Christopher Columbus was a narcissist.
He believed he was personally chosen by God for a mission that no one else could achieve. After 1493, he signed his name "xpo ferens"—"the Christbearer." His stated goal was to accumulate enough wealth to recapture Jerusalem. His arrogance led to his downfall, that of millions of Native Americans—and eventually fostered his resurrection as the most enduring icon of the Americas.
In 1496, Columbus was the governor of a colony based at Santo Domingo, in what is now the modern Dominican Republic—a job he hated. He could not convince the other "colonists," especially those with noble titles, to follow his leadership.
They were not colonists in the traditional sense of the word. They had gone to the Indies to get rich quick. Because Columbus was unable to temper their lust, the Crown viewed him as an incompetent administrator. The colony was largely a social and economic failure. The wealth that Columbus promised the Spanish monarchs failed to materialize, and he made continuous requests for additional financial support, which the monarchs reluctantly provided.
[For more on this story by WILLIAM FRANCIS KEEGAN, go to https://psmag.com/social-justi...christopher-columbus]
Photo: Christopher Columbus landing in America with the Piuzon Brothers bearing flags and crosses, 1492. (Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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