Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus (1493–1496)

Second voyage (1493–1496)

The stated purpose of the second voyage was to convert the Indigenous Americans to Christianity. Before Columbus left Spain, he was directed by Ferdinand and Isabella to maintain friendly, even loving, relations with the Natives. He set sail from Cádiz, Spain, on 25 September 1493.

The fleet for the second voyage was much larger: two carracks (naos) and 15 caravels. The two carracks were the flagship Marigalante ("Gallant Mary") and the Gallega; the caravels were the Fraila ("the nun"), San Juan, Colina ("the hill"), Gallarda ("the gallant"), Gutierre, Bonial, Rodriga, Triana, Vieja ("the old"), Prieta ("the brown"), Gorda ("the fat"), Cardera, and Quintera. The Niña returned for this expedition, which also included a ship named Pinta which was probably identical to that from the first expedition. In addition, the expedition saw the construction of the first ship in the Americas, the Santa Cruz or India.

Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico

On 3 November 1493, Christopher Columbus landed on a rugged shore on an island that he named Dominica. On the same day, he landed at Marie-Galante, which he named Santa María la Galante. After sailing past Les Saintes (Todos los Santos), he arrived at Guadeloupe (Santa María de Guadalupe), which he explored between 4 November and 10 November 1493. The exact course of his voyage through the Lesser Antilles is debated, but it seems likely that he turned north, sighting and naming many islands including Santa María de Montserrat (Montserrat), Santa María la Antigua (Antigua), Santa María la Redonda (Redonda), and Santa Cruz (Saint Croix, on 14 November). He also sighted and named the island chain of Santa Úrsula y las Once Mil Vírgenes (the Virgin Islands), and named the island of Virgin Gorda.

On Santa Cruz, the Europeans saw a canoe with a few Carib men and two women. They had two male captives, and had recently castrated them. The Europeans pursued them, and were met with arrows from both the men and women, fatally wounding at least one man, who perished about a week later. The Europeans either killed or captured all aboard the canoe, thereafter beheading them. Another was thrown overboard, and when he was spotted crawling away holding his entrails, the Arawaks recommended he be recaptured so he would not alert his tribe; he was thrown overboard again, and then had to be shot down with arrows.

Hispaniola and Jamaica

On 22 November, Columbus sailed from San Juan Bautista (present-day Puerto Rico) to Hispaniola. The next morning, a native taken during the first voyage was returned to Samaná Bay. The fleet sailed about 170 miles (270 km) over two days and discovered, at Monte Cristi, decomposing bodies of four men; one had a beard implying he had been a Spaniard. On the night of 27 November, cannons and flares were ignited in an attempt to signal La Navidad, but there was no response. A canoe party led by a cousin of Guacanagari presented Columbus with two golden masks and told him that Guacanagari had been injured by another chief, Caonabo, and that except for some Spanish casualties resulting from sickness and quarrel, the rest of his men were well. The next day, the Spanish fleet discovered the burnt remains of the Navidad fortress, and Guacanagari's cousin admitted that the Europeans had been wiped out by Caonabo. Other Natives showed the Spaniards some of the bodies, and said that they had "taken three or four women apiece". While some suspicion was placed on Guacanagari, it gradually emerged that two of the Spaniards had formed a murderous gang in search of gold and women, prompting Caonabo's wrath. The fleet then fought the winds, traveling only 32 miles (51 km) over 25 days, and arriving at a plain on the north coast of Hispaniola on 2 January 1494. There, they established the settlement of La Isabela. Columbus spent some time exploring the interior of the island for gold.

Slavery, settlers, and tribute

Columbus had planned for Queen Isabella to set up trading posts with the cities of the Far East made famous by Marco Polo, but whose Silk Road and eastern maritime routes had been blockaded to her crown's trade. However, Columbus would never find Cathay (China) or Zipangu (Japan), and there was no longer any Great Khan for trade treaties.

In 1494, Columbus sent Alonso de Ojeda (whom a contemporary described as "always the first to draw blood wherever there was a war or quarrel") to Cibao (where gold was being mined), which resulted in Ojeda's capturing several Natives on an accusation of theft. Columbus had the native chief set free. Ojeda cut the ears off of one Native, and sent the others to La Isabela in chains, where Columbus ordered them to be decapitated. During his brief reign, Columbus executed Spanish colonists for minor crimes, and used dismemberment as another form of punishment. By the end of 1494, disease and famine had claimed two-thirds of the Spanish settlers. A native Nahuatl account depicts the social breakdown that accompanied the pandemic: "A great many died from this plague, and many others died of hunger. They could not get up to search for food, and everyone else was too sick to care for them, so they starved to death in their beds."

By 1494, Columbus had shared his viceroyship with one of his military officers named Margarit, ordering him to prioritize Christianizing the Natives.