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Christopher Columbus Genocide Essay

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In the first chapter of A People's History of The United States: 1492-Present by Howard Zinn, he sheds light on the history of the United States concerning Christopher Columbus's expedition, exploitation of Native Americans, and human progress. He entails the full extent of the voyage without sparing any details or censoring anything unwarranted to hear. Howard Zinn informs the reader how Christopher Columbus caused a genocide and enslaved the Indians. By the end of the chapter, it is quite evident that Christopher Columbus was barbaric, cruel, and greedy. Christopher Columbus committed inhumane atrocities against other people from the start of his expedition. The voyage began after he managed to persuade the king and queen of Spain …show more content…

The King and Queen of Spain agreed as he promised to bring them "as much gold as they need ... and as many slaves as they ask” in exchange. During his second expedition, he was provided with seventeen ships and over twelve hundred men for the sole purpose of obtaining slaves and gold. Christopher Columbus and his men went from island to island in the Caribbean to obtain Indians to bring back to ships. They rounded up fifteen hundred Arawak men, women, and children and placed them in pens. From that bunch, they chose five hundred of the healthiest specimens and loaded them onto ships. Only three hundred of those people survived the voyage. The survivors were put up for sale. They were objectified and not even considered to be human beings. They were treated like a commodity that could easily be replaced. Christopher Columbus participate in human trafficking to serve his ambitions at the cost of the lives of other …show more content…

The fact that other people committed the same acts throughout history does not justify the situation. Although, what Christopher Columbus did to the Arawaks of the Bahamas is the same as what “What Columbus did to the Arawaks of the Bahamas, Cortes did to the Aztecs of Mexico, Pizarro to the Incas of Peru, and the English settlers of Virginia and Massachusetts to the Powhatans and the Pequots”. However, that doesn't alleviate the cruelty of his actions because he didn't have to treat the Arawaks the way he did. Also, it's so disgusting how he uses God to justify his actions. It bewilders me how he claims to be a Christian when his actions are the exact opposite of what God preaches. When he bought the remaining Arawaks from the voyage and put them up for sale in town, he said, “Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves can be sold.” He didn't have to participate in such inhumane treatment of other human beings, but he wanted

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