While Columbus recently encounters the land yet he claims ownership of it and renames the locations, it is due to the fact that Columbus was not interrupted. By this, Columbus states that he did not encounter any interference or objection to his proclamation. Stephen Greenblatt states that it possible that Columbus believes the indigenous people would not object to him claiming the land, whether they understood what he was saying or not. The significance lies in the fact that Greenblatt brings up the possibility that Columbus did not believe the Indigenous people had the means, and ability, of stopping Columbus from seizing the land, even if they were to understand what Columbus was saying in his proclamation. This leads into the work by
