The First Contact Trivia Quiz

Answer: San Salvador

The first island that Columbus discovered was named in "commemoration of His Divine Majesty, who has wonderfully granted all this". Columbus' men, having lost sight of land for over a month, were restless and on the brink of mutiny. Finally they began to see clues, such as migratory birds and plants, that land was nearby.

The first person to sight land was promised a silk doublet and 10,000 maravedis. Rodrigo de Triana claimed the prize.

Answer: They fled at once.

Columbus said the natives were "well-made" but "hopelessly timid". They did not possess metal weapons; they had sticks of cane that were sharpened at the end. However, he said they seemed afraid to use them. On Hispaniola large numbers of natives came out, but fled as soon as they saw his men, even though he did not allow his men to be aggressive or injure any of them.

Answer: Cloth

As the native people began to lose their fear, they accepted gifts that Columbus offered. The letter says that he "gave them some of everything he had - cloth and many other things - without receiving anything in return..." He said they were very easy to please, to the point that he had to tell his men they could not give worthless gifts, such as broken bowls, pieces of glass and old straps. Nevertheless, one of his men was given gold of the weight of two and a half castellanos for a leather strap.

Answer: True

The natives that Columbus found had no religion, except he said they did believe all power and goodness came from heaven. Eventually the natives lost all fear of Columbus and his men, and they were welcomed into the towns, and given food and drink with "marvelous kindness". Columbus believed they would be easily converted to Christianity if Ferdinand and Isabella chose to do so.

Answer: All of the native people could understand each other.

He said that on the islands, there wasn't much difference in the appearance of the people, or in their habits or language. The people had canoes and appeared to use them to have trade and contact with each other. He did speak of a group he heard about that lived on an island larger than Hispaniola that had no hair, but countless gold.

Answer: False

Columbus continued to be baffled by the fact that he did not find a king, khan, or a large city. The people lived in small communities; the only reference to a type of government among the natives is the fact that in all the islands their chief or king is allowed to have as many as twenty wives, while the other men "seem to be satisfied with one wife".

Answer: Navidad

Columbus choose Hispaniola as the site of his settlement because it seemed to be the most accessible for the gold mines and commerce. He ordered that fortifications be started, and, in addition to the men, left arms, artillery, and provisions that would last more than a year.

He believed the men would be safe, especially if they behaved properly. When he returned a year later, rather than seeing a thriving settlement, he found several of his men's corpses on the beach and the city destroyed. The natives told him that his men had mistreated them, and they had been killed in retaliation.

Answer: A tribe of cannibals.

At the second island, which Columbus named Santa Maria de Concepcion, he encountered people who all the islanders considered to be the most ferocious. They had many canoes, and used them to overrun the other islands, stealing all they could. He said they looked the same as the others (except they grew their hair long like women) and had the same type of weapons.

Answer: Gold

Columbus believed that he could provide "as much as as they desire, if they would give him a little assistance, spices, cotton..." He believed he had found rhubarb and cinnamon, and that the men he left behind would find other valuable commodities.

Answer: They are most ingenious men.

He also described them as being "far from ignorant". He admired their navigational skills, even though they never "before saw people wearing clothes, nor vessels like ours".