Christopher Columbus's attitude toward the people living on Hispaniola was one of exploitation and subjugation. Columbus and his crew viewed the indigenous Taíno people as inferior and treated them with cruelty and violence. Columbus wrote in his journal that the Taíno were "very simple and honest and exceedingly liberal with all they had," which he saw as evidence of their potential to be easily enslaved and exploited. Columbus forced the Taíno to work in gold mines and on plantations, and he implemented a system of tribute that required them to provide him with food and goods. Columbus also engaged in acts of violence against the Taíno, including mutilation and murder. Columbus's treatment of the indigenous people of Hispaniola was part of a larger pattern of European colonization and exploitation of the Americas.