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As we all know, in the history of human beings, navigation once appeared two important events; Zheng He’s voyages in the Indian Ocean and Christopher Columbus voyage in the Atlantic Ocean. Both of them had great impacts on the development of human being’s navigation, economy, politics, cultures and even all aspects of human civilization. This short paper will include the comparison between Zheng He and Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus voyage centered around one purpose, which was to find out a shorter route to the Asian countries. Instead of finding Asia, he found the “New World.” During Columbus’s time, trade between Europe and Asia was extremely lucrative. Spices were very important in Europe at the time. They were used for flavoring …show more content…
He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he accidentally stumbled upon the Americas. Many people are surprised to learn that Christopher Columbus and his men enslaved native inhabitants of the West Indies, forced them to convert Christianity, and subdued them with violence in an effort to seek riches. The doctrine of discovery is a legal principle which has passed from Church law into common law. It granted the European discovering powers a kind of unrestricted sovereignty over the lands and people they discovered. It began with a series of papal bulls issued by Pope Nicholas V and Pope Alexander VI before and just after Christopher Columbus returned from his first contact with the Americas. Zheng He voyage’s reason seemed a little bit complex. The purpose of Zheng He travel was to command several fleets, Chinese ships that explored and traded across Asia and Africa. His expeditions greatly expanded China’s
On reason we should celebrate is his fleet made incredible distances and destinations, especially for the period of time he traveled in. Zheng He traveled 105,300 total miles in his life. (DOC A) One round trip from Nanjing, his home port in China, to Calicut, one of many destinations he traveled to on his voyages, was a total of 11,600 miles. (DOC A) It took 18,500 total miles to take a round trip from Nanjing to the east of Africa, which was another one of the popular ports that he traveled to. (DOC A) The distance that was
Zheng got government-outfitted fleets and fully sponsored resources from the Ming dynasty ruler Yongle. The same as Henry got monopolies and broad-based supports from the King Duarte I, Portuguese merchants, the Catholic Church and loyal peasants. However, the initiation behind them were different. On one hand, Zheng was a eunuch been ordered by the emperor to take voyages. He was just an official executor under the emperor’s will of consolidating his imperial power and displayed the great Chinese power. On the other hand, Henry was a prince who enjoyed more power. Unlike Zheng as a servant had lots of limitations on his actions and no independence in making decisions, Henry as a dominator had the domination to do anything he wanted. He was motivated by his own will that allowed him to do things in a more open-minded way. For example, he established navigational schools and funded private navigations, instead of personally lead those voyages as Zheng did. While Zheng have not religious reasons for sailing, Henry had strong religious aims of finding military allies to outflank the Moors by sea. In short, they had different motivations on began
Ransby believes “Columbus 's image has been scrubbed clean and sanitized by many generations of American historians so that he can now be offered up as a sterling example of the glorious era of discovery.” (Ransby, 1992/2015, p.14). Objective evidence is also a major component in this article. Columbus’s journal proved he wanted to exploit, and enslave the Indians. A population of 300,000 dwindled to a mere one by 1540. (Ransby, 1992/2015, p.12). Many scene of rape, murder and beating were also described in journals of sailors that travelled with
Along the Columbus journey bits of gold were found amongst the Native Indians which led to Columbus concluding that there was more (Zinn, 2009, p.481). The Native’s were turned into servants looking for a certain amount of gold for Columbus. If they had not met the daily quota their arms were to be cut off (Zinn, 2009, p.481). This is just part of the brutality that Columbus had put upon the Natives. More cruelty can be seen when Columbus sent five hundred Natives as slaves to the King and Queen in Spain. Also stabbing of Indians was done as a sport and those that resisted against the Spaniards were hunted down as animals (Zinn, 2009, p.482). Zinn shows that the Columbus story is one of the many myths of Western civilization. All the stories about Columbus especially in the USA since, it is a celebration are seen as a heroic adventure. However, many teachers argue that children should not be told such a violent story filled with horrific history (Zinn, 2009, p.485). It is important to teach children at a young age the truth about the Columbus story, so that they know what a monster he
Prince Henry of Portugal, more commonly known as Henry the Navigator, and Zheng He, a successful Chinese admiral, were both extremely accomplished men throughout the 14th and 15th centuries. During this era, many accomplished explorers ventured out into the ocean and discovered new lands, two of the most important men being Henry the Navigator and Zheng He. Although both men came from different backgrounds, their contrasting societies and structures affected the way in which they regarded economic and political expansion and also their contact with other cultures. Societies like the Chinese and Portuguese had many cultural differences such as their different religions. The Chinese practiced neo-Confucianism whereas the Portuguese were Christians which was one of the many purposes of their exploration, to spread Christianity. There were also many cultural similarities between the two societies such as their long lasting histories and their explorer’s curiosity to seek out to new lands, which resulted the two societies in having different views on economic and political expansion and contact with other cultures. Both Confucian and Christian ideologies favored those who worked over the wealthy. Thus, to a larger extent, the structures and values of a society have an extensive impact on the way people view economic and political expansion and contact with other cultures.
