Columbus, 1492–1493: measured against Guinea from the first day
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upOur lens: how we read it
Year: 1492 · Places: Africa
The case
Our case: this is the line the other side quotes against us. On his first day, Columbus wrote the people were the color of the Canary Islanders, neither black nor white, and later that they were not black as in Guinea. We show it, because it proves the color scale was theirs from the start, measured against Guinea.
What this case proves for us
Point 7: Same games, new names. From the first day, the people of this land were put on a color scale measured against Guinea.
Background
Columbus's log survives only in Las Casas's abstract. His letter announcing the voyage is dated February 15, 1493.
Our evidence
Exhibit A · Record: First day"ellos son de la color de los canarios, ni negros ni blancos": they are the color of the Canary Islanders, neither black nor white.
Exhibit B · Record: The letter"ni son negros como en Guinea, salvo con sus cabellos correndíos": nor are they black as in Guinea, but with their hair flowing straight.
Exhibit C · Pattern: The Guinea scaleFrom the first day the people were placed on a color scale measured against Guinea and against the Canary Islanders, the Atlantic people Castile had just conquered.
Exhibit D · Our lens: Our lensThis is the line they quote against us. It shows the scale was theirs from the start, and the same records go on to call our people negros (P928, P929).
The colonizer lens
Columbus said they were not black, so the people of this land were never black.
Who says it: Those who quote this line alone.
What it covers: That he measured them against Guinea from the first day, that he saw only the islands, and that the records after him call the people of the land negros (P928, P929, P921).
Cross-examination
Why measure the people against Guinea on the first day, unless color was the first thing he was sorting?
He saw a few islands. Does his line cover Quarequa, Brazil, Carolina and the Muscogulges?
Groundwork: no verdict needed
Groundwork: no verdict needed. This is their best line, shown honestly. It covers a few islands in 1492, and it proves the color scale was theirs.
Where it stands
Their line: neither black nor white, not black as in Guinea.
Its reach: a few islands, in 1492.
What came after: negros at Quarequa, in Brazil, on the Carolina coast.
Where this gets us
Level 1: Awakening. Their best line, answered in the open.
To reach level 2, Paperwork, we still need:
Keep it beside the Witness Index so the count answers it.
The original card
SUMMARYColumbus, 1492–1493: measured against Guinea from the first day (Nov 13, 2026; Witness Index W001, W002)
RECORDColumbus's log (in Las Casas's abstract), October 11, 1492, at Guanahani: "ellos son de la color de los canarios, ni negros ni blancos" (they are the color of the Canary Islanders, neither black nor white)
RECORDhis letter of February 15, 1493: "ni son negros como en Guinea, salvo con sus cabellos correndíos" (nor are they black as in Guinea, but with their hair flowing straight)
PATTERNfrom the first day the people were placed on a color scale measured against Guinea and against the Canary Islanders, the Atlantic people Castile had just conquered
LENS (WW9)this is the line the other side quotes against us; it is honest to show it. It shows the scale was theirs from the start, and the same records go on to call our people negros (P928, P929)