1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created

by Charles C. Mann

  19 Margarit’s betrayal: Abulafia 2008:202–03; Phillips and Phillips 1992:207–08; Poole 1974; Las Casas 1951:vol. 1, 399–400; Oviedo y Valdés 1851:vol. 1, 54. Poole argues that Margarit’s departure was less a betrayal than the action of a dutiful royal servant reporting the chaos in the colony, but this is a difference of nuance—his report was strongly anti-Colón.

  20 War with Taino: Abulafia 2008:201–07; Colón, C. Letter to the Monarchs, 14 Oct. 1495. In Varela and Gil eds. 1992:316–30 (“the land,” 318); Castellanos 1930–32:vol. 1, 45 (Elegía II [chemical warfare]).

  21 Dominican Republic in Columbian Exchange: E-mail to author, Bart Voorzanger (gross); Hays and Conant 2007 (mongoose); Eastwood et al. 2006 (swallowtail); Guerrero et al. 2004 (swallowtail); Martin et al. 2004 (forest understory); Rocheleau et al. 2001 (forest change); Parsons 1972 (African grass [bedding, 14]); Hitchcock 1936 (African grasses, 161, 259).

  22 Fire ant onslaught: Wilson 2006, 2005; Williams and Matile-Ferraro 1999:146 (African scale insects); Las Casas 1951:vol. 3, 271–73 (all other quotes); Oviedo y Valdés 1851 (“depopulated,” vol. 1, 453 [bk. 15, chap. 1]; plantains, vol. 1, 291–93 [bk. 8, chap. 1]); Herrera y Tordesillas 1601–15:vol. 2, 105–06 (Dec. 2, bk. 3, chap. 14). The plantains were imported from the Canary Islands, off the West African coast. Most of the scale insects involved were mealybugs. Oviedo reported that “the ants in these parts are very good friends” of plantains (vol. 1, 291).

  23 “millions of them”: Colón, C. Letter to the Catholic Monarchs, Apr.-May 1494. In Varela and Gil eds. 1992:284. Cuento de cuentos literally means “a million millions,” or one trillion. But trillón did not enter Spanish until the seventeenth century. Colón clearly intended “a whole lot,” so I use “millions upon millions” to convey this indeterminacy with a period term. My thanks to Scott Sessions for help with this translation.

  24 Estimates of Hispaniola population fall: Livi-Bacci 2003 (table of estimates, 7; “a few hundred thousand,” 48; 1514 count, 25–34); Las Casas 1992:29 (“three million”). Geographer William Denevan, author of many studies of pre-contact demography, believes (pers. comm.) the figure is 500,000–750,000.

  25 Fewer than five hundred Taino: Oviedo y Valdés 1851 (“no one believes in this year of 1548 there are as many as 500 persons,” vol. 1, 71 [bk. 3, chap. 6]). Las Casas claimed that “not 1000 souls could have survived or escaped this misery” by 1518–19 (1951:vol. 1, 270). Oviedo lived on the island from 1514 to 1556, Las Casas from 1502 to about 1540.

  26 Santo Domingo in poverty: Bigges 1589:32. When Sir Francis Drake sacked the city, it was too poor “for lacke of people to worke in the Mines” to give him much ransom.

  27 Absence of diseases in Americas, incursion of new diseases: A summary is Mann 2005:86–133.

  28 Taino genes: E-mail to author, Juan Carlos Martinez-Cruzado (University of Puerto Rico). Martinez-Cruzado reported in July 2009 “finding Native American mtDNA at ~15% in the Dominican Republic,” but at the time of writing was still trying to distinguish what fraction was Taino.

  29 Charges against Colón: See, e.g., Sale 2006. Index entries under “Colón” indicate his general tone: “complaining,” “deceptive,” “exaggeration and boasting,” “preoccupation with glory, with lineage,” “self-pity,” “self-serving.” For reactions to Colón over time, see Stavans 2001.

  30 Lighthouse first proposed: Del Monte y Tejada 1852–90:vol. 1, 316–19 (“divine decree,” 316).

  31 Colón’s collected writings: Varela and Gil eds. 1992.

  32 Signature: Colón, C. Entail of estate, 22 Feb. 1498. In Varela and Gils eds. 1992:356. See also, Morison 1986:356–57; Milhou 1983:55–90.

