Assignment #4
Read the article entitled "The First Spanish Voyage to the New World" in the course packet and answer any five of the following questions. Use complete sentences and explain your answers on a single typed, single spaced, paper.
- The trade routes plied by the city-state of Genoa were especially damaged by Turkish expansion in the eastern Mediterranean. What was one response by Genoese trading families to this situation?
- In you own words, what did Colon think of the people of the island of Guanahani?
- The news that the Spaniards had arrived proceeded them as they travelled through the Bahamas and around Cuba. What evidence is there in Colon's journals of the interisland communication network?
- The Spaniards were not the first group to colonize the Bahamas. Prior to Colon's arrival, what group had most recently settled the islands and when did they arrive?
- Outline the ceremonial interaction between Taino elites and Spanish emissaries and the role food played in this ritual.
- Contrast the initial reactions of the Tainos on Cuba and the Tainos on Hispanola to the Spaniard's arrival?
- The Taino attempted to place the Spaniards in their cultural order. What roles did it appear that Colon was given?
- Beginning around the 18th of December, 1492 and continuing until the Spanish left the area, the relationships between the residents of Hispanola and the Spaniards starts to differ from the initial reactions. Describe these interactions and what role different caciques played.
- Who was Guacanagari, how did he treat Colon and how did Colon treat him? Can this relationship be described as characteristic of the Contact period on Hispanola?
- How did the relationship between Colon and Pinzon affect the rest of the voyage?
comments to Wilson or Lovata
Created 8/21/98, modified by TL 9/17/98