Columbus' Discovery: A Disaster for the Americas

The Effects of Columbus’ Travels on the America’s When Columbus landed in the “New World”, or the America’s, this marked the beginning of World growth and prosperity; at least for the most of Europe. However, for the America’s, it was the beginning of disaster for the country. By discovering the America’s, Columbus ruined not on the lives of many indigenous people, but also the land which they lived. Before Columbus landed in the, what is now the Caribbean, the life of the indigenous people of the America’s was prosperous. There were a speculated 53,904,000 people living in the America’s (Turner II 20). Similarly, to Europe, there were many different cities, languages, and regions that the indigenous people had. Many of them were hunter-gathers and hunter-foragers; they also relied heavily on plants for sustainability (Butzer 348). Also during this time, the Prince of Spain was authorized to “…conquer and possess distant lands and their wealth” (Sanneh 21). Even though this authorization was passed in 1455, and Columbus had not reached the America’s, it is important information. In present times, we can view this as foreshadowing what will happen to the America’s. In 1514, the Requerimiento was created. This document was to read aloud

Europe profited by gaining a large new sum of gold, various other precious metals, new spices, and other precious commodities. This allowed for a time of prosperity. However, the indigenous people suffered greatly. Many of the people died from murder, various diseases, and were put into slavery for simply not accepting a new religion. The world around the indigenous people was dramatically changed. The America’s themselves were changed too. Europe took so many natural resources from the America’s, leaving many places bare. Columbus discovering the America’s ruined the lives of so many indigenous people, while Europe lived in