Paper 1

Christopher Columbus and artolomé De Las Casas were both two men who
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have left legacies that are admired, criticized, idolized, rationalized and despised by adventuring out to find the three motivators that have lead to the foundings of what we call America. Christopher Columbus and Bartolomé De Las Casas both set out with the three motives: God, Glory and Gold. God, Glory and Gold also known as the three G’s are labeled as the roots of the age of discovery during the mid­fifteenth century and ending in the mid­seventeenth century. Of the three motives each had a higher priority for each one and their priority of each motive led to different ways of exploration and conquering. While both Christopher Columbus and Bartolomé De Las Casas had similarities that we can compare, Christopher Columbus set out in his voyage with a craving appetite for Gold. On the other hand Bartolomé De Las Casas had other ambitions. Bartolomé De Las Casas set out with the ambition of converting the Indians to Christianity which supports that De Las Casas prioritized God over Glory and Gold.
Even though both Columbus and De Las Casas were both on similar missions their

desires differed when looking at the three G’s and their place in the discoveries with
Columbus and the settling in the new colonies with De Las Casas. Christopher Columbus born in 1451­1506 was a sailor who was heavily influenced by the 13th Century voyages of Marco Polo. After moving to Spain,
Columbus asked Spain to finance his voyages in hope of discovering the New World and was given funds to explore by the King and Queen. Heavily influenced by Gold,
Columbus went out on a royal mission for two reasons: Spain was in need and unstable and Columbus set out in search for a new trade route to Asia to enhance riches to expand and rebuild. Secondly, Columbus was in search for Gold for personal achievement and with the Glory that follows the riches. In 1942 Columbus discovered
America. Through misconception when reading some of Columbus’ first journal entries you could be fooled to believe that Columbus had God before Gold and Glory due to the fact of mentioning God in many of his entries and when first arriving to the Island recording that, “ I believe they would readily become Christians; it appeared to me that they have no religion.” Quickly his true motives are revealed when Columbus states, “I kept my eyes open and tried to find out if there was any gold, and I saw that some of them had a little piece hanging from a hole in their nose. I gathered from their signs that if one goes south … there is a king with great jars full of it, enormous amounts.”
Columbus’ motives are solidified by the fact that Gold is what he truly is seeking upon his voyage when he sees Gold jewelry hanging from the Indians and wishes to leave in hope of finding Gold when he says, “rather than lingering I wish to explore and

investigate many islands in search of gold. …” While Glory and God are at importance,
Columbus makes it relevant that wealth is what is driving him to continue to explore in search of riches. Second to Gold comes Glory. Columbus is in a spot in which he must succeed or he would have let down the King and Queen and also the people of Spain.
In his journal entries he refers to the King and Queen as your majesties meaning he owes it to them to do what he has promised and planned. For Example Columbus states, “Your Majesties should therefore determine to convert them to Christianity, for I believe that once this is begun a host of peoples will soon be converted to our Holy
Faith, and great domains and their wealth and all their peoples will be won for Spain, for there is no doubt that these lands hold enormous quantities of gold. …” Columbus portrays all three G’s in this statement. Columbus is speaking to his Majesty and using
God and converting people to Christianity for the simple reason of being able to conquer what is theirs. Columbus uses God as an excuse to conquer and murder in exchange for Gold and Glory which is why Columbus’ third motivation was not God but using God as means of getting what he truly desires. Bartolomé de Las Casas was the complete opposite of Columbus. As Columbus’
Three G’s were Gold, Glory, and God, De Las Cases were God, Glory, Gold. De Las
Casas was a priest who stood firm and preached about the wrongdoings of murder and torture. De Las Casas was first influenced by Columbus until he became a priest and he saw how wrong the indians were mistreated. De Las Casas set out on first voyage in
1502. Following his voyage De Las Casas devotes his life to improving rights and the

life of Indians. De Las Cases main motive was God. Being a Priest De Las Casas devoted himself to God and his beliefs and everything he did was for the Glory of God.
De Las Casa was a witness to it all, he knew that the Indians believed that they arrived from Heaven until the Indians began to realize that they were not sent from Heaven to help them but instead to conquer, enslave and murder. De Las Casas states, “The cause for which the Christians have slain and destroyed so many and such infinite numbers of souls, has been simply to get, as their ultimate end, the Indians’ gold of them, and to stuff themselves with riches in a very few days, and to raise themselves to high estates..” The above statement displays that Casa is not in it for the wealth as was
Columbus but in it to change the perception of Christian and to show what true
Christianity is. De Las Casa was motivated by God to bring Glory to God, approval of the Indians and also the accomplishment of doing the right thing as a Priest.
De Las Casas ways revolved around God and on displaying his morals to others.
When reading his journal entries, De Las Casa mentions God or Christianity almost on every page where Columbus wrote about Gold almost every page. Gold was not of a main concern to De Las Casa. When he speaks of gold, he speaks of it in the sense of the wrong that was done to the Indians on route to taking their riches. Wealth was not an importance to De Las Casa, what he really stressed was bringing lost souls to God and bringing Glory to God through what he does upon his voyages and the changes he has done in treatment with the Indians.

While both Columbus and De Las Casa were both chasing the three G’s, they prioritized them differently. Columbus was a greedy bastard, on the other De Las Casa was influenced at the early stages of his career by Columbus but did not follow in his footsteps as he saw the mistreatment. When De Las Casa became a Priest it was obvious that the order of his three G’s would be established as God, Glory, and Gold.
Columbus reversed Gold and God and was only after the Gold and Glory mainly but used God to attain both. When contrasting these two you can’t help but notice the difference in morals and way of living. While both accomplished much, the way in which they accomplished and conquered were completely different. WORK CITED Michael L. Brillman,
Colonial Voices,
Cognella Inc, 12/13/2013