A great hero from Europe or a man with only himself and his people in mind? Many people believe that he was a hero whose discoveries lead to the possibilities we have in America today, while many other condemn him for the deaths of many Native Americans that occurred to make it possible to live in America today. What would someone like me see in Columbus’ discoveries and enslavements? He introduced the Europeans to new products and ways of financial expansion. Even though Columbus gave us a head start to a better life here in America, what lengths did he go to make such a life possible? He brought over diseases to the natives and also grazing animals to eat up the vegetation. These deaths would have never occurred if not for the countries …show more content…
The discovery of the Americas also allowed new trading options and financial expansion which benefited all of Europe.
What great length would one man go to for himself and his people? Although Columbus’ discoveries offered more trade and financial gain for Europe and himself, the consequences were more deadly than the gain could ever be fruitful for the natives. With the grazing animals that the Europeans brought over to the natives, also came a drop in vegetation which decreased their food supply. With the exchange of goods between the Europeans and the natives there was also an exchange of diseases. With the diseases such as smallpox, mumps, measles, and whooping cough, also came another called death. With these diseases spreading through the native villages, fifty to ninety percent of the native population died. With the decrease in native population also can a decrease in their resistance and ability to fight off the Europeans. Columbus began to think of the natives as future slave laborers. Many unsuccessful attempts were made to enslave the natives but each failed and Columbus gave up and started looking toward the West Africans. They began kidnapping Africans and bringing them over by ship to the Americas. Many died during the voyages and the ones that survived became slaves and worked in the Americas.
What could the prospect of becoming rich do to a person not to mention a country? The countries that funded the explorers are just at fault
Some people say Christopher Columbus is the man who discovered America and is a hero. Others might say Columbus is a sadistic villain who destroyed the Native American people. There are valid points to each side of the argument for this and are good points. He went to America in 1492, not discovering it. Columbus became well known in America because of this and was made into a holiday. He has his own holiday because of America’s short history. In almost all cultures, they look up to an historical figure, except for America. Columbus had a huge impact in history according to Time who said that Columbus is #20 on the most significant figures. So why wouldn’t Columbus be looked at a hero? I believe, Christopher Columbus is a villainous figure
The letter Christopher Columbus wrote back to Spain to report his findings in the New World sparked intrigued me and sparked my imagination. Why I have been so absorbed in this letter I can not explain. This letter is supposed to be about describing an unknown land, a land that has not been seen by anyone besides the natives, but it seems that there is more to it than that. Columbus is known in elementary schools as the man who found the New World, and is regarded as a hero. To the contrary, historians who have done more research on Columbus say that he was driven by fame and fortune and that he was tyrannical in his ways with the indigenous peoples of the places that he came to find. I feel that the contradictory tones Columbus uses
Throughout all of our years that we are taught about world history, we are led to believe that Columbus was one of the greatest explorers of all time. In my mind there is no question about whether Christopher Columbus discovered America; of course he did, its Columbus! However, this is a highly debated issue and through writings by authors Jeffery Hart and James W. Loewen we will investigate the true importance of Columbus.
School taught us about the infamous Christopher Columbus who was known as the hero who found the Americas in 1492, but is that the truth? Is Columbus really the hero that grade school portrayed him to be? Columbus was not. Columbus was a greedy man who destroyed an entire race of people with genocide just so only he could benefit and become a man of money and power.
Christopher Columbus did not do a single good action in any of his four voyages in the late 1400's. Christopher Columbus was not the founder of the Americas we live in today because he did not discover it, even if he did there were already the natives who inhabited the land. It was just luck that he discovered the Americas, because he wasn’t even coming here, he got here because his ships went the wrong way and “Oh Surprise!” “We got something here to bring to Spain”
Christopher Columbus is a villain in my eyes. This belief rests upon three main points: excerpts from Columbus’ journal and letters from his first arrival, the reality that he and his man alike were gold-thirsty, and the unlawful crimes he committed to satisfy and please the king in order to receive glory. These actions are often overlooked by many because it eventually led to the development of our country, but that should not excuse his actions. Consequently, his actions set an example for future generations, on how to solve problems with the Indians-extinguish them. Below, I will elaborate more fully on these arguments.
Christopher Columbus is commonly known as the “discoverer” of the Americas. From a young age students are taught all the wonderful things he did for our land and how well he interacted with the Natives. Although the truth is disregarded and as students grow, they come to learn that Columbus was not a hero in fact. Columbus came close to causing a genocide of the Native Americans, and basically began the “white power” movement that America is forced to deal with today. The truth of what Christopher Columbus did makes him no better than Hitler, yet America still praises him as an important figure in our history. The actions of Columbus has impacted all Americans lives since the 1400’s when he first landed on American soil. Although it did make America into the super power it is today, the structure within the borders will never be equal because of his abuse of power back then. Christopher Columbus is not the hero American students are taught from a young age and does not deserve any of the praise or recognition that we as American citizens continue to give him on a daily basis.
