Second voyage of Columbus

The second voyage of Christopher Columbus (departed from the Port of Cádiz, September 25, 1493 – returned to Cádiz, June 11, 1496) was a transoceanic expedition to the American continent, the land found by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage. During this voyage the Spanish colonization of the island of Hispaniola, which today comprises the Dominican Republic and Haiti, began; the Taíno natives of the island were pacified; and, in addition, various islands were discovered, among them Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

Background

Illustration from one of the letters announcing the discovery of the Indies of 1493.

In 1493 the first expedition captained by Christopher Columbus returned to the Iberian Peninsula, announcing the discovery of new islands toward the Indies. Columbus was received by his sponsors, the monarchs of Castile and Aragon, who immediately ordered him to undertake a new voyage to continue exploring the territory and to establish a colony in the Indies. The Catholic Monarchs financed the Admiral's new voyage, interested in expanding the influence of the Crown beyond the seas, obtaining new trade routes outside the influence of Portugal, and acquiring new sources of income, such as spices and gold. On his first colonization voyage, Columbus found neither spices nor anything that could be obtained from voyages to India, but he still believed that he had reached Asia by a route never used before.

What Columbus did find was gold, since on the island of Hispaniola the cacique Guacanagari had given him a chest of gold in exchange for protecting them from the cannibal Indians and from the native leader Caonabo. Columbus knew there was gold on those islands, not only because of the chest, but because of the small ornaments he had seen on many natives during the voyage. These natives had led him from island to island, assuring him that there were gold deposits really close by.

Apart from the sources of gold he might obtain, Columbus held all manner of entitlements over the New World, agreed upon before the voyage in the Capitulations of Santa Fe. On the basis of this text, Columbus was ruler of all the territories he discovered, with the title of Viceroy and Admiral of the Ocean Sea, and was entitled to receive at least one tenth of the wealth from the enterprises he undertook.

But Columbus did not intend to return only for the gold, since he had already made his plans for conquest and colonization. Before leaving the Indies on his first voyage, he left a wooden fort on the island of Hispaniola with 40 men. This camp was to be the base of a new colony in the New World and was also to serve the function of defending the cacique Guacanagari from Caonabo's cannibals. This fort was called Navidad.

Pope Alexander VI, a former ally of Isabella and Ferdinand in their struggle for the Castilian throne, had granted the Alexandrine Bulls between May 3 and September 26, 1493 (prior to the Treaty of Tordesillas of June 7, 1494), which gave Castile control of all the newly conquered territories for their colonization and evangelization, shielding them from the aspirations of Portugal.

Preparations

For his next voyage, Columbus had many more and better resources than on the previous one. This was no longer simply an expedition voyage, but one of conquest and colonization of the newly discovered lands. Columbus would be in command of a fleet of 17 ships: 5 naos and 12 caravels, with a crew of 1,500, 1,700 or 2,000 men. Among those who financed the expedition was Pedro Portocarrero, who lent his cousin King Ferdinand the Catholic two million maravedís to finance the expenses of the voyage.

Among the crew was Friar Bernardo Boyl, a renowned cleric of the Court, accompanied by a group of Franciscan friars. Bernardo Boyl had permission from Pope Alexander VI (a native of Valencia, Spain) to erect churches, preach and impose penances. Also aboard was the military commander of the expedition, Pedro de Margarit. Others in the crew were Diego Columbus (brother of Christopher Columbus), the Niño brothers, Pedro de Las Casas (father of Friar Bartolomé de Las Casas), Alonso de Ojeda (who would become a famous conquistador), Ramón Pané (who would become the first ethnographer of America), Juan Ponce de León (who would ultimately be another conquistador), Miguel de Cúneo, Diego Alvar Chanca, the cartographer Juan de la Cosa and Antonio de Torres.

Once Columbus set sail with this crew, his other brother, Bartholomew Columbus, arrived from France, and the monarchs of Spain placed 4 caravels at his service, with which he set sail to meet Christopher Columbus in the new lands.

Course of the voyage

Route of the Second Voyage of Columbus.

Columbus sends a boat ashore to the south of Hispaniola, in the province of Higüey, for water in August 1494.

Armor of Christopher Columbus, according to an engraving from the book América by Rodolfo Cronau, published in the 19th century.

On September 25, 1493, Columbus set sail from Cádiz. The fleet reached Gran Canaria on October 2 and, from there, the island of Gomera. Because of calm seas, it took them three days to reach San Sebastián de La Gomera, where they were received by the governor, Doña Beatriz de Bobadilla, with whom, according to the account of this voyage written by Miguel de Cúneo, the Admiral had once had a love affair. The Admiral, with his entire fleet, spent two days on the island. They departed from the Canaries on October 13.

On November 3 he reached the shores of the Caribbean Sea, where he sailed discovering several islands of the Lesser Antilles archipelago. He named the first island he discovered on this voyage la Deseada. They sailed around the island of Dominica and solemnly took possession on land of the island he named Marigalante. They then anchored next to the island he named Guadeloupe. He then reached Montserrat, Antigua and San Cristóbal. Afterward he crossed the Archipelago of the Eleven Thousand Virgins.

