During the time period of the late 1400’s when Columbus both discovered and ruled over the Island of Hispaniola, he nearly single handily annihilated a once thriving native population over his petty ambitions. His unbearably cruel treatment of the natives nearly brought a culture to extinction because of his strong belief they deserved the treatment as penance for converting to Christianity, or not at all. The ever-hungry lust for gold that plagued Columbus drove this mad treatment of the natives to milk everything he could out of the Island. Lastly, his need for able body slaves to work the jobs of the Island nearly drove the people of Hispaniola extinct. Columbus single-handily destroyed the people of Hispaniola through his cruel treatments …show more content…
Wucker in his article points out the fact that most men of the time believed that:” Indians were not truly humans, but rather “little men”... their lot in life” (Wucker 65) How could an Indian even begin to receive fair treatment if even the Men of God even believed this? In fact they never did receive this treatment they deserved from Columbus or any of his predecessors all because of this fallacious notion that led to the deaths of …show more content…
The Europeans simply did not want to do the work, and what better way to get out of working, and at the same time make gold? Simple, slaves worked perfectly for their purposes. Wucker in his article points out the fact that:” with armed forces,... brutal work regime” (Wucker 38) The Spaniards subjected the Taino to such horrible treatment, simply because they were lazy, and saw an opportunity to exploit free labor. In addition they did not have enough European bodies on the Island to do the work, so all of these atrocities were driven by the availability of a slave work