Christopher Columbus's Negative Impact On The World

Michael Wang AP Euro, Period 4 Primary Source Analysis Assignment October 5th, 2016 Summary: Prior to the arrival of the European settlers, the indigenous people of the Americas were varied in culture and tradition and their population was around fifty million. However, once the Europeans arrived in 1492 with Christopher Columbus, the lives of the indigenous people were changed remarkably. The Europeans took advantage of the indigenous and used them as laborers to work cattle ranches, sugar plantations, and silver mines. The physical condition of the indigenous peoples worsened as they were fatigued from the labor and had little resistance to the diseases brought by the Europeans.

In the article,” A Brief History of racism in the US” the author start that they was struggle for the native people from went the US got “discovered”. One thing that Christopher Columbus did way in made the Native people slaves and made them mine for gold and may some go with him back to Spain to serve the king and queen as slaves. On the journey Christopher Columbus in prison 11000 men, women and children. He 500 native people to Spain but only 300 people made it. The slaves who were forced to search

The United States admires Christopher Columbus for the things people think he did, but his “accomplishments” and “discoveries” may have been false. Columbus day should not be celebrated because he didn’t do the things he said he did, he did terrible things, and he caused problems to happen. Christopher Columbus didn’t do the things he said he did like discovering America, having knowledge, and he never actually meant to find the Americas. Columbus did terrible things such as encouraging men to rape girls, having harsh punishments for people with minor offenses, and he lead hunting dogs to tear the Indians apart. He caused many problems like death, slavery, and destroying culture.

After the Spanish made some fortunate discoveries in South America, the English were determined to strike gold in the north, however, they would soon find out that this “new country” was not so perfect. In the Spring of 1607, about 100 colonists sailed to North America and created an English settlement called Jamestown (Roden 49). Upon their arrival, they discovered that Jamestown was home to some 1500 Powhatan Indians, and, because the colonists didn’t bring the right people to defend themselves from Indian attacks, many people died (Roden 49). The colonist also didn’t bring enough people to ward off disease, drought, or famine.

Christopher Columbus is a man who is commonly depicted as a hero and great explorer who discovered our modern day America, but many of the so called “facts” are not all completely true as people would like to believe. Columbus was undoubtedly a courageous explorer who brought many new ideas, cultures, and resources to be exchanged between the New World and Europe. While this is true, it is not uncommon for people to forget the harmful effects brought along with the voyages made by Columbus and the darker details of his times in America.

During the time period of which Columbus first set foot on the new world, peoples views on slavery were much different than ours today. They made exceptions to it as everyone owned slaves back them (Document 2). However, physical abuse and torture are no exception. Columbus has been exposed for his torture on the Taino tribe. Every three months Columbus demanded a hawk's bell of gold or 25 pounds of spun cotton from everyone over the age of fourteen. Those who could not come up with the sum would be “punished”. By “punishment” he means having their hands chopped off and being left to bleed (Document 3). Every sane person, even in that time period would know that amputating a person's hands is an inhumane punishment.

Carico,Grace Mr. Miraya Honors US History 10 29 August 2016 “America Before Columbus” Questions and Answers Before reading the assigned article I had never previously heard of the ancient city of Cahokia. I was surprised and amazed by how large and sophisticated it was. The fact that the ceremonial mound was two acres larger than the Great Pyramid of Egypt is fascinating, as well as the fact that people who created the city were able to comprehend geometry and astronomy (Lord and Burke 1).

Europeans that migrated to the Americas had few positive effects on native populations. The Indians' contact with settlers led to their death from diseases and warfare. These negative consequences were more effective than the Europeans' good intentions, which included wanting to Christianize and educate the Native Americans. According to http://classroom.synonym.com/did-european-migration-affect-native-populations-7034.httm, researchers estimate that the native population in America decreased by nearly 50% with disease only, beginning with the natives' first contact with European explorers in the 16th century. Most Native Americans were exposed to new diseases which their bodies and immune systems couldn’t fight.

A heavily debated topic in this day and age is if Christopher Columbus was really a hero or a mass murderer. On one hand, he opened up access to the New World and created trade routes, on the other, he primarily unintentionally almost wiped out a population and abused Native Americans. I believe that Columbus was more of a hero than he was a villain because he had a normal mindset and goal for Spaniards during the time period, many things he is blamed for happened completely unintentionally or by accident, and Columbus wasn’t the only one who had servants and took Natives captive. Often when looking back into history, we unintentionally judge events, people, and actions based off of our current mindset, and Christopher Columbus was no exception.

Native Americans were greatly affected by the expansion of the United States during the 1800s. As the U.S. moved west, they stole large amounts of Native American land by settling the land and killing the Natives who once lived there. Also during this time, their culture was being taken from them due to assimilation. While United States citizens were expanding into the west, many Native American lives were lost. They were also responsible for destroying a major food and supply source for Native Americans.

Historians differ on what they think about the net result of the European arrival in the New World. Considering that the Columbian Exchange, which refers to “exchange of plants, animals, people, disease, and culture between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas after Columbus sailed to the Americas in 1492,” led to possibly tens of millions of deaths on the side of the American Indians, but also enabled agricultural and technological trade (Henretta et al. 42), I cannot help but reflect on whether the effects should be addressed as a historical or a moral question. The impact that European contact had on the indigenous populations of North America should be understood as a moral question because first, treating it as a historical question is difficult due to lack of reliable historical evidence; second, the meaning of compelling historical claims is contestable as the academic historian perspective tends to view the American Indian oral history as invalid; and finally, what happened to the native Indians is morally repulsive and must be discussed as such. The consequences of European contact should be answered as a moral question because historically, it is hard to be historically objective in the absence of valid and dependable historical evidence.

“1491” Questions 1. Two scholars, Erikson and William Balée believe that almost all aspects of Native American life have been perceived wrong. Although some refuse to believe this, it has been proven to be the truth. Throughout Charles C. Mann’s article from The Atlantic, “1491”, he discusses three main points: how many things that are viewed as facts about the natives are actually not true, the dispute between the high and low counters, and the importance of the role disease played in the history of the Americas. When the term “Native American” is heard, the average person tends to often relate that to a savage hunter who tries to minimize their impact on their surrounding environment.

On October 12, 1492, an Italian merchant by the name of Christopher Columbus landed on an island in the New World. With him he brought three ships and a small crew of Spaniards. After exploring other islands, Columbus came one that he called Hispaniola; here, they found seemingly primitive and naϊve natives that they immediately began to take advantage of. However, little did they know that this first meeting would bring exploration of South and Central America that would wreak havok among the Natives. Throughout the period of European Expansion, Natives were ripped from their home and forced to work day in and day out.

Christopher Columbus Hero or Villain ? Christopher Columbus is a Villain. On some accounts he can be a Hero. But on many other accounts he's a vicious Villain. Yes he discovered America ;

For many years, people have debated over whether Christopher Columbus is a hero or a villain. Based on background research I have done, Columbus, to me, has proven to be a villain. Columbus forced the Indigenous people of America (Native Americans) to change their religion. He put them into slavery and abused them. They were also infected by the diseases that the Spaniards were immune to.