Pros And Cons Of Christopher Columbus

When Christopher Columbus set out in 1492 to make his great discovery, I do not think he felt his reputation would ever be called into question, after all, he was settle out with the blessing of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. I think that he felt his intentions were true and he was determined to be just in his acquisition of the New World. All in all, I believe Christopher Columbus to be neither all good nor all bad because I think him to be both. When Columbus came upon the new found land he sent word back of its vast beauty and fertility. In one instance he wrote, “in it are marvelous pine groves, and there are very large tracts of cultivatable lands, and there is honey, and there are birds of many kinds and fruits in great diversity. In the interior are mines of metals, and the population is without number” (Columbus 36). Granted there were other plants and animals in the New World he gave the impression that the land was scarcely inhabited and the resources were plentiful and there for the taking. Another motive for sending such a message was to maintain his financial backing which kept his expedition funded.

There is a notable change in his tone as he writes of what has become of his discovery. He explains with great sadness “of Espanola, Paria, and the other lands, I never think without weeping. I believed that their example would have been to the profit of others; on the contrary, they are in an exhausted state” (Columbus 36). From this passage, he shows that it was not his intention to rape and pillage the land. When he says, “let him who brought them to this state come now with the remedy if he can or if he knows it” (Columbus 37). It is evident that he feels that those who have caused such harm should be the ones held responsible and that they should make the necessary repairs to right their