There are many opinions that circulate around Christopher Columbus. Some are good, but based with a lack of knowledge, while some may be directed as a general hate towards Europeans of that era. To truly understand what we should think about columbus, we must analyze all sides of the many arguments that are all directed at him. Was Columbus really a famed explorer who sailed in 1492, or was he a man with a heart of stone, who cared for nothing more than his own personal gain? Who may have been driven by pressure to accomplish his goal, no matter what the cost. Opinions aside,he left a legacy that leaves a trail of impressions on modern day America. To start with the positive sides of Columbus, he came and explored the west indies. He took these findings back to …show more content…
Many know this about him, and thus he becomes a role model for many. Unfortunately, many do not know the other side to this story. Many history writings and teachings avoid what happened once Columbus reached his accidental destination. Columbus may be considered a basic topic that is to be covered in lower grades. Many kids are kept away from the reality of Columbus's fortunes upon reaching the New World. As Columbus Day is celebrated, we must take into consideration many things we miss about Columbus. While it may have been a Gutsy move, sailing into the unknown, Columbus did not have the pure cause of trying to discover a new land. His voyage was influenced similarly to many of his time: money. Striking it rich was a large industry in his time. He also had been funded by the monarchs of Spain. If he returned empty handed, the consequences for him would have been grim. To assure he did not come back empty handed, when he landed and had first encounters with the indigenous Taino people. He took back many samples for Spain. While this may have proved ineffective, as many would end up dying from disease. Gold was also found, and people were needed to harvest
Many consider Columbus a Hero, others believe he was selfish and self centered. Myint author of “Christopher Columbus: Hero or Villain?” and Ransby author of “Columbus and the Making of Historical Myth.”, are faced with the same dilemma. From a young age children are taught about Columbus and his greatness, but the books fail to document the atrocities committed in the process. Most of the books use biased language; little evidence and vague language is used to hail Columbus as a great hero. Myint provides a more objective stance, while Ransby condemns Columbus entirely. However, both suggest to consider Columbus a hero is a mistake.
Who is Christopher Columbus? You may already have prior knowledge of him, but if you do not, Christopher Columbus was a Spanish explorer who made four voyages to the Americas. His voyages led to the Columbian Exchange and colonization. Many cultures, ideas, technology, and foods were spread between the Americas, the “New World,” and Europe, Africa, and Asia, the “Old World”. Even though many great things were exchanged between the Old World and the New World, many diseases from Europe were introduced to the Natives. Does this make Christopher Columbus a hero, or a villain? The answer is not that debatable. A closer look must be taken at Christopher Columbus 's life to be able to judge such things. This essay will take a look at his life,
A great hero from Europe or a man with only himself and his people in mind? Many people believe that he was a hero whose discoveries lead to the possibilities we have in America today, while many other condemn him for the deaths of many Native Americans that occurred to make it possible to live in America today. What would someone like me see in Columbus’ discoveries and enslavements? He introduced the Europeans to new products and ways of financial expansion. Even though Columbus gave us a head start to a better life here in America, what lengths did he go to make such a life possible? He brought over diseases to the natives and also grazing animals to eat up the vegetation. These deaths would have never occurred if not for the countries that funded the exploration. Columbus and the Europeans would never have come to the Americas when they did and so many natives would not have died.
Despite being one of the most renowned explorers in history, Christopher Columbus’ legacy remains controversial. The debate on whether Columbus should be celebrated has captured news headlines for decades. While many view him simply as a gifted Italian navigator who laid the seeds for the colonization of the New World, history paints a much more complicated picture. His journal entries and eye-witness testimony reveal Columbus to be a man of intolerance and indifference towards those deemed inferior to himself. Christopher Columbus’ treatment of Indigenous’ people, in addition to his ethnocentric worldview, allows for the conclusion that he should not be idolized as a hero in the modern age.
Christopher Columbus was a cruel, delusional, and self-centered man who does not deserve high praises for the discovery of America.
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.
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.
Christopher Columbus was a famous navigator and explorer who was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. Columbus wanted to claim land for Spain so he could be rich and spread religion. He originally set out to find the East Indies for many reasons. One was that he hoped to establish trade routes and colonies in order to gain wealth. Another was that there were now bigger guns that could be strapped on ships so he felt that his voyage had more of a chance of being successful. The main reasons for his exploration was that he wanted to find a western route to Asia to find the riches that Marco Polo talked about in his book. So basically he was not courageous, he was just greedy. He intended on arriving in Japan on his first voyage, but instead, he arrived at the Bahamas archipelago. He ended up making numerous voyages and claiming the lands he visited for the Spanish Empire. Columbus continued voyages creating the first lasting European conta...