On the coast of one island he found 12 naked women and two boys, all of the Arawak tribe, who had been expelled from the island they called Borinquen and wanted Columbus to protect them from the Carib Indians, so they spoke very highly to him of the riches that would be found there and of the kindness of its inhabitants. On November 19, 1493, when the ships entered Boquerón Bay on that island, the Indians jumped into the water and swam toward the shore. Columbus christened that island San Juan Bautista, although 18 years later Ponce de León would christen the island's main port Puerto Rico, and that name would come to designate the whole island. During a landing on the nearby island of Santa Cruz, the expedition fought a hard battle against Carib Indians, from which they emerged victorious despite the fierceness of the Indians.

On November 22, 1493, Columbus returned to Hispaniola and sent several men to report to him on the state of Fort Navidad. They reported that they had found several dead Christians, and on a new expedition they confirmed that the fort had been burned and the 39 people had been executed by the Indians. Guacanagari's Indians explained to the Spaniards, who in turn explained to Columbus, that it had been the work of Caonabo. Columbus decided to found a settlement farther east, also on the north of the island, and founded the town of La Isabela, named in honor of Isabella I, on January 6, 1494, appointing Antonio de Torres as mayor. That day the priest of the Minim order Bernardo Boyl celebrated the first Mass in America.

In mid-February Columbus sent Torres with a fleet of 12 ships to Spain with a letter for the Catholic Monarchs asking that the wages of many sailors who had not received them be paid and that food be sent to them. After this, Francisco Roldán would be appointed Chief Mayor of La Isabela.

After attending to his affairs in La Isabela, Columbus decided to venture into the interior of the Island of Hispaniola on March 12, ordering there the construction of the Fortress of Santo Tomás by Pedro de Margarit on March 17. In April, Columbus decided to resume his exploration work by sea and discovered Jamaica and sailed along the southern coast of Cuba. The supply problems grew more complicated, and a group of men seized some ships to return to Spain. Others devoted themselves to plundering the Indians' property and abusing the women.

Caonabo attacked the Fortress of Santo Tomás and Alonso de Ojeda, according to the account of Bartolomé de Las Casas, managed to capture him with only 15 men. He was then sent to La Isabela to meet with Columbus, who ordered him sent to Spain to parley with the monarchs, regarding him as an important native leader on the island, but on the way the ship sank and Caonabo died. The Indians of four of the five cacicazgos of the island decided to attack La Isabela to rescue Caonabo and expel the Spaniards. The cacique of Marién, Guacanagari, remained at Columbus's side and warned him of the attack, whereupon Columbus preferred to fight the battle outside. The Battle of Vega Real took place some 100 kilometers southeast of La Isabela on March 27, 1495, and ended in a Spanish victory, which succeeded in pacifying the island.

From September 14 to 15, 1494, while Columbus was on the Island of Hispaniola, he observed a lunar eclipse, comparing its start and end times with those recorded in the observations at Cádiz and São Vicente (Portugal); from these calculations he definitively deduced the sphericity of the Earth, already described by the classical scientist Ptolemy.

At the end of 1494 Antonio de Torres returned to La Isabela with a fleet of four caravels carrying reinforcements. The caravels returned to Spain on February 24, 1495, with a cargo of 400 Indian slaves. In October 1495 the monarchs sent a fleet of four caravels aboard which came Juan Aguado to investigate Columbus's abilities as a ruler in order to report to the monarchs.

On March 10, 1496, Columbus set out on his return to Spain in a fleet of two vessels, the Niña and the India, the latter being the first European ship built in America. They returned to Cádiz on June 11.

Columbus's return

On June 12, 1496, the monarchs dated a letter asking Columbus, upon arriving in Spain, to proceed to the Court, which was then in Burgos.

While Columbus was absent from Hispaniola, on September 21, 1496, Friar Ramón Pané baptized the first Indian in the American territories.

In June 1497, the Catholic Monarchs confirmed Columbus's privileges and titles and issued him instructions for the third voyage.

On February 22, 1498, Columbus established an entailed estate (mayorazgo) in favor of his son Diego Columbus (not to be confused with his brother, also named Diego Columbus), who was the son of his wife, Felipa Moniz. Afterward, he ordered the creation of a fund at the Banco di San Giorgio in Genoa for the benefit of his relatives and countrymen, without mentioning his lover Beatriz Enríquez de Arana.

See also

• Category:Participants in the second voyage of Columbus
• First voyage of Columbus
• Third voyage of Columbus
• Fourth voyage of Columbus

Bibliography

• Charles Verlinden, Florentino Pérez-Embid (2006). "Cristóbal Colón y el descubrimiento de América" (in español). Ediciones Rialp S.A.
• Arranz Márquez, Luis (2006). Cristóbal Colón: Misterio y grandeza. Editorial Marcial Pons Historia. Madrid. ISBN 84-96467-23-6