Christopher Columbus Research Paper

The saying, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue” is one of the first things that we learn as children when we start school. We are taught about the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock and how the first Thanksgiving came to be and why we celebrate that historic coming-together of the first European immigrants and the Native Americans. We see both of these events as a time for celebration and the start of how this great country got its start. There are two main viewpoints on the discovery of America; miracle or misfortune. I believe that the discovery of America was one of the greatest human achievements of the fifteenth century (apart from the printing press), and also one of the biggest disasters that this world has ever known.

We also had false narratives instilled in our brains from an early age about how our colonial ancestors and the native tribes of the New World were great allies, when it turns out that they were our greatest adversary, whom we fought for four-hundred years over this land. As a result of Columbus discovering America; his men were able to accumulate large amounts of wealth by stealing from natives, and they would kill without remorse. Ancient civilizations, like the Aztecs, may still be standing today if Cortes never would have heard about this New World and landed in modern day Mexico that resulted in his men raping native women, creating Mestizos and having no more pure Aztec people. Slavery made a huge dent in the reputation of not only this country, but more specifically, the south, with over ten million Africans being rounded up like cattle while being shipped across the ocean and forced to come work on plantations. Great things, like huge population booms and the creation of this country, resulted Columbus’s discovery, I cannot help but think of the mass genocides, the wiping out of ancient language and culture, and slavery when I am asked the question: “Was the European discovery of America a