  33 “San Fernando”: Colón 2004:238. See also, Las Casas 1951: Vol. 1, Chap. 2. My brief biography relies on the sources cited in the notes to p. 4.

  34 Two constants: Here I follow Fernández-Armesto 2001. For Colón’s attempts to found a dynasty, see, e.g., his instructions for dynastic succession in Colón 1498. See also the determined efforts to preserve the records of his noble privileges in what has come to be known as the Book of Privileges (Nader 1996:10–13). The best analysis of his religious beliefs I have seen is Milhou 1983; see also, Delaney 2006; Watts 1985.

  35 “conquest of the Holy Land”: Colón 1493:181. Colón amplified his hopes in a 1493 letter to the monarchs: “Divine grace permitting,…seven years from today, I will be able to pay to Your Highnesses the costs of five thousand cavalry and fifty thousand infantry in the war and conquest of Jerusalem, which was the reason for undertaking this enterprise” (Varela and Gil eds. 1992:227–35, at 232). See also, Delaney 2006; Rusconi ed. 1997:71–77 (unsent Colón missive exhorting the monarchs to take Jerusalem); Colón 1498:360 (instructing his heirs to help with the conquest). My thanks to Scott Sessions for helping me with this material.

  36 “pear-shaped Earth”: Colón, C. Relation of the Third Voyage, Aug.(?). 1498. In Varela and Gil eds. 1992:377 (“put there”); 380 (“by divine will”). Reporting to the monarchs about his third voyage, Colón claimed to have found the Paradise nipple. At the mouth of the Orinoco River, in Venezuela, he had ascended the slopes that led to “this protruding part” (ibid.:377). Heaven was presumably near the river’s headwaters. Such ideas were widely shared; Dante put Paradise on top of a huge projection he called Mount Purgatory (Lester 2009:292–95). My thanks to Scott Sessions for translation help.

  37 Islam, Venice, Genoa as middlemen: My thanks to Dennis Flynn for straightening me out. See, e.g., Bernstein 2008:70–76; Hourani 1995:51–87ff.

  38 Eratosthenes: Crease 2003:chap. 1 (“around the globe,” 3). Eratosthenes’s actual figure was probably closer to 29,000 miles, which most science historians view as remarkably accurate.

  39 Colón’s geography: Wey Gómez 2008:65–99, 143–58; Varela and Gil eds. 1992:90–91 (quadrant); Nunn 1924:chap. 1. Colón also relied on the cosmographer Pierre d’Ailly, who argued that East Asia had to be near West Africa (Nunn 1935). D’Ailly took his ideas from Roger Bacon (1962:311), who in turn based his on a mistaken reading of Aristotle. (Aristotle in fact wrote [1924:II.14], “[M]athematicians who try to calculate the size of the earth’s circumference arrive at the figure 400,000 stades”—about 45,500 miles, twice its actual size.) Colón knew nothing of such scholarly niceties, and there is no evidence that he would have cared. Old Spanish nautical miles are close enough to current terrestrial miles that I ignore the difference.

  40 “in the Apocalypse”: Colón, C. 1500. Letter to Dona Juana de la Torre. In Varela and Gil eds. 1992:430–37, at 430.

  41 Converting emperor of China: Colón, C. 1503. Relation of the Fourth Voyage, 7 Jul. In Varela and Gil eds. 1992:485–503, at 498.

  42 Inuits in Ireland (footnote): Varela and Gil eds. 1992:89 (marginalia). The story is brushed aside by Morison (1983:25), mentioned without comment by Phillips and Phillips (1992:105), and dismissed by Quinn (1992:282–85). By contrast, Jack Forbes (2007:9) calls the marginalia “solid, indisputable evidence that Columbus and others had seen Native Americans at Galway.” My thanks to Scott Sessions for helping me translate Colón’s note.

  43 History of lighthouse project: González 2007; Roorda 1998:114–18, 283–85; Farah 1992; French 1992a, b (protests); Wilentz 1990; Gleave 1952.

