“Riches don’t make a man rich, they only make him busier.”

“Paradise and Hell can both be earthly – we carry them with us wherever we go.”

No one can be motivated by both love and greed, as the work of one will invariably sabotage the other.  Such was the discovery of Christopher Columbus after trying to establish a colony among the people he found in the jungles of the new world.  The pursuit of riches caused Europeans to enslave the natives, which was in direct conflict with his affection for these once peaceful and compliant people.

The film opens with father and son on a beach, watching a ship sail over the edge of the world and considering the spherical quality of an orange.  Columbus inspires his son to dare to dream beyond what others say is possible. “Nothing that results from human progress is achieved with unanimous consent. And those who are enlightened before the others are condemned to pursue that light in spite of others.”  He shows the same spunk when taking audience with one of Queen Isabella’s advisors, and the queen takes notice.  She agrees to send him to the east by a western route, and thus begins his journey.

The first time they land on the islands, they are met with friendly and curious people, welcomed to live among the natives as each group learns about the other.  In triumph,Columbusreturns toSpainand presents his queen with samples of the treasures available in the new world.  When they return to the islands, they bring with them a new group of adventurers with old ideals – people determined to rule newly built communities and get rich in the process.  Natives, once in a cooperative relationship with the first group of new arrivals, now found themselves enslaved by brutal taskmasters, their lands stripped and raided for the promise of fortunes.  Once accustomed to the violence of honest war between tribes, the natives now learned about the deception and violence of people who alleged themselves to be proper examples of polite civilization.  The violence of war returns.

Columbus tries to govern this territory fairly, in spite of the escalating violence and political maneuvering around him.  A hurricane demonstrates that the natives know more about this territory than the Europeans, and the fledgling town suddenly lies in ruins, awash with rumors and rebellion.  Out maneuvered, he returns toSpainin disgrace, another governor taking over.  The reputation and glory that perhaps should have been his went to a competitor, but in the end someone at least gave a nod to his willingness to dare as big as his dreams.

“The interesting thing about power is that what can be given so effortlessly can as easily be taken away”