Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, navigator, and colonizer. He was born around 1451 in Genoa, Italy. He was the son of a wool merchant. As a young man, he studied astronomy, geography, and history. As a teenager, Columbus went to sea participating in several trading voyages. Once he grew up, he went of four voyages himself that opened the way for European exploration, exploitation, and colonization of the Americas. He made his voyages under the sponsorship of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I. He was given three main ships; the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Niña. After he got old and discovered a few things, he died on May 20, 1506. In some ways Christopher Columbus was a success. Here are some examples. His
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Here are some examples. During his second voyage, Columbus’ crew were cruel to the natives who lived in the colony of Hispaniola. They enslaved them, and punished them with the loss of a limb or death if they did not collect enough gold. Columbus took 560 natives back to Spain. I think this was a failure on his behalf, because enslaving natives who lived there is just cruel and wrong. This was also a fail because he’s claiming land that’s already been discovered by natives from hundreds of years ago and is punishing them for not collecting enough gold which is not his. Another fail of his is that he went back to Hispaniola during his third voyage and found the people who lived in the colony were short of food and ready to rebel. Columbus, Hispaniola’s governor, was arrested for mismanagement and sent back to Spain in chains. I consider this a fail because he was governing a colony but wasn’t even able to feed them or take care of their basic necessities which is pretty lame on his part. I feel that the people living on the colony were successful and took advantage of their opportunities to rebel against Columbus and send him back to Spain in chains. In addition to Columbus’ fails, his fourth voyage led to him and his crew shipwrecked for over a year. After his rescue, he returned to Spain, still believing he had found Asia. In my opinion this was a fail because the voyage led him shipwrecked for over a year which is pretty pathetic and …show more content…
I think he accomplished many great things even though some of the things he hoped to discover didn’t go exactly the way he’d planned but that doesn’t mean he’s a failure. Even though he didn’t get to the places he wanted, he was courageous by actually going out to sea and wanting to go explore the rest of the world. Not many people would take such a risk but he was confident and adventurous about the things he was wishing to accomplish. Although I think Christopher Columbus was successful in a lot of things he did, I don’t think all of the things he did were good. Despite the fact that I think he was a successful man, I don’t think Columbus should be celebrated. I believe he should be condemned because the things he did weren’t that important to the United States of America. First, he didn’t actually discover America; there were other natives living there way before him. Secondly, some of the things he did to the natives were cruel and unacceptable. And thirdly, there were a lot more important people than Columbus that did greater things and they aren’t celebrated. I don’t think Columbus should have his own special day that we
Many Americans honor Christopher Columbus Day as a holiday that celebrates his discovery of the New World on October 12, 1492. Some make the argument that Columbus is not to be considered a hero because of his actions. However, this day celebrates his discovery but not his mistakes after. His findings brought new knowledge to the Old World, profited many countries, and improved life conditions of many people. Before his voyage some thought if sailing West all one would find is India, however Columbus’ expedition found
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.
Christopher Columbus does not deserve to be honored as a hero with his own holiday. Close to 500 years, people have praised Christopher Columbus and also celebrated him as though he was the one who truly founded America. Teachers teach students that he was a great man, also how he found treasures and land known as America. Students are also taught about the names of his three ships he used on his first voyage. However, they did not teach us the truth about Christopher Columbus, and his so called “discovery”.
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.
Christopher Columbus one of the most famous explorers with an extraordinary legacy was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. He was an Italian explorer and navigator and is very well known for his four voyages and his “discovery” of the New World. Columbus began sailing when he was just a teenager in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. Later, he moved to Lisbon, Portugal and then Spain where he spent the rest of his life. Columbus’ purpose was to find a passage to Asia by sailing West, but during his voyage he ended up in the Caribbeans and South America. Columbus propose was turned down by King John of Portugal and the rulers of England and France. After several years of being declined, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella funded Columbus’ voyage due
Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. He is known for discovering the ‘New World’ or what we now know as America . Although he changed the world, he might not be the hero one would think of. The author of “Sail On!” thinks of him as a ‘brave’ hero who changed the world. However, the author of “Columbus Doesn’t Deserve A Holiday” thinks of him as a ‘great evil’ or even a ‘murderer’. Between these two articles Columbus had the same goal and achieved it, but does Columbus deserve to be honored?