  44 Homogenocene: Samways 1999. It is more often called the Anthropocene.

  45 Legazpi and Urdaneta before expedition: Rubio Mañé 1970, 1964; Mitchell 1964 (Urdaneta selects Legazpi, 105); De Borja 2005:chap. 3. Enriquez, M. 1561. Letter to Philip II, 9 Feb. In B&R 3:83–84 (Urdaneta and Legazpi as relatives); idem 1573. Letter to Felipe II, 5 Dec. In B&R 3:209–22, at 216–17 (Legazpi sells property). A popular account is Sanz y Díaz 1967:3–17.

  46 King’s hopes for mission: Royal Audiencia of New Spain. Instructions to Legazpi, 1 Sep. 1564. In B&R 2:89–100.

  47 “and Legazpi”: García-Abásolo 2004:231. Legazpi, García-Abásolo says, “always thought that his final destination would be to come to China.… Probably, if he had lived a few more
years, Legazpi would have sponsored a diplomatic mission to China” (235). See also, Cortés 2001:266–77 passim, 444–47 (hoping to explore Pacific) and the many abortive China missions chronicled in Ollé Rodríguez 2002.

  48 Legazpi’s first years in the Philippines: Legarda 1999:16–31; Guerrero 1966:15–18; Rubio Mañé 1970, 1964. See also, Sanz y Díaz 1967:35–52.

  49 Beeswax (footnote): Cervancia 2003; Ruttner 1988:284 (bee ranges); Cowan 1908:73, 89, 105 (scale insect).

  50 Maujao trading place: Author’s visit, interviews with Chiquita Cabacay-Jano and Rudmar T. Cabacay (Bulalacao development office); Horsley 1950:74–75 (parasols, drums); Legazpi, M. L. d. Letter to Philip II, 23 Jul. 1567. In B&R 2:233–43, at 238. See also, Laufer 1908:251–52; Li 2001:76–79.

  51 Encounter at Maujao: Legarda 1999:23–24; Zuñiga 1814:vol. 1, 110–11; Laveçarism G. d. 1575? “Part of a Letter to the Viceroy.” In B&R 3:291–94, at 291–92; Anon. (Martín de Goiti?). 1570. Relation of the Voyage to Luzon. In B&R 3:73–104, at 73–77 (all quotes). The Spaniards went on to Manila, where they protected some Chinese junks in a trade dispute and also sacked the town (ibid.:94–96, 101–04; Anon. 1571. Relation of the Conquest of the Island of Luzon. In B&R 3:141–72, at 148–57). The distances involved are in “leagues,” which I take as the legua común of 3.46 miles (Chardon 1980). See also, Sanz y Díaz 1967:53–59.

  52 Chinese visit Manila: Pacheco Maldonado, J. 1572. Carta en Relación de Juan de Maldo-nado Tocante al Viaje y Poblacion de la Isla de Luzón en Filipinas, 6 May. Quoted in Ollé Rodríguez 2006:32, 1998:227–30; Riquel et al. 1573:235; Zuñiga 1814:vol. 1, 125–26.

  53 Initial exchange in Manila: Lavezaris, G. d. 1573. Affairs in the Philippines, after the Death of Legazpi, 29 Jun. In B&R 3:179–89, at 181–84; Riquel H. et al. 1573. News from the Western Islands. ibid.: 230–49, at 243–49 (“delighted,” 245); see also the letter from the viceroy of New Spain quoted on ibid.: 226, note 75.

  54 New globalized era, impact of silver trade and slavery: See Chaps. 3 and 4.

  55 China’s superiority: Pomeranz 2000:31–107; Frank 1998: Chap. 4.

  56 Spanish inability to export European goods to China: Enriquez, M. 1573. Letter to Philip II, 5 Dec. In B&R 3:209–19, at 212 (“not already possess”), 214. The Chinese were equally blunt: “China trades in Luzon solely for the purpose of obtaining feringhee [foreign] silver coins,” wrote Provincial Governor Xu Xueju. The foreigners had nothing else China needed (Xu, X. Initial Report on Red-Haired Foreigners. In Chen et al. eds. 1962:4726–27). See also Marks 2007:60–62.

