Christopher Columbus Dbq

Columbus never even walked on what we now call the United States of America. Where ever he did land, he was motivated only by his own greed. Columbus came for the gold, spices, and slaves. In his diary, he mentioned gold 75 times just in the first two weeks, alone (Katz 13). Indians who weren’t able to find gold, were punished by having their hands cut off. Most slaves died en route to Spain. Many Indian females were taken as sex slaves, some as young as nine and ten years old. Columbus forced cooperation from the Indians by disfiguring them and using them as examples. Even worse, he used hunting dogs to tear the Indians apart. Many natives committed suicide, and murdered their own children to save them from such a horrible life. Those who survived the voyage were worked to death. Still, another huge portion of these Indians died from disease brought over by Columbus and his

All my life, I have been hearing about Christopher Columbus. Since little, first, my family talking about him, then in school learning about him. I really thought he was a hero. The way they teach you about him in grammar school or middle school makes you think he really is a hero. But later on, doing research on him, looking for what he really did, where did he came from etc. I realize that he is not a hero. There are many reasons why people think he is good as well there are many reasons why they think he is bad. Personally I think Columbus is a villain, he did a lot of bad things that most people don’t know a bout. However if they know them, it would make them think a little bit deeper if Columbus is the Hero

Christopher Columbus is commonly known as the “discoverer” of the Americas. From a young age students are taught all the wonderful things he did for our land and how well he interacted with the Natives. Although the truth is disregarded and as students grow, they come to learn that Columbus was not a hero in fact. Columbus came close to causing a genocide of the Native Americans, and basically began the “white power” movement that America is forced to deal with today. The truth of what Christopher Columbus did makes him no better than Hitler, yet America still praises him as an important figure in our history. The actions of Columbus has impacted all Americans lives since the 1400’s when he first landed on American soil. Although it did make America into the super power it is today, the structure within the borders will never be equal because of his abuse of power back then. Christopher Columbus is not the hero American students are taught from a young age and does not deserve any of the praise or recognition that we as American citizens continue to give him on a daily basis.

In 1492, Italian cartographer and explorer, Christopher Columbus, set off on a mission from Spain in order to find a quicker, alternative route to Asia. With him, Columbus brought eighty-seven men and three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María, to sail across the large and vast Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately for Columbus, a new route to Asia was never discovered by Spain that year because he had arrived in the Caribbean, which was found in North America. Thinking that he had just entered the Indies, he started to call the people of this land, “Indians”. These Indians were actually Native Americans who had lived on these lands for thousands of years prior. Immediately, letters from Columbus to the King and Queen of Spain were sent by boat back to Europe and soon Columbus was seen as the man who helped create a bridge of prosperous trading and riches between Europe and “Asia”.1 While this discovery proved that Columbus was a hero-like figure to Spain, it’s what he did within the new land that actually makes him one of the biggest villains to ever set foot on Earth. But what classifies this explorer as a villain? Columbus captured thousands of natives, many of which were sent back to Spain to live and work as slaves. Along with that, Columbus also forced the Christian religion onto them, spread diseases that killed thousands of lives, and used violence as a means of persuasion and control.2 Corrupted by his pursuit of riches,

Christopher Columbus, explorer for Spain, is he a hero or a villain? Columbus started a new age of exploration when he set sail in 1492. He asked many leaders if he could sail for them, but they said no and that they were happy with the way things were. He sailed west for the Indies, but found America instead. Columbus should not be judged by today’s standards, he is hero and should be treated as one.

Columbus DBQ Christopher Columbus created the social image of himself as a villain. Columbus didn’t necessarily create the image of himself by himself, but it did reflect it. He never really truly realized what damage he has done to the Indian and other race populace around him. Therefore, stating that the man that discovered America is actually a villain, evidence will be provided to support it.

People have many opinion of Christopher Columbus varying from hatred and believing he’s a villain to believing he’s a hero to the Americas. I believe Columbus was a great contribution in the advancements in the Americas. He brought technology, food, and a new religion. Technology brought by Christopher Columbus had a huge impact on the Americas, and because of him we have what we have now. A document by Colombo describes the benefits of what he brought over and the impact of it.

