Podcast – Columbus’ Second Voyage Begins and Finds Mystery at La Navidad

From the Book
Colonial American History Stories – 1215 – 1664

Transcript:

Columbus’ Second Voyage Begins and Finds Mystery at La Navidad
Columbus had little trouble gaining support for a second expedition, as many believed he had found a short cut to Asia and its rich supplies of silk and spices. This expedition would be the first European effort to plant colonies in the New World. The fleet included 17 ships and 1200 people, most of whom would form the first Spanish settlement.

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The fleet departed on September 24, 1493, about 6 months after he had returned to Spain from his first voyage. The expedition also carried a supply of livestock that included horses, sheep and cattle.

Columbus believed that the Spanish monarchs would duplicate the Portuguese practice of the slave trade. In fact, unknown to him, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella did not intend to have slavery as part of the cash flow. His fleet duplicated that of the first, stopping en route at the Canary Island, then sailing on to the New World, departing on October 13, 1493. The passage was fast and he first sighted an island he named Dominica on November 3.

His next stop was at an island he named St. Croix. As members of his crew disembarked on the beach a flurry of arrows shot by the local Carib Indiana showered around him. The men beat a hasty retreat and resumed their explorations.

On November 19 he sighted an island he called San Juan Bautista. The name was later changed to Puerto Rico. He would land and remain there for 2 days. The Arawak tribe on the island was friendlier than the Caribs had been.

He next made his return to the colony he had established at La Navidad, Hispaniola. The settlement was deserted and the fort burned. Search parties attempted to find the men and found only bodies. What happened to them remained a mystery for some time, however later accounts by the natives related that the Spanish had become quarrelsome. They had taken wives from the natives, which angered them. They ambushed the Spanish while they were out prospecting for gold and killed them. They then traveled to the fort and drove out the remaining Spanish inside, forcing them into the ocean, where they drowned. The natives then burned the fort.

Continuing to explore, he next encountered the island the native Tainos called called it Ayti. Columbus renamed itLa Isla Española, which was later changed to Hispaniola.

That concludes this episode. Next week we visit Columbus as he established the first Spanish settlement, his further explorations and finally the end of the second voyage. These podcasts are based on articles from my book, Colonial American History Stories – 1215 – 1664. The articles in the book contain much more detail about the topics discussed. Additionally, there are other topics not included in the podcast. I encourage you to subscribe to both my web site, mossyfeetbooks.com and this You Tube channel.
I hope you enjoyed this podcast and thank you for listening.