Western Civ. I

Western Civ. I
HIST I
Final- Short Essay
Directions- Write a short essay in response to the following prompt. Use the
documents below to support your answer. ( 3-4 FULL paragraphs- 1-2 pages)
What were the causes and effects of the
Columbian Exchange?
Christopher Columbus, Journal of the First Voyage (1492)
Friday, 12th of October
We might form great friend- ship, for I knew that they were a people who could be
more easily freed and converted to our holy faith by love than by force, gave to
some of them red caps, and glass beads to put round their necks, and many other
things of little value,
which gave them great pleasure, and made them so much our friends that it was
a marvel to see […] It appeared to me to be a race of people very poor in
everything. […]
They should be good servants and intelligent, for I observed that they quickly
took in what was said to them, and I believe that they would easily be made
Christians, as it appeared to
me that they had no religion. I, our Lord being pleased, will take hence, at the
time of my departure, six natives for your Highnesses, that they may learn to
speak. I saw no beast of any kind except parrots, on this island.”

Saturday, 13th of October
Their legs are very straight, all in one line, and
no belly, but very well formed. They came to the ship in small canoes, made out
of the trunk of a tree like a long boat, and all of one piece, and wonderfully
worked, considering the country. They are large, some of them holding 40 to
45 men, others smaller, and some only large enough to hold one man.[…]
The people are very docile, and for the
longing to possess our things, and not having anything to give in return, they
take what they can get, and presently swim away. Still, they give away all they
have got, for whatever may be given to them, down to broken bits of crockery
and glass.
Sheets, Kevin B. (2014-01-10). Sources for America’s History, First Edition,
Volume 1: To 1877 (Page 8). Bedford/St. Martin’s. Kindle Edition.
Bartolome De Las Casas ( Missionary and advocate for native
human rights), 1552
The natives tractable, and capable of Morality or Goodness, very apt to receive
the instill’d principles of Catholick Religion; nor are they averse to Civility and
good Manners, being not so much discompos’d by variety of Obstructions, as the
rest of Mankind; insomuch, that having suckt in (if I may so express my self) the
very first Rudiments of the Christian Faith, they are so transported with Zeal
and Furvor in the exercise of Ecclesiastical Sacraments, and Divine Service, that
the very Religioso’s themselves, stand in need of the greatest and most signal
patience to undergo such extream Transports. And to conclude, I my self have
heard the Spaniards themselves (who dare not assume the Confidence to deny
the good Nature praedominant in them) declare, that there was nothing wanting
in them for the acquisition of Eternal Beatitude, but the sole Knowledge and
Understanding of the Deity.
Sheets, Kevin B. (2014-01-10). Sources for Americas History, First Edition,
Volume 1: To 1877 (Page 10). Bedford/St. Martin’s. Kindle Edition.