EUROPEAN ARRIVAL IN THE NEW WORLD

Now, Columbus, ‘tis true, did a fine job for Spain,

Claiming for his sponsors some new terrain.

But, alas, he died without grasping the fact:

The beaches he trod… were not Asian tract!

So another young sailor would take the credit

For sighting a continent across the Atlantic.

-- Who saw that these lands were much larger than most?

Amerigo Vespucci, whose name they now boast.

But of those sandy isles where Chris made camp,

They lay in tropical climes, warm, sunny and damp.

And in the quest for empire, he sprung open a gate

For adventurous souls who would not hesitate.

Spain was the first and she took the lead right away,

Sending ship after ship in this country’s hey-day.

And as King and as Queen increased their new reign,

The seas in the west became The High Spanish Main.

But each meeting of worlds has its bad and its good

-- As people learn slowly how to do as they should.

And, sadly, the newcomers were none too kind

To the indigenous peoples they happened to find.

The new lands that they saw they did forcibly seize,

Without so much as a “thank you” or “please”.

And the natives soon slaved on farms and in mines,

Forced in their worship to seek Christ divine.

While their once vibrant cultures soon fell to their knees

By the import from Europe of deadly disease.

Yes, chicken pox, measles, and even the flu

Were for the Indians troubles fearsome and new.

Indeed, they’d never been sick in these ways before

And medicines back then were neither sound nor sure.

And, alas, millions did perish by these illnesses dire

-- A toll even greater than the hostile gun fire.