Empire's Crossroads Chapter Summary

Fluorescent turquoise waters, a vibrant city culture, as well as an unending supply of mimosas and sunburns within a resort, benefits the common wealthy couple looking for a swell time. When people imagine the Caribbean, they probably visualize the soft sands of the Spice Island Beach Resort. Many people see the Caribbean as relaxing paradise. What people don’t understand, are the years of history hidden behind the mask of many resorts. In the book entitled “Empire’s Crossroads: A History of the Caribbean from Columbus to the Present Day”, Author Carrie Gibson differentiates how people view the Caribbean nowadays, by altering their visualization with four-hundred pages of rich history and culture, that argues the ideology about the Caribbean

An example of colonization portrays Columbus and his crew as being civil with the natives when they first arrive, but Columbus had plans to colonize and use them because, in his head, they were simple minded. Columbus became greedy and treats the natives as an extravagant find, rather than human. The book shows how Columbus brings the natives and other findings back to Europe and it states, “Columbus was triumphant. He showcased all the products and people he found in this New World…he brought with him ‘Indians’, as well as gold, plants, and animals. The public was mesmerized (Gibson, 19).” However, I believe this is an example Gibson uses as foreshadowing. She wants people to understand that colonizing the natives, forcing religion upon them, and receiving gold from them, was a global occurrence during that period. Inevitably, more countries would soon inhabit the ‘New World’ in hopes of rebuilding their own economies at home with trade, and slave labor. “With such dramatic events in the Americas, it was impossible for Spain to keep the news secret. Throughout Europe people were talking about the ‘New World’… (Gibson,

“…staring at the sea, beer in hand…Free time is now the luxury, not sugar…or any of the goods that delighted the fickle tastes of Europeans…Such goods are now taken for granted – they came with a price, too, though that has long been forgotten (Gibson, 347).” In response, after reading a passage that states, “What is the earthly paradise for our visitors? Two weeks without rain and a mahogany tan…at sunset, local troubadours in straw hats and floral shirts beating ‘Yellow Bird’ and ‘Banana Boat Song’ to death…every island, is an effort of memory; every mind, every racial biography culminating in amnesia and fog (Gibson, 348).” I am truly in agreeance with Gibson, visitors are devoid of Caribbean culture and history to this