Josh Barnett

Dr. Cromwell
His 345
2-18-15
The question that I will be answering throughout the essay is about Columbus, de Casas,
and Morgan. These three men had a very different reason to go to the New World and they
experienced different things while they were in the Caribbean. Columbus main reason for going
to the New World was to find a route to go to Asia. When Columbus got there he looked at the
place as somewhere he would rule and make money off of the Indians and for the Spanish crown.
The de Casas reason for going was to spread religion throughout the New World. He wanted to
make sure that everyone was Christianized before he left. de Casas seen the horrors of how the
Spanish treated the Indians and he thought that it was not the correct way to spread Christianity.
Then there was the buccaneer named Morgan and he wanted to make money and terrorize the
Spanish for the English crown. Morgan saw the Caribbean as a means of spoil and money. He
tried to hit every coast and ship that was from Spain so that he could steal their wealth, women,
and slaves from them. These three men had different reasons to be in the new world, they faced
different challenges, and they seen and valued different things.
The explorer, friar, and the buccaneer where in search of different treasures that they
themselves were only able to find. The explorer was Christopher Columbus and his main
objective on his voyages was to find a route from Spain to Asia. He did not find this route but he
did find the Caribbean on his voyage. Columbus's main thing he was looking for was the
abundance of treasure that he had heard and seen that the Asians had a lot of wealth. Then he was
looking for the fine linen, spices, jewelry, gold, and silver. When Columbus arrived in the

Caribbean they did not see that much of the wealth that people had talked about. Columbus only
went back with a few pebbles of gold and clothing. He then seen the Indians that inhabited the
island and that they were very generous when they did not run away from them. Then Columbus
would move on to a different Island so that he could be the governor of the island by the decree
of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. This is what fuels all of the conquest that Columbus will
go on because he wants to be the governor and ruler over the newly conquered land. Columbus
took a town from the Indians and he made it into a fort and he put up a defense their to make sure
they could keep in Spanish control.1 Then Columbus started to search out the landscape of the
islands to see if it was a profitable island to hold on to. He would search for gold or silver mines
on the island. The men would also look at the vegetation, the animals, and the birds of the island
to see if they were a good food source to eat while they are living there. Columbus also seen the
metal mines that were on the island.2The next thing that Christopher Columbus wanted to do was
to spread Catholicism to the Indians that lived on the island. Christopher was a devote Catholic
and he gave the Indians gifts so that they would like the Spanish and that the Spanish could
Christianize them.3
The friar's Bartolome De Las Casas perspective of going to the New World was one that he is
going to help Christianize the Indians that are on the different islands. Casas perspective of the
people was that they obeyed their own people and the Spanish and that the Indians want to learn
more about the Catholic faith from the friars.4 The friar De Las Casas seen that the Spanish killed
the Indians in big numbers without giving the Friars the chance to show the Indians the gospel so

1 Morison, Samuel E., Journals and other Documents on the Life and Voyages of Christopher
Columbus pg 29.
2 Morison, Samuel E. pg 27
3 Morison, Samuel E. pg 28
4 Pagden, Anthony, A Short Account of theDestruction of the Indies. pg. 9-10

that they would be able to go to heaven.5 De Las Casas seen the brutality that the Spanish did to
the Indians and that the Indians finally realized that the Spanish did not come from the sky like
they thought that they did.6
The buccaneer was named Henry Morgan of Wales and his perspective of the new world was to
get as much loot as he could so that he would be able to live it up on the island of Jamaica.
Morgan main objective that he wanted to do was to raid ships and he also raided the different
ports in the Caribbean. Morgan and his men wanted to get rich as quick as possible off of raiding
ships and towns of money, linen, food, jewelry, cattle, and slaves.7 Morgan and his men wanted
to exploit everything they could when they arrived somewhere and they would stay days or
months at a time to make sure that they got everything that they could get off of the island.8
Morgan perspective of the New World was to make as much money as he could so that he could
party it up on the Island of Jamaica.
The perspective of the Explorer, Friar, and the Buccaneer were different because their
occupations were different from one another. The Explorer wanted to only get land for the
Crown and then he would be the governor of the land that he claimed. The explorers main goal
was to find as much land that was valuable so that he would please the King and Queen. The
Friars perspective was to win all of the Indians to Christianity. They wanted to make sure that
everyone on the Island was going to heaven. The friar like Del La Casas wanted to also help the
Indians find the Lord so that they would not be called heathens anymore because they would be
Christian. The Buccaneer was different from the explorer and the friar because he was not in for
the land or to Christianize the people. The buccaneers were in it to loot as much as possible so
5 Pagden, Anthony, pg 13
6 Pagden, Anthony, pg. 14
7 Exquemelin, Alexander O., The Buccaneers of America pg. 132
8 Exquemelin, Alexander O. pg. 203

