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America A Narrative History Essay

Decent Essays

The question of whether the impact of European contact had on indigenous populations should be addressed as historical or moral is an ineffably difficult one to answer. On one hand, a moral point of view could add more emotional and thoughtful aspects into history. However, on the other, a historical perspective would help give the audience an objective point of view and an understanding of past events without the main point being an ethical issue. Thus, the impact European contact had on indigenous populations in North America should be directed as a historical question, as it showcases every detail and account of history from a neutral perspective that allows questions about the morality or immorality of past actions to be answered by the …show more content…

Columbus, still believing he had reached Asia, decided to return home. He left about forty men behind and seized a dozen natives to present as gifts to Spain’s royal couple. When Columbus reached Spain, he received a hero’s welcome.” Although a short excerpt from this textbook, it shows the neutrality used when writing this paragraph. The author(s) leave the thoughts on Columbus’ immorality to the reader, and state what happened in a clear and concise way. For example, the sentences could have been written as, “Columbus, still naively believing he had reached Asia, decided to return home. He left about forty men behind him, and cruelly seized a dozen natives to inhumanely present as gifts to Spain’s royal couple. When Columbus reached Spain, he received a hero’s welcome, even though he was no hero.” The tone of voice and choice of words in my example versus the original writing creates an entirely different mood and expresses an obviously negative opinion of Columbus. Now, although many people may share the opinion that Columbus was not a hero and that it was terribly unjust for him to take some of the indigenous people back to Spain as gifts, the sentences have too much bias. They leave almost no room for disagreement or discussion and to me that is a vastly incorrect way to portray history. You must allow your readers or audiences think for themselves and let them weigh the morality of actions taken in the

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