One
significant motive for Columbus that led him to oppress Indigenous peoples was his lust for
gold. He knew that his financing was reliant upon him finding valuable objects to ship back to
the king and queen of Spain, who had approved of his journey. This motive was so strong that he
responded to the tiny gold ornaments that the Arawak wore in their ears by taking many as
prisoners in order to force them to give directions. This proved fruitless, however, as Columbus
never found much gold.
When no large gold field was discovered, but Columbus
knew he still needed to fill his ship with some kind of valuable commodity, he turned instead to
enslavement to meet his extractive needs. Columbus rounded up 1500 Arawak people and then chose
what he thought were the best 500 to ship to Spain. Of these 500, 200 died on the
journey.
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