Christopher Columbus is depicted landing in the West Indies, on an island that the Indigenous people called Guanahani, which he named San Salvador, on October 12, 1492. He raises the royal banner, claiming the land for his Spanish patrons, and stands bareheaded, with his hat at his feet, in honor of the sacredness of the event. The captains of the Niña and Pinta follow, carrying the banner of Ferdinand and Isabella. The crew displays a range of emotions, some searching for gold in the sand. Indigenous people watch from behind a tree. John Vanderlyn (1775-1852) had studied with Gilbert Stuart and was the first American painter to be trained in Paris, where he worked on this canvas for ten years with the help of assistants.WIKIPEDIA
Roh Jeong-tae
The author is a writer and senior fellow at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
At approximately 2 a.m. local time on Oct. 12, 1492, Rodrigo de Triana, a lookout aboard the Pinta, shouted excitedly, "Land! Land!"
Seventy days had passed since Christopher Columbus departed the Spanish port of Palos de la Frontera with three ships: the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa María. His expedition had reached the Americas.
At daybreak, Columbus went ashore by boat. Stepping onto the beach, he thanked God, planted the royal banner of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I of Spain and formally proclaimed the island Spanish territory before a royal official serving as witness.
But this was hardly an uninhabited "New World."
Indigenous inhabitants had gathered to watch the approaching boats and surrounded Columbus and his companions. They appeared peaceful and curious. Seeking their goodwill, Columbus distributed red caps, glass beads and other trinkets.
Then, before their eyes, he claimed their homeland for Spain. Disregarding its Indigenous name, Guanahani, he renamed the island San Salvador, meaning "Holy Savior," in gratitude for what he believed was divine deliverance.
Contrary to popular belief, educated Europeans already knew the Earth was round. Columbus, however, had grossly underestimated its circumference. That miscalculation encouraged him to undertake his hazardous westward voyage.
Nor was Columbus the first European to reach the Americas. Around the year 1000, Viking explorer Leif Erikson established a settlement on Newfoundland, in what is now northeastern Canada.
Six years after Columbus's landing, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reached India by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope in 1498, demonstrating that Columbus had not reached India by his westward route.
Columbus refused to accept that conclusion. He remained convinced that the lands he had encountered belonged to the wealthy and prosperous Indies he had sought.
Appointed governor of the newly claimed territories, Columbus increasingly behaved as a ruthless conqueror and plunderer beginning with his second expedition. His later years ended in relative isolation and financial difficulties.
His voyages nevertheless transformed world history. They initiated sustained contact between continents, connecting societies that had previously developed largely apart and laying the foundations for an increasingly interconnected world.
Yet the consequences were profoundly unequal. What Europeans celebrated as discovery and exploration marked, for Indigenous peoples, the beginning of conquest, dispossession and exploitation.
The encounter changed not only maps and trade routes but also the lives of countless people whose lands were claimed without their consent. That fundamental contrast continues to shape historical judgments of Columbus.
콜럼버스의 아메리카 대륙 상륙
노정태 작가·경제사회연구원 전문위원
1492년 10월 12일, 현지시각으로 약 새벽 2시, 핀타호의 전망병이었던 로드리고 데 트리아나가 환호성을 질렀다. “땅이다! 땅이다!” 스페인의 팔로스 데 라 프론테라 항구에서 산타마리아호·핀타호·니냐호 3척을 이끌고 출항한 지 70일 만의 일이었다. 크리스토퍼 콜럼버스(사진) 함대가 신대륙에 도달한 것이다. 날이 밝자마자 콜럼버스는 보트를 이용해 상륙했다. 가장 먼저 모래사장 위로 뛰어내린 그는 신에게 감사를 올리고 스페인 국왕, 즉 페르난도 2세와 이사벨 1세의 깃발을 땅에 꽂은 후, 왕실 감사관의 증언 하에 “이 섬을 스페인 왕국의 영토로 영유한다”고 공식 선포했다.
그곳은 ‘아무도 없는 신대륙’이 아니었다. 보트가 다가올 때부터 구경하러 온 원주민들이 콜럼버스 일행을 둘러싸고 있었다. 원주민은 온순하고 호기심이 많았다. 콜럼버스는 일단 환심을 사기 위해 빨간 모자와 유리구슬 같은 장신구를 나누어 주었다. 그들이 뻔히 보는 앞에서 원주민의 땅을 스페인의 영토로 선포하고, ‘과나하니’라는 원주민 지명도 무시한 채, 신이 자신들을 구해줬다며 ‘산살바도르’라는 이름을 붙였던 것이다.
당시 사람들도 지구가 둥글다는 것을 알고 있었다. 다만 콜럼버스는 지구의 크기를 턱없이 작다고 생각해서 무모한 항해에 나섰고 성공했다. 콜럼버스는 아메리카 대륙에 처음 도착한 유럽인이 아니었다. 바이킹 탐험가 레이프 에이릭손이 1000년경 오늘날의 캐나다 동북부 뉴펀들랜드섬에 정착지를 꾸렸던 것이다. 포르투갈의 탐험가 바스쿠 다 가마가 6년 후인 1498년 희망봉을 돌아 인도에 도착하면서 콜럼버스가 인도에 도착한 게 아니라는 것 또한 증명되었다.
콜럼버스는 동의하지 못했다. 자신이 발견한 땅이 황금과 풍요가 넘치는 그곳, 인도라고 굳게 믿었다. 신대륙의 총독으로 임명받은 그는 2차 원정부터 잔인하고 포악한 약탈자 행세를 하다가 쓸쓸하고 가난한 최후를 맞이했다. 이렇게 세계는 하나가 되었고 오늘날에 이르고 있다. 누군가에게는 발견과 개척이지만 다른 이들에게는 정복과 수탈이 시작된 것이다. 콜럼버스를 어떻게 바라보아야 할지, 그를 둘러싼 논쟁이 끝나지 않는 이유다.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
