Columbus understood sea navigation very well because his basic education was solid. He probably had attended one of Prince Henry’s schools of map-making. After ten years of begging the king of Portugal for subsidies, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain financed his trip. Columbus sailed to the Caribbean in 1492, initially landing in the Bahamas before moving on to Cuba and Hispaniola. When he returned from his initial voyage, Portuguese leaders saw Columbus’ sea excursions as conflicting with their exploration rights. They cited the 1455 papal bull stating that Portugal exclusively had the rights to “…reduce to servitude all infidel peoples” (Williams 3).
Portugal’s Regret
Pope Alexander VI mediated a compromise between the two countries resulting in the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, which officially split the East and West between Portugal and Spain. However, one Portuguese leader, Don Juan, expressed regret over failing to explore western seas before Columbus did. In a meeting with Columbus in 1493, Don Juan told Columbus that he had seen African sailors heading west many times, so he knew land was there. West Africans used the equatorial currents that run from West Africa to South America and the Caribbean. They had been sailing to the Americas as far back as the Mali Empire (1250 CE). Portuguese sailors, however, were reluctant to venture into the area because of faulty advice coupled with their decision to explore India (Van Sertima 8).
Since Pope Nicholas V sanctioned Portugal to make slaves out of all non-Christians, in 1992 Pope John Paul II attempted to rectify that declaration on the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage. He apologized to Native Americans and African Americans for the Catholic Church’s role in colonization and the slave trade. Pope John Paul addressed them in a speech from Santo Domingo. His intent was to get Native Americans and African Americans to forgive Columbus and the atrocities that he and other European adventurers committed.
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