Christopher Columbus’s Fall from Grace
The year was 1492 when Columbus and his men sailed west to discover the Americas. His voyage and accounts in letters to the Queen of Spain credited him with a great feat that made him an instant celebrity. However, as seen in Hollywood all too often, a fast rise makes for an even faster fall. Every time a ship embarked on another journey for Christopher Columbus, his actions led to consequences that would lead to his ultimate downfall in 1500.
The first letter that Columbus wrote to the Queen at the end of his first voyage gives readers his perspective on the successes of the voyage. Columbus often fabricates scenarios to sway the Queen to provide more funding for other voyages (Columbus, 115-123). He
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The actions he is taking prove to have an impact on his ventures. For example, from the first voyage it can be safely assumed that Columbus had little regard for the well-being of the natives, nor did he treat them as humans. This can be seen in the account from the Italian lieutenant, in which it is stated that the Admiral gave a native woman to him [the lieutenant] for his own pleasures, and when she did not cooperate, he whipped her until they came to terms and she performed like “she had been brought up in a school for whores” (Italian lieutenant, 139). This is not the only account where mistreatment of the Indians is written or implied. When Columbus took rest because of his illness and Pedro Margarit revolted then left the island, every Spaniard went out and robbed the Indians and took their wives if they pleased (Hernando Colon, 187). As a result, the natives retaliated and killed ten Christians as well as ordered the firing of a house that contained four ill men. The caciques and the native people were angry with the Christians for their actions while the Admiral was at rest, and when he returned the caciques were punished, but Columbus had already lost so many of his men. The deaths of the Christians caused for more violence from the Spaniards and led to their conquest of the people of other islands, which only brewed more animosity between the Natives and the Christians. Again, the actions of Columbus were laying the ground for his
Columbus’s “intentions were far from selfless.” (Myint, 2015, Para. 5). The greed was immense as Columbus believed in the entitlement of ten percent of all the treasures that were plundered. Nothing was shared with the crew. Natives were also mutilated and enslaved. If the natives did no collect enough money they lost limbs, some also lost their lives. A hero would not hurt innocent people trying to survive.
For instance, he and his men brought with him a very cruel action of rape. It is believed that, “he encouraged his men to rape Native woman as young as nine or ten” (Source 4). Which is very unethical, and unacceptable in today's society. Moreover, he also killed many Natives in horrific ways. Him and his men used hunting dogs to kill hundred of natives for pleasure and later for dog food (Sources 2 & 4). More importantly this greatly shows how indifferent and inhumanly his treatment was towards natives. Additionally, some of the punishments he brought to the natives are truly awful. He would have natives’ hands cut off for just failing to bring him gold (Sources 1 & 4). Columbus Day should not only stop being celebrated because of the terrible actions of Columbus, but also because of the legacy he left behind because of these
What he and his men did to the Indigenous people is told in horrifying detail by the Dominican priest Bartolome de Las Casas, “whose writings give the most thorough account of the Spanish-Indian encounter.” Las Casas witnessed firsthand Columbus’ soldiers stabbing Natives for sport, dashing babies’ heads on rocks, and sexually abusing Indigenous women. His testimony was corroborated by other eyewitnesses, such as a group of Dominican friars, who addressed the Spanish monarchy in 1519, hoping to bring an end to the atrocities. At the very least, Columbus was complicit in the actions of his men. He cared so little for the welfare of the Indigenous people that he let his soldiers commit reprehensible acts that would be considered crimes against humanity in the present day. Christopher Columbus’ actions suggest he had no issue with serving as an enabler of the horrifying actions committed by his men against the Indigenous
First, Columbus was a cruel man who enslaved, raped, and murdered the natives of the countries he sailed to. According to an article by John Margolis entitled "Goodbye Columbus", Columbus "oversaw the killings of some (Indians) and ordered the enslavement of others." Margolis goes on to say that Columbus did not prevent his crewmen from raping the innocent natives, and even that he himself raped an Indian women after beating her "with a piece of rope". If these actions do not constitute villainy, I don't know what does.
While discovering the New World he brought smallpox with them that wiped out most of the native people living there. Although, Columbus did never mean to do that intentionally, he did basically kill hundreds of people. In the article “Columbus Doesn’t Deserve a Holiday” the author says “Within 70 years of his arrival, of the hundreds of thousands of Arawak Indians on the Bahama Islands only hundreds remained.” Even with the small number of native’s left after the smallpox, Columbus brought them back and put them on sale. They started with 500 native’s, but 200 died on the way there. Not only did Columbus kill hundreds, he also destroyed a natural, peaceful place. He just took people out of there land and called it his. After reading this one might not believe Columbus is the hero we all think of.
However, people tend to forget the other side of Columbus, the side that lusted after gold and resources that often belonged to the native inhabitants he came across in his exploration. In his insatiable greed, he and his crew committed countless atrocities, such as torture and killing of defenseless natives. Columbus’s discovery of these new lands has profound and negative effects as future colonists arrive. “Zinn estimates that perhaps 3 million people perished in the Caribbean alone from raids, forced labor and disease” (Zinn, 1980). Columbus was seen as a cruel man, who saw the peaceful inhabitants as right for the conquering and lead to the devastation of the native population, yet is celebrated every October.