He was intending to reach Asia by sailing west rather than taking the traditional route around the Cape of Good Horn. On October 12, 1492, Columbus and his men landed on an island in the Bahamas. “As European adventurers traversed the world in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries they initiated the “Columbian Exchange” of plants, animals, and diseases. ”(P. 26). The Columbian Exchange refers to a period of exchanges between the New and Old Worlds.
Christopher Columbus unintentionally discovered America, when he landed in the Caribbean Islands. He had left Spain in search of Asia and India. When he and his crew arrived at what now is Haiti for his second voyage, they demanded food, gold, and anything else they wanted from the Indians, even sex with their women. Columbus punished those who committed offenses against him. Rape and enslavement had been brought upon the natives. When the natives of the land, known as the Arawaks, tried to fight back, it led to a massacre of their people in which by Columbus? order, meant crossbows, small cannons, lances, and swords to destroy them. Even wild hunting dogs were released to rip up the Arawaks, whom by the end of the day were dead or ready to ship to Spain as slaves. None of this was ever taught to students.
...aders usually offered tribute and emissaries to avoid conflict. This whole process preceded the colonialism practiced by the Europeans in years to come. The question begging to be answered here is, are Zheng He’s voyages deserving of celebration? In my opinion, I feel that we should acknowledge what he did, and continue to try to learn about the voyages. Just the fleet that he sailed across the world was remarkable; 255 huge ships, 27,500 people, and an astounding doctor-to-patient ratio of 1 to 151. Should Zheng He’s voyages be celebrated? Definitely not, he did not capitalize on the resources available to him. He cared too much about animals that weren't very beneficial, and essentially wasted precious time and money. We need to celebrate people that maximized the potential of their opportunities and actually got close, or achieved something truly great and useful.
I personally think that Columbus has invaded the west Indies because of the way they were treated by the Spaniards (mention in the invading paragraph). I think he was responsible for the ethical cleansing of the arawaks because he had slowly wiped them out by selling them and giving them diseases. He was prejudice, I know this because he wipes them out simply because of their skin colour and the fact they didn't worship who he did.
...age. The following Emperors had no such interest in foreign affairs and terminated the expensive voyages. The lack of imperial political interests and support in navy expedition to foreign countries was the main reason why China withdrew from the ocean after Zheng He’s 7 voyages. However, the political significance and legacy of Zheng He’s expeditions cannot be ignored. It strengthened the Middle Kingdom’s power and influence in Asia during the early years of the Ming Dynasty. The peaceful nature of Zheng He’s voyages is still used by the Chinese government today as a political tool to advocate the benevolent intention of contemporary Chinese foreign policy (Dreyer, p. 29).
Henry Hudson was an English Explorer born in 1565, he is known as one of the most famous explorers. Henry Hudson’s main goal was to find a passage way to Asia but he never achieved this. With the goal of finding the route he only had four voyages throughout his career. On his first voyage, in 1609, he brought his sons along with him to find an ice free passage to Asia. They traveled east until they reached the north of the Arctic Circle, but they were forced to return back due to all the surrounding ice. In the same year, Hudson made a second attempt, but traveled a different way. Hudson soon failed again because all the field of ice, blocking them. In 1609, Hudson’s third voyage was
Reaching towards the peak of trade, Europe faced difficulties in trading with Asia due to sections of multiple trade routes being dominated by Muslims. This meant that men were lost and it took a great amount of time to be able to give and receive the products being traded. This was when Christopher Columbus proposed a solution, believing that a route which sailed west through the Atlantic Ocean, would be a much safer and faster way of trading with Asia.
Not only did he explore a variety of lands he also brought things back creating trade routes throughout Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. As Zheng He returned from his voyages he brought back goods and much tribute. We can see how Zheng He explored many lands as shown on the map in document A. We can also see that his voyages were long and did go up to 19000 miles’ roundtrip per voyage (doc A). This evidence proves that Zheng He must’ve been a good leader in order to successfully carry out 7 of these voyages and bringing back tributes like “local products, pepper, horses, and money” (doc D). This shows how the voyages actually benefited the emperor and proves that we would be celebrating something that included
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...
Zheng transported and controlled fleets; the largest group of naval vessels under one commander, organized for specific tactical or other purposes, and Marco polo traveled by ship; however, Zheng He’s fleet was able to carry around 400 sailors due to shipbuilding industry be at it’s height during his exploration. That shows the stronger the industry the more money backing his explorations by the Yongle emperor. However, Marco Polo did achieve great success in his studies and travels; even though, his empire where he was from wasn’t as skilled as the Chinese. Zheng He and Marco had a close relationship with a king or emperor. First, Marco Polo and his brother traveled to the Mongol Empire and he served on Kublai Khan’s court. Marco and his brother remained loyal to Khan and served again and brought his son with him. His relationship with Kublai gave Marco paved the way and opened Chinese trade to the rest of the world, and paved the way for more modern explorers such as Christopher Columbus. Zheng He had a quite interesting relationship with the Yongle emperor. The yongle emperor appointed Zheng He to command the treasure fleet. Zheng He was close with The emperor because the new Yongle emperor’s family adopted Zheng he into their family before the new Yongle emperor took the throne. Zheng He established long lasting ties with the places within Asia and