Discovery of the Americas, 1492-1800

DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES

OF A NEW WORLD

At the same moment Columbus was regaling
the royal court with descriptions of beautiful
islands full of gold and souls waiting to be bap-
tized, a nightmare was unfolding at La Navi-

dad, the outpost he had left on the northern

coast of Haiti. After the wrecking of the Santa

Maria, C olumbus had recruited 39 volunteers

and instructed them to build a colony. When

Columbus sailed for Spain to report his discov-

eries, the colonists busied themselves brutaliz-

ing the Taino, ordering them to provide the

Columbus Returns to Spain B 7

Columbus’s expedition to the Americas in 1492 included the Santa Maria,his flagship; the Niña,and the Pinta.
Replicas of all three ships were built for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The replica of the Santa Maria
is shown in this 1893 photograph.(Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [LC-D4-21178])