A Comparison Between the Writings of.
Christopher Columbus and William Bradford.
This paper shall examine the motivations of the explorer Christopher Columbus and the colonist William Bradford in coming to the New World. This paper shall demonstrate how these initial perceptions helped affect the manner in which these two men examined their roles in the colonization of the Americas. A focus shall be provided to how these two men were driven by religious beliefs, economics, and idealistic curiosity. .
Christopher Columbus.
As the first European explorer to land in the New World, the works of Christopher Columbus can rightfully be considered the earliest forms of American literature. And, as Columbus did not comprehend the significance of much of what he surveyed, even his journals could arguably be termed works of "fiction". This is due to the fact that the great explorer Christopher Columbus can be considered as a man that did not believe that there were inherent similarities between peoples. For example, Columbus renamed all of the natural landmarks, such as the rivers, despite the fact that the native peoples already had names for these objects. Columbus can therefore be categorized as one of the European traditionalists that entered into the New World with the unbreakable belief that any inhabitants therein were "savages", and that these native peoples were without law, order, and especially religion. Columbus, as a devout religious man himself, considered that the inhabitants of the New World were dangerous and completely without civilization simply because they did not exhibit the traits that Columbus ascribed to "civilized" peoples. Foremost among such traits was that of religion, and indeed Columbus remained convinced that the natives of the New World did not have any religion at all. .
In his two noted works, Journal of the First Voyage to America (1492- 1493) and Narrative of the Third Voyage (1498- 1500), Columbus expresses the New World in terms that belittle the native peoples and expand on the wealth of the Americas.