that they could make money from the Spanish people. They would take this money and go to the
islands and drink, gamble, and spend money on prostitutes. The buccaneers also liked to hunt for
wild cattle and the wild boars if they were hungry.They would also take slaves to do the hard
work for them so their main goal was to exploit others so they could gain wealth.
The explorer Christopher Columbus seen the animals, peoples, trees, vegetation, gold,
metals, and the fruits. Columbus first seen the fish and the birds that inhabited on the island.9
Then Columbus started seeing things that were in the Old World in the New World and so
Columbus started naming the them the same as they were called in Europe.10 The main thing that
Columbus was looking for and valuing was trying to find the gold that was suppose to be on the
island or so he thought.11
Bartolome De Las Casas valued and notice the happiness of the Indians of the Island and he also
notice the harshness of the Spanish on the people he came to be a witness to. Casas observed
that the Indians were very nice and loyal to the Spanish even while they were working them very
harshly.12 Pagden states that, "... the Spaniards still do nothing save tear the natives to shreds,
murder them and inflict upon them untold misery, suffering and distress, tormenting, harrying
and persecuting them mercilessly."13 De La Casas seen the Spanish just basically work the
Indians to much and the Indians could not keep working like that.14 The friar did not like that the
Spanish did these mean things to the Indians because he felt like they were not sharing the love
of God to the Indians.15
9 Monzote, Reinaldo F. The Columbian Moment, pg. 88
10 Monzote, Reinaldo F. pg.88
11 Monzote, Reinaldo F. pg. 88
12 Pagden, Anthony. pg. 9-10
13 Pagden, Anthony, pg. 11
14 Pagden, Anthony, pg.10
15 Pagden, Anthony, pg. 13

The buccaneer Henry Morgan valued and looked for places that had wealthy people, food, guns,
gunpowder, animals, and slaves. The reason why he valued and looked for these things was
because these things made Morgan and his men wealthy. Whenever Morgan and his men needed
money to spend on the Island they would just get together and go plan to attack on a port.
Morgan would stay as long as needed to soak up all the wealth and merchandise that he could off
of the island that he could. Morgan and his men would not just raid one place and then go back to
the island all of the time. They would raid a couple of ports or boats before they would head back
into Jamaica. Money, merchandise, food, guns, gunpowder, and slaves were what made Henry
Morgan the buccaneer value anything.
Christopher Columbus faced the challenge of getting the people from running away from
them when they landed on shore. The Indians did not want to be around them so they would run.
The Spanish only wanted to know what was on the island and if there was any gold on the island.
16

De La Casas challenges was that he could not try to Christianize the Indians because the

Spanish was working them to death before he could tell the about Christ and the sacraments.17
Then Henry Morgan faced several challenges while he was raiding the different ports and ships.
Morgan would have to fight the Spanish at every place that he went because the Spanish did not
want to give up at all. Also, Morgan had to fight the Indians because they did not want anybody
raiding them either. Morgan also had to worry about the winds on several occasions because he
could not get out of port. Morgan also had to worry about the reefs in the water and the tide
being up so he could bring his ships closer to land.
We can conclude that the Caribbean was settled with ports but in all reality it was not controlled.
The islands were also constant of threats of raiding by the buccaneers. Then the Spanish were
16 Monzote, Reinaldo, pg. 26
17 Pagden, Anthony, pg. 13

just overworking the Indians and there were a bunch of death because of these actions by the
Spanish. The islands were also nothing but work shops in a sense that the Indians were working
as slaves to help the Spanish get wealthy. Then the buccaneers were hunting all of the islands for
the meat and the hides so they could sell it. There were also many churches built so that the friars
could Christianize the Indians.
In conclusion the are differences on why the explorer, friar, and the buccaneers were in
the New World. The explorer was only there to get land and find out what was there. The friar
was there to Christianize and the buccaneer was there to loot and get wealthy. These three also
faced many challenges while they were in the New World. The reader can conclude about how
the Caribbean was like from the explorer, friar, and the buccaneer.