For generations upon generations, students have been taught about the “hero” Christopher Columbus who had discovered our new world. However, to say he was a hero would not exactly be the truth; Columbus was an eccentric man who cared much more about his profits than the well being and even lives of the natives. It is documented in journals that he and his crew had slaughtered entire villages at a time, and that he had even killed people just for the point of testing how sharp his sword was. Not only did Columbus and his crew have a thing for violence, on multiple accounts crew members wrote down every single successful rape of women; and used the voyage to help begin a slave export for the royalty of Spain.
To determine if Christopher Columbus is a hero or a villain, one must first consider his background. He was born sometime between August 26 and October 31, 1451, in Genoa, Italy (Flint). From the age of twenty-five to his death, Columbus spent his whole
...us brought America to the attention of the civilized world, to the growing, scientific civilizations of Western Europe. The result, ultimately, was the United States of America. It was Columbus’ discovery for Western Europe that led to the arrival of ideas and people on which this nation was founded on. The voyages of Christopher Columbus contain one of the great adventure stories of all time. His first journey across thousands of miles of unknown ocean, in the middle of the rebellious grievances and tensions of his crew, was not only one of the most significant achievements of recorded human history, but was also a demonstration of Columbus's dominance as mariner and navigator. For a while he had faults and defects, which brought turmoil to his personal life, but there was no flaw, no dark side to the most significant of all his qualities, of course his seamanship.
Columbus on his fourth and last voyage ran into many problems in his voyage to find more land. They ran into a massive hurricane and ran into many storms causing massive damages to all ships. In 1503 the ships were so badly damaged they began to fail causing them to be stuck for a year on the island of Jamaica. When saved Columbus made his way back learning that Queen Isabel was dying and causing Columbus to realize that he can no longer afford to return to the New World. Columbus went on to die in 1506.
Christopher Columbus discoveries enlightened the globe and started a new age of exploration. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand believed columbus would be very successful in discovering places that were rich in minerals and resources.They chose to sponsor and support Christopher Columbus’s voyage because of his capabilities and discoveries he could achieve. Christopher Columbus discoveries enlightened the globe and started a new age of exploration, changed the history of the whole globe. There was many advantage about working in between foreign affairs, one being Christopher Columbus skills and knowledge that gave Spain money and power. A disadvantage of working in between foreign affairs will be the other side not fulfilling their agreement. There are many qualifications Christopher Columbus had that made him a good candidate the voyage. Christopher Columbus was a brilliant vessel to the earth and left a legacy behind him for explorers and sailors around the
Have you ever asked yourself was it right for Columbus to treat the Indians how he did ? Some of us would of course say no but some of us are SCREAMING YES. Columbus was a selfish, stubborn and very stuck up man when it came to himself. The only thing he wanted from the Indians was Gold, Wealth, and Spices.
Some of the problems when studying history are the texts and documents that have been discovered are only from perspective. Furthermore, on occasion that one perspective is all there may be for historians to study. A good example of this textual imbalance can be found from the texts about the discovery of the New World; more specifically, the letters of Christopher Columbus and Pêro Vaz de Caminha during their voyages to the New World. Plenty of the text from this time is written from the perspective of the Europeans, as the Indigenous population did not have any written text. What this means is that it provided only one perspective, which can drastically hinder how history is interpreted. Columbus’s letter of his first voyage to the Caribbean
Although Columbus was increasing the wealth and strength of Spain, he was “a catastrophe for the indigenous inhabitants of the lands” (Belasco 67). He had no remorse for the natives as he proceeded to establish plantations, enslave them, slaughter them, and create a new colony called Espanola on their lands. According to Schuman, Howard, Barry Schwartz, and Hannah d’Arcy, Christopher Columbus “deserves condemnation for having brought slavery, disease, and death...
Although this essay is historically accurate it lacks important details, which might paint a different view of Columbus. Boorstin writes favorable of Columbus and depicts him as a heroic and determined figure who helped shape history, but he neglects to include Columbus’ unethical acts committed in the world that was not supposed to exist, the Americas. When Columbus first discovered the New World, he took care that the royal standard had been brought ashore and he claimed the land for Spain in front of all, including the indigenous population who had been sighted even before Columbus made landfall. According to the medieval concepts of natural law, only those territories that are uninhabited can become the property of the first person to discover them. Clearly this was an unethical act. Thus, the first contact between European and non-European worlds was carried out through a decidedly European prism, which ensured Spanish claim to the islands of the Americas. Faced with a colony in an inhospitable area, the Spanish soon inaugurated the practice of sending regular military parties inland to subdue the increasingly hostile natives. Members of the indigenous population were captured and enslaved to support the fledgling colony. The object of Columbus’ desire changed from exploration and trade to conquest and subjugation.