Individually Unified

Individually Unified

We are Americans! We can customize our cars, homes, and even our lives. How did we become such individualists? During the late 1500’s, the Chinese government had several chances of becoming a vast world power and instilling their sense of loyalty and unity as a country. Since China believed that they were a self-sufficient entity, they were content to leave things as they were and saw no point in exploring the unknown. The Europeans on the other hand were forced to explore new worlds due to the lack of trading ability and natural resources. Thanks to Christopher Columbus and others that followed, their exploration and conquering of the New World made it possible for Europeans to expand and populate. However, the new findings also made it possible to spread their selfish nature and greedy culture that is passed off today as people

being “individuals”.

In 1492 Christopher Columbus started on his voyage to find what he thought would be a faster route to the West Indies, but in actuality stumbled upon small islands that we now call the Bahamas. When he left on his voyage, his intent was to find and take the riches that the West Indies had to offer but to his disappointment these things that were intended to pay for his voyage did not exist.

“Clearly, Columbus had reason to worry that his voyage would be viewed as a failure. He had not found the gold mines he sought or the Asian cities described by Marco Polo. He thought he had discovered many spices, though only the chili peppers were new.”

(Worlds of History, p.19)

When Columbus realized that he had not found the riches he was expected to bring home to the Spanish king and queen, he knew that it was very important to make sure that he portrayed his journey in a pleasing light when he wrote to them (as to not make himself look like a failure).

When reading the first hand account of Columbus’s voyage, it is in many ways hard to believe that what Columbus was saying was actually the truth. In no way did he talk about his voyage in a negative manner. He talks about how the Indians treated him and his crews like kings. Instead of making himself look like a failure, I feel that he made himself and the Europeans in general look like very greedy people.