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Christopher Columbus


letter to the King and Queen of Spain


(Undated, probably 1494)

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Introduction to Columbus' letter, 1694

Christopher Columbus' daring needs no introduction, but one is often pleasantly surprised at the fine quality of mind of this self-taught, red-haired, handsome, talented, and ambitious man. Within two years alter the discovery of America, before he fell under the cloud of the king's disfavor, Columbus advocated the establishment of a Spanish colony in the New World, closely regulated and directed by the Crown. That he should sense the direction of future events testifies to his perception. Spain acted upon Columbus' advice and quickly planted a colony in Hispaniola (Haiti) that became the stepping stone for further Spanish incursions into the Americas. In a larger sense, the Spanish settlement at Hispaniola served as the fountainhead of a mainstream in the evolution of the New World, the European colonization of the Western Hemisphere.