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Introduction to Columbus' letter, 1694
Christopher Columbus' daring needs no introduction,
but one is often pleasantly surprised at the fine quality of mind of this
self-taught, red-haired, handsome,
talented, and ambitious man. Within two years alter
the discovery of America, before he fell under the
cloud of the king's disfavor, Columbus advocated the
establishment of a Spanish colony in the New World,
closely regulated and directed by the Crown. That he
should sense the direction of future events testifies
to his perception. Spain acted upon Columbus' advice
and quickly planted a colony in Hispaniola (Haiti)
that became the stepping stone for further Spanish
incursions into the Americas. In a larger sense, the
Spanish settlement at Hispaniola served as the fountainhead of a mainstream in
the evolution of the New
World, the European colonization of the Western
Hemisphere.
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