In 1492, Italian cartographer and explorer, Christopher Columbus, set off on a mission from Spain in order to find a quicker, alternative route to Asia. With him, Columbus brought eighty-seven men and three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María, to sail across the large and vast Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately for Columbus, a new route to Asia was never discovered by Spain that year because he had arrived in the Caribbean, which was found in North America. Thinking that he had just entered the Indies, he started to call the people of this land, “Indians”. These Indians were actually Native Americans who had lived on these lands for thousands of years prior. Immediately, letters from Columbus to the King and Queen of Spain were sent by boat back to Europe and soon Columbus was seen as the man who helped create a bridge of prosperous trading and riches between Europe and “Asia”.1 While this discovery proved that Columbus was a hero-like figure to Spain, it’s what he did within the new land that actually makes him one of the biggest villains to ever set foot on Earth. But what classifies this explorer as a villain? Columbus captured thousands of natives, many of which were sent back to Spain to live and work as slaves. Along with that, Columbus also forced the Christian religion onto them, spread diseases that killed thousands of lives, and used violence as a means of persuasion and control.2 Corrupted by his pursuit of riches,
It is thought by many that Christopher Columbus was a skilled sailor on a mission of greed. Many think that he in fact did it all for the money, honor and the status that comes with an explorer, but this is not the case entirely. Columbus was an adventurer and was enthused by the thrill of the quest of the unknown. “Columbus had a firm religious faith and a scientific curiosity, a zest for life, the felling for beauty and the striving for novelty that we associate with the advancement of learning”. He had heard of the legendary Atlantic voyages and sailors reports of land to the west of Madeira and the Azores. He believed that Japan was about 4,800 km to the west of Portugal. In 1484, Columbus wanted support for an exploratory
Christopher Columbus, explorer for Spain, is he a hero or a villain? Columbus started a new age of exploration when he set sail in 1492. He asked many leaders if he could sail for them, but they said no and that they were happy with the way things were. He sailed west for the Indies, but found America instead. Columbus should not be judged by today’s standards, he is hero and should be treated as one.
D'Souza states in "The Crimes of Christopher Columbus," "The charge of genocide is largely sustained by figures showing the precipitous decline of the Indian population." After the arrival of Columbus and the Europeans, there was a major drop in the Native American population. D'Souza says that the Europeans gave the Natives diseases like smallpox. This led to the death of many Indians, since they had not developed an immunity for such diseases. In addition to the deaths of so many Natives from the disease, the Natives that lived had to face slavery and hard labor which also led to many deaths(D'Souza). In the New Spanish laws of the Indies, it is said that, "speedily set the said Indians at liberty unless the persons who hold them for slaves show title why they should hold and possess them legitimately... the Indians may not remain in slavery unjustly," meaning that the laws would allow slavery as long as the slave owner had a good reason for it. The main negative effects of the Columbian exchange was that many diseases were transmitted between the groups which led to the deaths of many, and the mistreatment of Native
*Colonizing the New World would help the Age of Exploration became a more profitable time.
Columbus's arrogance and exploitation regarding slavery began on his second voyage. Ferdinand and Isabella had ordered that the natives be treated kindly. In opposition to this order, Columbus began exporting slaves in great numbers in 1494. It was because he was not making any real profit elsewhere on the island that he decided to exploit the one source of income--people--he had in abundance (Fernandez-Armesto 107). When word reached him that the crown did not want him sending more slaves, Columbus ignored it. He was desperate to make his expeditions profitable enough for Ferdinand and Isabella's continued support. Evidently he was not reprimanded because thousands of Indians were exported. By the time they reached Spain, usually a third of them were dead. Bartolome de las Casas wrote that one Spaniard had told him they did not need a compass to find their way back to Spain; they could simply follow the bodies of floating Indians who had been tossed overboard when they died (17). It is horrible to consider that the exportation of these natives resulted
Columbus made an especially daring trip when he set sail for the Indies. He knew he was headed for some rough water, bad weather, and maybe even an unwelcoming crowd of people.
Before we can truly label Columbus as a hero or evil, we must first define what is viewed as a hero. Many dictionary definitions exist having the meaning of a hero as one with courageous or noble qualities but seeing as these definitions are extremely objective, the definition of a hero I will be using for the purpose of defining Columbus will be, quoting Joseph Campbell, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” Christopher Columbus clearly demonstrated giving and self sacrifice in his investments of time and risking his life for his voyages with “commercial expeditions resembling warlike cruises” and at some points in his travels being away from home for 29 months. The rewards that Columbus, along with the rest of Europe, reaped from his efforts include the new access to vast expanses of resourceful land, as well as the eventually successful, even flourishing, colonization of America, not to mention, that Columbus, “[the] founding figure of a new world” laid the framework to modern day globalization as well as played a key role in the creation of one of the most significant, powerful, and impactful nations existing today. The fact that Columbus grew up in poor conditions and being completely self taught in the art of navigation and seafaring only adds to the magnitude of his immense accomplishments.