Christopher Columbus: The Empire He Opened and the Story Washed Clean

On 12 October 1492, Christopher Columbus’s ships sighted Guanahani in the Caribbean. Columbus gave the island a new name, raised the flag of the Spanish crown, and declared the land belonged to the king and queen. Taíno people had lived there for generations, but in the report sent to Europe they appeared first as guides to gold, a source of labor, and people who could be taken back as proof.

Columbus returned to Spain with several Indigenous captives, a small amount of gold, and letters describing the islands as rich territory waiting to be claimed. The crown immediately funded a much larger second voyage. In 1493, seventeen ships and roughly 1,200 people returned to the Caribbean with soldiers, priests, and equipment for a colony. From that moment the voyage was no longer a search for Asia. It became a plan to take land, extract gold, and seize people.