Columbus didn't know what to do with the survivors of the Santa María. The Pinta wasn't nearby, and the Niña, the smallest of the fleet, could not make room for the Santa María's crew. So in the end, Columbus decided to leave behind thirty-nine of his men to establish a colony he named La Navi-dad (Christmas), the first attempt at European settlement since the Vikings. Some actually volunteered to stay behind in the Caribbean outpost. Among them were a surgeon, a barrel-maker, an artilleryman, and a tailor, in addition to the many seamen who made up the crew.

These European settlers discovered not only a new land, but new ways of living and eating as well. For instance, the Arawak (Bahamas) and Taino (Caribbean) slept in hand-woven hamacas, or hammocks. Columbus's men discovered a new diet of corn (maize), sweet potatoes, and red chili pepper, and they learned to grow squash, pumpkins, and beans. Then there was the botanical novelty the inhabitants smoked — tobacco. In turn, the Arawak learned how to farm with cattle, pigs, and horses, which the Europeans later brought with them. However, with the novel comes the dreaded. The Native Americans had no resistance to European diseases, and many succumbed to smallpox, whooping cough, and measles. Diseases brought to the Caribbean by the Europeans contributed to the deaths of more than 3 million Native Americans between 1494 and 1508.