Sep 17, 2021
When Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean islands in 1492, he made a claim which to us sounds preposterous. He reported to his patrons, the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, that “I have taken possession for their highnesses.” So the Bahamas, three thousand miles from the Iberian peninsula and hitherto unknown, suddenly were owned by the Spanish crown? On what possible grounds?
The justification for the claim has become known as the Doctrine of Discovery, the foundation to this day for holding legal title to a parcel of land in the Americas.