Christopher Columbus Satire

Both Christopher Columbus and John Smith used their writings as a form of propaganda to persuade people to migrate to the New World. In Columbus’s Letter Describing the His First Voyage by Columbus, he states, “there are many harbors on the coast of the sea, beyond comparison with others which I know in Christendom, and many rivers, good and large, which is marvelous” (16). By inserting the appealing descriptions, like beyond comparison, marvelous, good and large, Columbus captivates and pleases the reader. During this time period that was particularly important because the readers were the men funding his excursion across the sea. He could not write anything less than spectacular descriptions of the New World or he could risk losing his funding. This type of

Similar to Columbus’s, “The plains are arable lands and pastures, are so lovely and rich for planting and sowing, for breeding cattle of every kind, for building towns and villages,” (17) Smith says, “The ground is so fertile that questionless it is capable of producing any grain, fruits or seed you will sow or plant…all sorts of cattle may here be bred and fed” (58). Both writers are once again are instilling confidence in the land and assuring the future inhabitants the grass is greener in America. Once more Smith and Columbus reflect each other’s writings when noting the generous amount of metals found in the New World. Columbus notes, “there are many spices and great mines of other metals,” (17) and Smith also notes, “of mines of gold, and silver, copper, and probabilities of leas, crystal, and alum” (60). These paragraphs noting the copious amount of riches one can find in the New World again allure the attention of the people back in Europe. The similarities in text show what the people of that time period were looking for in a new life, however, shows how much of a salesmen these two writers were. The literature is filled