  57 “revolutionary events”: Song 2007:2. See Chap. 5.

  58 “Asian train”: Frank 1998:277.

  59 History of Legazpi-Urdaneta monument: De Borja 2005:17, 128.

  60 World money supply triples: Garner 2006, using updated data from TePaske and Klein; Morineau 1985:571–99. By 1650 the Americas had produced about thirty thousand tons of silver.

  61 Potosí geology: Bartos 2000; Waltham 2005.

  62 Potosí as biggest American city: See Chap. 3.

  63 Silver processing, transportation, fleet: Craig and Richards 2003:1–12 (sixty-five pounds, table 1–1); Goodman 2002:3–5; Cobb 1949:33–36; Acarete du Biscay 1698:54–57.

  64 Deserted Andean fields: Studies of the abandonment of highland agriculture are few, but Denevan sums the evidence and concludes that it was “primarily related to sixteenth-century population decline” (2001:201–10, quote at 210).

  65 1600 volcano: De Silva and Zielinski 1997.

  66 Proportion of silver shipped to China: The two sides of the debate are encapsulated in Garner 2006 and Flynn and Giráldez 2001. See Chap. 4.

  67 Spanish and European financial woes: Standard accounts include Kamen 2005, Elliott 2002, Lynch 1991 (price revolution, 174–84), Parker 1979 (esp. “War and Economic Change: The Economic Costs of the Dutch Revolt,” 178–203), and Hamilton 1934. Spain’s woes are succinctly summarized in Flynn 1982:esp. 142–43. A detailed study of Spain’s flight into silver-hued bankruptcy is Carande 1990, esp. vol. 3. Silver production decline: Garner 2007:figs. 6, 8 (using updated, unpub. figures from John TePaske); Garner 1988:fig. 2; Brading and Cross 1972:fig. 2. The idea of a “general crisis” apparently originated with Roland Mousnier in 1954.

  68 “Spain’s wars”: Flynn (pers. comm.) based his summary on Parker 1979b, c.

  69 Little Ice Age in Europe: Parker 2008:1065, 1073 (Ireland); Fagan 2002 (frozen sea, 137); Reiter 2000 (Greenland, 2); Lamb 1995:chap. 12; Ladurie 1971 (wine, 52–56; bishop, 180–81).

  70 Sunspots, volcanos, and Little Ice Age: Eddy 1976 (Maunder Minimum); Briffa et al. 1998 (volcano impact); Jansen et al. 2007:476–78 (skepticism on sunspots, volcanos); Hegerl et al. 2007:681–83 (sunspots and volcanos). The 1641 eruption was heard throughout the Philippines—a “noise in the air of musketry, artillery, and war drums” (Anon. 1642. News from Filipinas, 1640–42. In B&R 35:114–24, at 115).

  71 Ruddiman’s hypotheses: Ruddiman 2003, 2005, 2007. His additional argument that deforestation and burning affected climate as much as eight thousand years ago has been the subject of attacks (e.g., Olofsson and Hickler 2008) and defenses (e.g., Müller and Pross 2007). Accepted by many is the connection between American pandemics and CO2 decline (Dull et al. 2010; Nevle and Bird 2008; Faust et al. 2006).

  72 Fire maintains prairies: Anderson 1990; Stewart 2002:113–217; Clouser 1978. For the role of fire in worldwide grasslands, see Bond et al. 2005.

  73 Indian fire and eastern forest: Johnson 2005:85 (“Parkes in England”); Stewart 2002:70–113; Williams 1989:chap. 2, esp. 43–48; Cronon 1983:48–52; Day 1953.

  74 Thirty-one sites: Nevle and Bird 2008.

  75 Change in landscape after epidemics: Dull et al. 2010 (“carbon budget,” 765); Denevan 2007, 1992:377–79; Wood 1977:38–39 (“travel through”).

  76 Little Ice Age in North America: Parker 2008:1067; Pederson et al. 2005 (forest composition); Anderson 2004:100 (livestock); Kupperman 1982.

  77 Climate, mosquito, disease, slavery: See Chap. 4. A. quadrimaculatus: Reinert et al. 1997; Freeborn 1923. Paradoxically, drought also favors the mosquito, because it kills off aquatic predators on its larvae (Chase and Knight 2003); the species thrives on climatic disturbance.

