The Dark Side of Discovery

Columbus was not only wrong about geography. As governor of Hispaniola, he enslaved the indigenous Taino people and imposed gold quotas so harsh that those who fell short were mutilated. Under Spanish rule, disease, forced labor, and violence wiped out more than 90 percent of the Taino population within a few generations — one of the steepest collapses in recorded history.

Even by the standards of his own time, Columbus was seen as extreme. Reports of his cruelty reached the Spanish crown, and in 1500 Queen Isabella sent an investigator to Hispaniola. The result: Columbus was stripped of his title as governor and shipped back to Spain in chains.