Christopher Columbus was a Italian explorer that was sent by the King and Queen of Spain to sail west in hopes of finding a new trade route to China and the West Indies. Instead of landing at either of those regions, he landed on a new continent later to be named America. Many regard Columbus as a hero for discovering this new place, but Columbus is actually the villain in this case. Christopher Columbus should be regarded as a villain due to the fact that his actions led to the death of many Native Americans through disease and by the hands of Spanish conquistadors as well as fueled the African Slave Trade.

Christopher Columbus is known as a hero for “discovering” America, but in reality Columbus brutally mistreated and took advantage of the Native Americans by enslaving them, taking their land, and banning their native religion, all of which are reasons why Columbus is a villain rather than a hero.

Now that we have gone into the project , I now know who Christopher Columbus really was . Most people believe that Christopher Columbus was hero , but others disagree . As it is known , Columbus discovered “The New World” or “The Americas” . Not only did he, discover new land but he also met new people who were natives of the land . Not all things about Columbus were good . He declared himself leader of every land he conquered and took Native Americans as slaves . His legacy is celebrated by many of the people who believe he was a hero for his accomplishments . Many of them don't acknowledge the fact that he wasn't a very good person after all . People should see Christopher Columbus as the person he really was. His discoveries don't conceal his actions .

When I was younger, my teachers used to tell of this great man that explored the world in search of a new route to Asia, how brave and fearless he was. I was taught that he discovered the Americas, not only was that a misunderstanding, but come to find out that most things I had learned in school were people trying to turn Columbus into this hero that never existed. They would talk of the variety of goods, plants, animals, spices, and land that he had discovered. I used to look up to Christopher Columbus and strived to be like him, but then I grew up and learned the hard truth.

Before we can truly label Columbus as a hero or evil, we must first define what is viewed as a hero. Many dictionary definitions exist having the meaning of a hero as one with courageous or noble qualities but seeing as these definitions are extremely objective, the definition of a hero I will be using for the purpose of defining Columbus will be, quoting Joseph Campbell, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” Christopher Columbus clearly demonstrated giving and self sacrifice in his investments of time and risking his life for his voyages with “commercial expeditions resembling warlike cruises” and at some points in his travels being away from home for 29 months. The rewards that Columbus, along with the rest of Europe, reaped from his efforts include the new access to vast expanses of resourceful land, as well as the eventually successful, even flourishing, colonization of America, not to mention, that Columbus, “[the] founding figure of a new world” laid the framework to modern day globalization as well as played a key role in the creation of one of the most significant, powerful, and impactful nations existing today. The fact that Columbus grew up in poor conditions and being completely self taught in the art of navigation and seafaring only adds to the magnitude of his immense accomplishments.

In this journal his very first entry since his landing talked about how the dark skinned natives who approached him, in a very friendly manner, was God's way of telling him that no white man would ever have to work in this land again. Columbus and his crew brought disease that the natives had never came in contact with and their immune systems just couldn't handle. Not only did germs kill off the “Indians” but genocide began all because of greed. Not only did Columbus kill them but he killed a large majority of his own men as well.

After reading these excerpts, I view Columbus in a less positive light. When students first learn about Columbus, they tend to view him as a wonderful human being who changed the world forever by discovering the Americas. Though he did change the course of history forever, Columbus did devious things to make sure everything went his way. He lied to his crew about how many leagues they traveled in a day so they would not lose their morale. Columbus states, “Steered west and sailed, day and night, above fifty leagues; wrote down only forty-seven.”

They painted a picture of Christopher Columbus in a way, to be honest, makes him look like a terrible human being. He was a lousy captain who failed to keep promises. He was a slave trader as well as a failed explorer (Zinn 1). Yet all across the history we have been taught, Columbus has been hailed as a hero who discovered America. To begin Columbus was not the first explorer to visit America. Loewen states “Seven of the twelve textbooks I studied at least mention the expeditions of the Norse. These daring sailors reached America in a series of voyages across the North Atlantic, establishing communities on the Faeroe Islands, Iceland.” (Loewen