For more than five centuries Americans have lifted Christopher Columbus to heights of greatness and god-like. We celebrate his life as though he was a man that had done us a great favor. In resent years Christopher Columbus has come under scrutiny, his life and works being questioned more than celebrated. There have be many great men and women that contributed to the building of our great nation but they do not receive anywhere as much recognition as Columbus. When a person begins to study the actual accounts of the "finding of the New World" they begin to wonder if Columbus should adored or hated for his actions. As a child I was taught that Columbus was a great man that had accomplished great things for the sake of humanity, but in reality his agenda was not to better humanity but to better himself. He found the Americas by mere chance and he did not even know of what he found. We give him credit for "finding" the Americas but history tells of the people, that he called Indians, already inhabiting the foreign land. So you decide whether or not Christopher Columbus should be revered a hero.
Other than what was taught in primary education I knew little of Christopher Columbus. I certainly did not know the truth. Educators and school board officials provided a faulty historical account of Christopher Columbus growing up. Most youth raised in America grew up with nursery rhymes and bedtime stories fictionalizing the heroic efforts and swash-buckling adventures of Columbus’ and men alike making their thievery and lack of concern for human life acceptable. All Americans including the Native and African Americans who were indirectly affected by Christopher Columbus via the slave trade and destruction of their people, observe Christopher Columbus Day. If this is so, why don’t we have a Hail Hitler Day? Hitler, though many see him as a terrible man, was simply doing what power hungry individuals have done for centuries. He simply took a page out of Christopher Columbus’ book destroying the weak and enslaving those left standing. In the case of Christopher Columbus quest for gold, he went to extreme measures to ensure he would get every last golden flake that glittered in Hai...
Columbus’ goal in his mission to America was somewhat heroic: “Christian missionary and anti-Islamic fervour, the power of Castile and Aragon, the fear of Portugal, the lust for gold, the desire for adventure, the hope of conquests, and Europe’s genuine need for a reliable supply of herbs and spices for cooking, preserving, and medicine all combined to produce an explosion of energy that launched the first voyage” (Flint). Although Columbus’ mission may have been heroic, what really matters is what Columbus did when he got to America, which was kidnap, enslave, and kill Native
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.
There have been circular arguments,internaionally, concerning whether Columbus discoverd or invaded the west Indies. through this essay I will explore all counter arguments for this particular topic. Its complex yet simple, one step at a time.
The second Monday in October is celebrated across America as Columbus Day. It is a celebration of the man who discovered America. In school, children are taught that Christopher Columbus was a national hero. In actuality, the man was a murderer. It is true that he found a land that was unknown to the "civilized" world, yet in this discovery, he erased the natives inhabiting the land. With slavery, warfare, and inhumane acts, Christopher Columbus and the men who accompanied him completely destroyed a people, a culture, and a land. These are not actions that should be heralded as heroic.
The story of Christopher Columbus begins in the city of Genoa in the year 1451. Columbus was the oldest of five children. He went to grammar school but left school at an early age and began sailing on Genoese ships in the Mediterranean. The sailing experience that Columbus gained sailing in the Mediterranean was the base for his sailing knowledge. Between 1476 and 1785, Columbus lived in Portugal. While in Portugal, Christopher Columbus expanded his knowledge of sailing and navigation. The time that Columbus spent in Portugal helped in his later voyages across the Atlantic.
According to the Columbus journal he said “I ordered each man to be presented with something”(Columbus Excerpt 5). He also said “Indians found without a copper token had their hands cut off and bled to death” (Columbus Excerpt 4). So like most of the Europeans he was a two-faced hypocrite who made promises but didn’t keep them. Columbus did violent crimes in the name of Spain, He didn’t think the Native Americans were worth anything he thought they were just “Arawak men and women, naked, and full of wonder” (Columbus Excerpt 3). All so it wasn’t just the doings of Columbus people all over Europe thought that slavery was legal including
Ever since Christopher Columbus voyages in the 1400’s there has been many different opinions wheatear he is a hero or a villain. In my opinion Christopher Columbus should not be considered a hero. A hero is somebody who performs good deeds for the sake of others, and not for their own benefit, whereas Christopher Columbus just wanted to find gold and riches for himself and Spain. I believe he is a villain for a few reasons Firstly; he took full advantage of the Arawak community, Secondly, he treated the Arawak’s terribly using them as slaves and Lastly,