I didn?t know much about Columbus, but when it was taught to us as a class, which was rarely, the lessons were brief and covered only the ?positive? things that he did. That is, from the eyes of those who believe Columbus was a noble man. It wasn?t until 6th grade when my teacher showed my class the book Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen that we opened our eyes and saw reality. We had been deceived. Deceived by videos. Deceived by books. Deceived by teachers. But at least it felt good to know the truth-finally.
Everyone has heard the story of how Christopher Columbus discovered America. Almost every child is taught to think this from kindergarten. There's even a day every year dedicated to him. The thing is, not everyone knows the whole story. Christopher Columbus isn't quite the hero people make him out to be. He is responsible for almost all of the deaths of the 1-3 million Taínos Indians. Columbus was the one to ask for the money to explore. He was the one to claim the land for Spain. It was him who gave to order to kill everyone. He's obviously completely guilty, right? Well, not exactly.
[2] Columbus is a mainstay of American patriotism. He is the patron saint who planted the seeds of our nation. Our culture has been lulled into his heroic myth for hundreds of years and has celebrated this man with much pomp and circumstance. Columbus’ worthiness has been the subject of much controversy and is now being linked to such un-heroic terms as mass murder, holocaust, and genocide.
They say things like they didn’t get enough things done. But they got a ton of things done. If they didn’t move to the new world then they would have never got the new ships and go out and discover the new land. That was a big part for Columbus when he moved out to the new world. Also they got a ton of things that they needed. They gathered and searched for quite a long time and when they did find them the Asians didn’t ask for anything in return. That helped them do so many things that I can’t even name all of them. When the king and queen made the decision to send Christopher Columbus and a crew to try and discover some place that they could conquer they made a great gamble. If you look at the overall point of view and the things that went good for Columbus it would greatly outnumber the things that Columbus didn’t do good or didn’t like. Lastly when Columbus found this land he looked around and discovered things about the new land he didn’t just see a big piece of land and say okay we are going to conquer this. That was also helpful because when the king and queen came over to the new world Columbus had the idea on what he wanted to do with this
For the past eighty years, Columbus Day has been a federal holiday celebrated on the second Monday of October. On that day, we celebrate the great and noble explorer, Christopher Columbus, and all of his epic voyages and groundbreaking discoveries. That's the narrative we mostly hear about. But is that really the truth? It appears as though the actual story of Christopher Columbus is far worse than the romanticized versions we often hear. The morality of Columbus' values, actions, and character are questionable. The things he did and his motives for doing so were quite atrocious. His actions, if done in this day and age, would have been totally and completely unacceptable. Columbus should be judged by today’s standards. Therefore, we should not continue to celebrate Columbus Day because of the materialistic motives of Christopher Columbus, the horrendous acts he carried out against the indigenous people, and the legitimacy of his discoveries. (Dobbs, 1997)
Columbus and Champlain were both devoted to the success of their expeditions; however, Columbus had far more selfish intentions. Columbus was an Italian who sought aid for a journey that would travel across the Atlantic Ocean in search for riches in the East. His support did not come easy as he was rejected by the courts of Portugal, France, and England. Ultimately, Columbus was able to gain authorization and funding for a voyage to begin in 1492 by the Spanish monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel. After starting the long awaited expedition in April, Columbus was able to reach the West Indies by October of that year. Upon encountering the New World, Columbus immediately claimed the land along with its natives for his Spanish sovereigns.
On October 14, 1492, Christopher Columbus founded the New World, sparking one of the biggest domino effects in history, and changing the world forever. Columbus 's expedition led to the discovery of the vast natural resources of America, such as precious metals, vast expansive woods, and nutrient rich soil perfect for growing crops and raising livestock. Whenever there are large quantities of resources found, it is not long before colonization follows. This spawned a period of competition for territory, resources, and colonization in the Americas. Columbus was not the first person to discover the Americas. Chinese merchants and Vikings had already been to the Americas, as well as the indigenous people who lived there. He was the first person