sail, about two hundred thousand people embarked on another epic journey. Rather than crossing an ocean, they possibly traveled across a desert. They were also heading west, toward their homeland, Israel, which the majority had never seen. Their aim was to establish a new world, for themselves and for their children.

Their trek from Babylonian captivity fulfilled prophecy. Two hundred years earlier, the prophet Isaiah had foretold their repatriation: “Here I [the Sovereign Lord Jehovah] am creating new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be called to mind, neither will they come up into the heart.”​—Isaiah 65:13, 17.

The ‘new heavens and new earth’ were graphic symbolic terms referring to a new administration and a new society of people. Such were needed because a real new world requires much more than new territory to colonize; it calls for a new, unselfish spirit among those who govern and those who are governed.

Few of the Jews who returned from Babylon had such a spirit. Despite some initial success, about a hundred years after their return, the Hebrew prophet Malachi sadly described how selfishness and greed had become the dominant forces in the land. (Malachi 2:14, 17; 3:5) A unique opportunity to build a new world for the Jews had been squandered.

A New World Still Awaits Us

Nevertheless, failures to build a new world in the past do not mean that the quest is hopeless. In the book of Revelation, the apostle John, echoing the words of Isaiah, describes the following dramatic scene: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away . . . And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”​—Revelation 21:1, 4.

These words assure us that God himself is determined to have a new government over all the earth and a new society of people who will respond to his rule. The benefits will be incalculable. It will be an authentic new world.

A new world of God’s making may seem farfetched. But Columbus’ conviction that continents lay to the West likewise seemed incredible to many of his contemporaries. The description of God’s promised new world may also sound most improbable, yet how many 15th-​century scholars could have imagined that a third of the earth’s landmass was unknown to science?

The scientific ignorance of Columbus’ day made the discovery of the New World seem most unlikely. Ignorance of God’s purposes and of his power can likewise demolish confidence in his promised new heaven and new earth. But Almighty God follows up his description thereof by saying: “Look! I am making all things new. . . . Write, because these words are faithful and true.”​—Revelation 21:5.

Doubtless, all mankind yearns for a new world of some sort. Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes once observed: “Utopia is something of the past and of the future. On the one hand, it is the memory of a better world that once was and is no longer. On the other hand, it is the hope that this better world, more righteous and more peaceful, will come one day.” Bible students are confident that a better world​—not a fanciful Utopia—​will indeed come because God has promised it and because God can accomplish it.​—Matthew 19:26.

A New World on the Horizon

When Columbus was trying to convince his crew that they were approaching land, more than faith was needed. He needed some tangible proof. Fresh vegetation floating in the sea, increasing numbers of land birds, and finally a flowering branch drifting on the water restored the sailors’ confidence in their admiral.

Today there is also visible evidence that we are approaching a new world. The fact that for the first time in history mankind’s survival is endangered reminds us that God’s patience with human rule must be rapidly nearing its end. He promised long ago to “bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” (Revelation 11:18) Greed and selfishness have spawned a host of insoluble global problems, problems that the Bible vividly described in advance as developments that point to God’s imminent intervention.a

When Columbus first set foot on the island of Cuba five hundred years ago, he is said to have exclaimed: “I would like to live here forever!” Those who step into God’s new world will feel exactly the same. And this time such a wish will be granted.

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 13]

Discovering a new world is one thing; creating a new world is another