Motives

The fact that people motives were varied and diverse is apparent. Some people wanted to truly help the pre-Columbian inhabitants. Admittedly they wanted to do this by converting them to Christianity but some missionaries used the carrot and some used the stick. The French missionary communities referenced in the Hackett text sound downright Utopian when compare to the Sword & Cross mentality we see elsewhere. Theses prospective Christians could see the difference as well, thus their labeling some Europeans from “the good white tribe” and others from “the bad white tribe”.

Ferdinand and Isabella…well, I’m a little cynical about their motives. From my perspective they were after gold, spices and the wealth that they felt opening up an alternate trade route to the “Indies” would bring them. They had just fought a costly war in the Reconquesta and had destabilized their economic infrastructure through their persecution of non-Catholics, particularly the Iberian peninsulas ancient Jewish population. There may have been some genuine missionary zeal in Isabella, at least more than in her husband, but I am not yet ready to concede that as a primary motivating factor.

Columbus was little more than a vainglorious and pompous opportunist. One can see by the titles he coveted…..Admiral of the Ocean Sea, Royal Viceroy, Governor of the Indies, he wanted secular power, wealth and prestige. I think he wanted nothing more than to see himself as an equal of the noblemen of his time. True, he puts himself forward as a warrior of the faith bringing the light to the unenlightened, but his covetous behaviors are the best proof of his true beliefs and desires.