  78 Introduction of horses: Hämäläinen 2008 passim; Calloway 2003:chap. 6; Holder 1974.

  79 Mexico City and Acapulco: Chap. 8, Schurz 1939:371–84; Gemelli Careri 1699–1700:vol. 6, 5–16.

  80 1637–41 volcanos, decline in silver: Garner 2007:esp. figs. 1–3 (silver); Atwell 2005 (silver); Atwell 2001:32, 36, 62–70 (volcanos).

  81 Famine and unrest in China: Parker 2008:1058–60, 1063–65. See Chap. 5.

  82 Greatest cities in 1500: Chandler 1987:478–79; see also, Eggiman 1999, De Vries 1984. The sole exception to the rough thirty-degree rule is Beijing, the northern capital of a country whose population was concentrated to the south. Note: I adjust Chandler’s list for sub-Saharan African and indigenous American cities, which he underestimates consistently. Explanations follow. Tenochtitlan: Typical estimates for the whole conurbation range from 1 to 1.5 million, with Tenochtitlan assigned, somewhat arbitrarily, a fifth to a quarter of the total (see, e.g., Smith 2002:57–59; Sanders 1992). Qosqo: Population numbers are even more uncertain, but recent estimates are between 100,000 and 200,000, based on Spanish colonial accounts (typically higher numbers) and archaeological surveys (typically somewhat lower). See, e.g., D’Altroy 2002:114 (100–150,000); Cook 1981:217–19 (150–200,000); Agurto Calvo 1980:122–28 (125,000). Gao: Data are poor, but a late-sixteenth-century census of compound houses in the central city came up with a population of forty to eighty thousand; presumably as many or more surrounded the central zone. “Such a size and population may sound exaggerated.… But we must remember that Gao was the epicenter of an empire that extended over 1,400,000 sq. km (500,000 square miles)” (Hunwick 1999:xlix). The nineteenth-century traveler Henry Barth, who saw the ruins in relatively undisturbed condition, estimated th
at Gao “had a circumference of about six miles” (Barth 1857–59:vol. 3, 482). Paris: Bairoch, Bateau, and Chévre estimate it at 225,000 in 1500 (cited in DeLong and Shliefer 1993:678). Chandler (1987:159) estimates Paris in 1500 at 185,000 by multiplying a 1467 estimate of the number of men who could bear arms (28–30,000) by 6 to obtain 174,000, which rises for unexplained reasons (migration?) to 185,000 in 1500. The factor of 6 seems high—indeed, Chandler uses 5 for Paris on a similar estimate a century before.

  83 Change in cities: Acemoglu et al. 2002.

  CHAPTER 2 / The Tobacco Coast

  1 Introduced earthworms: Author’s interviews, Hale, Reynolds, Bohlen; Frelich et al. 2006; Hendrix and Bohlen 2002:esp. 805–06, table 4; Reynolds 1994; Lee 1985:156–59.

  2 Rolfe: Price 2005:154–58; Townsend 2004:88–96; Haile ed. 1998:54–56; Robert 1949:6–9. Occasionally St. John’s, Newfoundland, is cited as the first long-lasting English colony, but most historians believe it had no permanent population before 1610.

  3 “Drinking” tobacco: Ernst 1889:141–42; Apperson 2006:6.

  4 Types of tobacco: Horn 2005:233; Robert 1949:7–8; Arents 1939:125; Strachey 1625:680 (“biting taste”). N. rustica was often so strong as to be hallucinogenic, which some colonists clearly enjoyed. Smoking, Thomas Hariot said, led to “manie rare and wonderful experiments” (Hariot 1588:n.p.[17]).

  5 Rolfe and tobacco: Arents 1939:125. See also, Hamor 1615:820, 828 (“sweet, and strong”); Velasco, A. d. 1611. Letter to King of Spain, 26 May. In Brown 1890:vol. 1, 473.

  6 English tobacco mania: Laufer 1924b:3–48; “C. T.” 1615:5 (silver); Rich 1614:25–26 (seven thousand tobacco houses).