A Man, who Changed World History

Christopher Columbus was a great philosopher. He wrote a letter to the Civil War Reconstruction which happened following the civil war from 1865 to 1877 (Levine 59). The reconstruction aim was to reform the south for the states that were previously rebellious to rejoin the union and give equal rights to the former slaves. His efforts are recognized globally in today's world of history (Levine 60).

He was an Italian navigator and explorer born in the year 1451 in the Genoa Republic which is now known as Italy but unfortunately died in 20th May 1506 (Phillips and Phillips 433). He sailed from Spain throughout the Atlantic in Santa Maria with the Nina and Pinta ships alongside with a hope of finding a different route heading to India. His exploration career began at a very tender age. He was an educated man full of vigor and knowledge about the water transport industry. Despite this, he was also a political influencer since he carried out a commission from the queen and king of Spain who empowered him to acquire and discover certain mainland and islands in the sea ocean though his political energy was later revoked by the king. (Phillips and Phillips 403) This special letter was directed at a specific group of people.

The destined audience was the aristocratic Lord Raphael Sanchez who was the treasurer to their most unconquerable majesties together with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of the Spanish citizens. He communicated in a simple language that everyone could understand since his letter is used in the modern day analysis, interpretation and understanding of the American civil war. His assumption that the reader would conceive whatever he wanted to convey has been greatly achieved (Phillips and Phillips 409). He wrote this document by himself on 15th February in the year 1493 while still at sea returning to his voyage (Levine 61). The writing was very instrumental in news spreading in Europe about his adventure. In his book Stave, he claims to have taken possession and revealed several islands on the Indian ocean edge in Asia. He describes the journey saying that he traveled for thirty-three days arriving in the Indies islands inhabited only by the Indians. He also describes how he disposed six new names to the islands and sailed for a spell across the Cuba northern coast seeking for cities and their rulers but only found minute villages without any form of government (Phillips and Phillips 466).

He faced challenges of getting information from the natives since they usually fled away when he approached. Therefore, he decided to go back to the southeast where he located the Hispaniola Island and explored its northern coast reporting that the Islands were suitable for colonization in the future since the natural habitat was very suitable for cultivation, livestock breeding and building of farms and towns. He preferred the Hispaniola than mountainous Cuba due to its spices, great gold mines and a lot of water. He characterizes the Indies inhabitants as innocent, primitive, unthreatening and unreasonable because the natives are unreligious, naive, generous and ready to exchange valuable goods for cheap ones.

Finally, Columbus promises to bring back lots of gold, cotton, slaves and other valuable things only if his command to return with a bigger fleet is supported by the Catholic Monarchs. He urges the church and the Spanish people to thank God for giving him a chance to seek many souls to eternal salvation (Levine 68). The aim of writing this document was to reclaim the rights of the slaves who were captivated during the time of conflicts. He tried to pass a message to those in power to find a way of helping them and bringing them back home especially the women and children who passed through more challenges as compared to men. Moreover, this document is not only a random note but a scholarly thesis since it is used by political scientists and other scholars in explanation of past history in comparison to contemporary issues.

It can be described as a political letter written to discuss governmental issues as it was dedicated to the rulers and the heads of the state concerning the lives of the indigenous residents of the land and the fight against the violation of their freedom. Furthermore, the writer made basic assumptions about the reader in that he assumed the consumer of the information could understand the native language since it was first printed in Spain. On his arrival on 4th March 1493 in Lisbon, he added a post-script and dispatched two more copies to the court (Levine 58). The first print was done in April 1493. Later, a Latin translation specifically devoted to Gabriel Sanchez was reprinted in Rome and then disseminated to several other locations for consumption by other people (Phillips and Phillips 500). These conversions made it easier for other interested readers to get a chance of reading it in an understandable way. The author also assumed that all the readers could understand the terms that are mostly used in the seas and oceans and presumed the consumers understanding of all the available holms.

To testify, the reliability of this letter is not debatable at all. This is because the facts depicted out are very real and cannot be doubted. It announces the first exploration of Christopher that set out in 1492 and eventually reached the Americas (Phillips and Phillips 513). He also gave new names to the Indies Islands such as the Sant Salvador, Guanaham, Ferrandina, Hysabellam, Joanam and Hispana which exist up to date (Phillips and Phillips 465). (Levine) states that the society that produced this document seems to be very conservative since it values the rules of the country by addressing burning issues to those in power (72).

In addition, it is war-oriented as there was a civil war that occurred which made the writer to direct the crisis to the right channel. In contrary, it is a rights-seeking kind of culture since a solution was being sought to release those who had been subjected to slavery. To add on, from the background of the story this social setting is religious as the creator of this primary source talks about the supreme being who granted to human exertions. Remarkably, this writing is very important to history as the whole world comes into prominence and play and the universe changes overnight.

Undoubtedly, Columbus revived the ancient by setting up new territories for the imperial powers of the Europeans to conquer and colonize revealing the end of the western civilizations that collapsed introducing other products such as potatoes, tobacco and many others to the new states. Finally, this document is very meaningful to me since it lays a foundation for the modern day ways of handling conflicts by following the right protocol in order to solve issues that matter to us.

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