Journal #1

When one culture comes to dominate another culture many things are lost, such as religion and tradition. Because the lack of not knowing ones culture, it leads to misunderstandings and confusion. An example of this was when Christopher Columbus met the Taino Indians. He dominated over them and abused their land for his own country's uses. Columbus took advantage over the Indians and made them into slaves to serve the purposes of his ideals for a new world. The Spanish culture also came to dominate the Taino culture destroying the ways of the Indians and how they lived.

The Taino traded equally with the Spaniards when they first arrived ashore. When he first saw the Taino Indians he admired at how well built they were and how they led peaceful lives. The Taino were also calm were also calm about the newcomers and didn't start any conflicts because everybody was in curiosity. The Taino were friendly and had no weapons of violence to inflict on anybody. The leader of the Taino Indians handed over his crown to Columbus of his appreciation. Columbus received the crown in acceptance. The crown was made entirely of gold and he knew that there was more of it around on the new land. Columbus also thought that handing over of the crown meant that the leader had given up his power and wealth. Later on Columbus sailed back to Spain to report to the king and queen on what they had discovered. They were pleased and very excited about the new world.

On Columbus's second trip back to the Americas he brought along 17 other ships. All Columbus wanted was the gold. He forced the Taino to become slaves and mine the caves for gold. There were also many rebellions and uprisings toward the forced labor. The labor was hard and intense causing a lot of slaves to fatiqueness. Attitudes started changing towards the Spaniards. The people that they once thought were nice and friendly had deceived them. There was hatred and everybody isolated themselves from each other to stay safe. The Spaniards looked down on them and considered them worthless beings. Many of the Taino slaves worked to their deaths. Another way to end the harsh new life was to kill themselves. Some hung themselves on trees and others tried to flee for the mountains for a safe haven.

Another one of Columbus's goal was to convert the Spanish religion to the Taino. The holy faith was what he wanted to deliver to the Taino. He was interested in doing this because he wanted to bring 6 of the taino back to the king and queen. Along with the ships and Spaniards came many diseases. It killed off most of the Indians because their bodies weren't immune to such symptoms.

In conclusion many things are lost. We lose our respect for others and for ourselves. It causes us to do inhumane things to hurt others. When Christopher Columbus came to discover America he took advantage of the Taino Indians. He turned them into slaves and many died or were killed off. The Spanish culture came to dominate the Taino destroying everything in what they believe in.