Although Christopher Columbus marked a turning point in history, he was not the hero he’s said to be. For one, he enslaved countless amounts of natives after his arrival in the “New World”. He believed they’d make good servants and put them to work finding gold for him. He also mutilated these enslaved people if they did not find enough gold for him. They were usually punished by the loss of a limb and, on occasion, by death.
Christopher Columbus was an explorer who was known to discover the new world. There was another side to Christopher Columbus that they don’t talk about. Columbus first set foot in Hispaniola where he encountered a group of native that was called the Taino. The Taino was a friendly group of people who traded jewelry, animals, and supplies with sailors. In the article Christopher Columbus: Hero or Villain?
Christopher Columbus’ Exploration Whenever thinking back to things that they have learned about history, one person that often stands out to most people would probably be Christopher Columbus. As one of the first people that people are taught about when learning history, Christopher Columbus is very well-known among most people. Even with little knowledge, one could probably at least state that he was the explorer who sailed across the ocean in 1492 and discovered the Americas. However, there is more to Columbus’ story than that.
Christopher Columbus “It appears to me, that the people are ingenious, and would be good servants”. (Document 2) What started out as a journey to find a new trade route ended in the discovery of the Americas for Christopher Columbus. The moment Columbus arrived in the Americas he formed an opinion on the natives.
Almost every state and school use to celebrate this national holiday; Columbus Day. Sadly, people around the country have decided that Columbus Day should no longer have his own holiday. Schools, and many Columbus Day parades have decided to cancel their parades and schools no longer have a ¨Columbus Day¨. Still people think Columbus was a brave good man, while others believe he was a terrible soul that’s greedy and cruel.
Many very important events happen every day each year all over the world. Some are not as interesting as others but are still just as important. They range from discovering a new species to the launch of the first rocket into space. Many people don’t think of these even when their birthday lies on it. After researching historic events on my birthday, August 1st, I have found three very interesting topics: Columbus discovering South America, how the first world war started, and an ex-marine going on a killing spree in Texas.
When I was younger I was told the Christopher Columbus was a hero. And when I was a child I didn’t know better so I believed it. Because adults would never lie to me, right? Well they didn’t exactly lie they just kept me away from the major details. Like how Christopher Columbus in a way is the reason why slavery began in the Americas.
In the book Zinn, The author gives a point of view of Christopher Columbus that is usually not given. Most of the time the story of Christopher Columbus is told from a historian point of view. They usually tell you of his mission, and of the three ships that he takes in order to find gold and other new riches. Zinn informs us that he is not the hero that, that we all think that he is. It shows us that he tortured, abused, and overwhelmingly embarrasses the Arwark Indians.
I think that Christopher Columbus is a very good hero and that he his a good reason that we are here. He is the reason that the U.S. is also here today and if it wasn’t for him we may not even be alive today. He also did very bad things like killing Native Americans and exploiting their gold. A reason that I think that he is a good hero because he was a very religious person.
When I am posed with the question “to what extent should I as a citizen respond to how Christopher Columbus colonized Canada” I do not find it that difficult because I honestly do not agree with most things that he was associated with. A few points that I would like to use to “drive my opinion home” are his greed for getting paid, the conditions that he put his slaves through and his overall treatment of the Aboriginal people that he met. One thing that was Christopher's first downfall was his greed for gold- or as they called it back then, cheddar. The only reason he went on his 1492 expedition in the first place was because he wanted to have more money. As a child, he did not have the richest family and he grew up in the middle class household.
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer who is well known for “discovering” North America. In reality Christopher was trying to get to China and thought he was in Japan all 4 times he went to North America. He was actually in what is now the Bahamas and Cuba. And really Christopher didn't even discover America. The Native Americans beat Columbus by thousands of years.
When I was in elementary and middle school, I was always taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. What I was not taught was the toll it took on the Natives in the Americas. Also, we were not taught about Christopher Columbus’ role before his voyage, such as his slave holdings. I found that article interesting because it gave me information that I was not taught so for in my education. I learned the reason for Columbus’ fame: the Founding Fathers needed a hero.
Christopher Columbus is a villain because he emerged an economic system in which Africans were used as slaves, forced Christianity on the Natives of North America and treated the Native Americans very cruelly. Columbus’s discovery of the New World convulsed Europe, Africa, North America and South America. The economic system that had emerged was called the Columbian Exchange and involved Europe, Africa, North America and South America. In this economic system Europe provided the markets, capital and technology; Africa provided the slave labor and the New World provided the its raw materials. Columbus traded goods from the New to Africa in exchange for slaves and the Africans unwillingly became slaves to work on the plantations of the New World.