1493-11-28
1493-11-28: (Columbus Returns to Find La Navidad Burned and All 39 Men Dead, the Taíno Response to European Aggression Making Clear That Colonization Would N…
Haitian
1493-11-28: (Columbus Returns to Find La Navidad Burned and All 39 Men Dead, the Taíno Response to European Aggression Making Clear That Colonization Would Not Go Unchallenged): On November 28, 1493, Columbus returned from Europe to discover that the fort at La Navidad had been burned to the ground and all 39 men he had left behind were dead. The destruction was almost certainly a response to the garrison’s behavior toward the Taíno, and it was the first clear signal that European colonization of Hispaniola would meet resistance. Columbus chose to interpret the event as evidence of indigenous savagery rather than as a consequence of his own men’s conduct.