Answer to Question #229973 in History for mphoza

Question

What difficulties do historians encounter in using Columbus’ journals and 16^th-century European engravings as sources for understanding the encounter between European explorers and indigenous peoples of the New World c. 1492 (The Americas)? How would you advise historians to approach these sources?

Answer 1

According to Columbus' journals, he had his own misconceptions. He mistakenly believed that the Arawak were “Indians.” In describing the “Indians,” he focused not on who they were but on who they were not. He then went on to describe what the Indigenous Peoples did not have. Therefore historians should approach these sources in a more unbiased cultural perceptive rather than taking them literal.