Essay Christopher Columbus

Some say Columbus is a hero and should be recognized, which I believe has some valid points. The main point is that without Columbus we would not of been here with the opportunities we have today. In a video, it says how Columbus was an inspiration to struggling people. I believe that this is a very weak argument that most people bring in. If Columbus never “discovered” America, we would have saved millions of Native Americans and they would never have been placed in reservations that are hideous

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

According to Meredith, Columbus had said that the Arawak Indians willingly traded everything that they owned and that they seemed a poor people.# He later states in his log to make himself appear humble that he gave gifts to one particular man, a red cap, a string of glass beads, and two hawks’ bells which were together worth less than 3 cents.#

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

Columbus was no exception. The Indians, Columbus reported, "are so naive and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.” (A People’s History By Howard Zinn). Columbus took some of the friendly natives by force just so that he might know where the treasure was hidden. He goes on to say, “I was very attentive to them, and strove to learn if they had any gold. I gathered from them by signs that... there would be found a king who possessed large vessels of gold, and in great quantities.” (-- Christopher Columbus (1492)) The Native’s strong belief in sharing, unfortunately, caused the Europeans to fall into greediness. They took advantage of their kindness beyond the limit. Furthermore, he came up with a cruel system. In this system “they ordered all persons to collect a certain quantity of gold every three months. When they brought it, they were given copper tokens to hang around their necks. Those without a copper token had their hands cut off and bled to death (-- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States (1980)). “ Columbus and his crew went to an extreme here in order to

The main idea behind the voyage was to find a faster route to the Indies, as well as introduce Christianity and The King and Queen to the new world along with its inhabitants. As said by Columbus “Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians, and princes who love and promote the holy Christian faith, and are enemies of the doctrine of Mahomet, and of all idolatry and heresy, determined to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the above-mentioned countries of India, to see the said princes, people, and territories, and to learn their disposition and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith; and furthermore directed that I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a Westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no certain evidence that any one has gone.” Like said, it shows that Columbus wished to find a faster route, so Spain could easily be able to obtained traded goods which would produce more profit for the country of Spain. This kind of shows that Spain needed to find this route due

After his voyage to San Salvador, he then made 3 other voyages to Cuba, The Bahamas, and Hispaniola. Although he was searching for unexplored land, he was also looking for gold which he was unsuccessful in finding. Also in his travels he planned on converting the Indians to Christianity. In Columbus’s entire life he never believed that he had found a new continent. His final voyage was to Jamaica which ended because of a ship wreck. When he was rescued, he was delusional and once he arrived back in Europe, he soon passed away.

It is thought by many that Christopher Columbus was a skilled sailor on a mission of greed. Many think that he in fact did it all for the money, honor and the status that comes with an explorer, but this is not the case entirely. Columbus was an adventurer and was enthused by the thrill of the quest of the unknown. “Columbus had a firm religious faith and a scientific curiosity, a zest for life, the felling for beauty and the striving for novelty that we associate with the advancement of learning”. He had heard of the legendary Atlantic voyages and sailors reports of land to the west of Madeira and the Azores. He believed that Japan was about 4,800 km to the west of Portugal. In 1484, Columbus wanted support for an exploratory

Supported by Spain, seeking a water route to the spice islands in 1492 Christopher Columbus left Spain on his first voyage. After more then a month had passed, the crew started to loose all hope and the voyage seemed like a failure. Until on October 12, 1492 land was sighted. The land that was sighted was not what Columbus had originally intended to find. Columbus landed in the Caribbean Sea in the Bahamas, which was thousands of miles away from his original destination. It was there that he met the indigenous people of the islands. These encounters that he had along with the treatment of these native people would eventually help shape his legacy, but at the

In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the new world; the Native Americans lives were altered through the introduction of the Columbian Exchange, Cultural changes and loss of their homeland. Columbus's discovery of the new world sparked colonization of the Americas. There was an ample amount of vast, arable land thus creating economic opportunity for the wealthy and the common-man. The people longing for this opportunity intruded on the Native American's land and completely changed their way of life.

Columbus made an especially daring trip when he set sail for the Indies. He knew he was headed for some rough water, bad weather, and maybe even an unwelcoming crowd of people.

In Columbus’ letter to King Ferdinand of Spain, he starts off by describing the many islands he has found and taken possession of. Columbus wants to prove to the king, who has funded this journey for him, that he has found something and that what he has “found” is of worth. Although, he claims he found these islands, he did not find these lands empty. The land had already been occupied by the Native Americans and because of a language barrier between the two groups, Columbus was able to use that against them and prove its legality of his possession of the land. The Indians on the other hand had no idea what these Europeans were up too.

The people on the island had no clue what a sword was so they would cut themselves when they would touch the blade. Christopher Columbus thought it was going to be easy if needed to fight with them. They had no way of protecting themselves. He and his men ended up killing these poor people little by little. Even when they tried to help them out by directing them to find gold or help them when they got hurt. On his trip when he arrived in Hispaniola the Taino people living on the island welcomed and were gentle with him and his men. When Columbus left the island he left forty of his men and those men raped and fought the Tainos after they helped them out.2 On his second trip Columbus set up a permanent colony and again his men raped, stole gold ornaments and food that provoked war with the Tainos. The Spanish killed tens of thousands out of population and the ones who did survive the Spanish ended up chopping off their hands if they did not provide their allotment.3 At the end the Spanish wiped out the islands either by killing the people or they left to surrounding countries.

On the 11th of October, they finally reached land. He claimed the island in the name of the King and Queen and set foot on the island. When on the island, he was warmly greeted by the natives because the natives thought that Columbus and his crew were from heaven. The natives were willing to trade pretty much anything for whatever gadgets and gizmos the sailors had on board, no matter if they were broken or worthless. Columbus found these people to be simple minded and easily converted to Christianity without the need for force. He also found the lands that they lived on to be beautiful and very fertile. Even though the main reason why he embarked on this journey was to convert the peoples of India to Christianity, it seemed as though he was

Christopher Columbus and his goalsCertainly, Columbus was a devout Catholic. He lived during the period of the great Spanish Inquisition, which led to the defeat of the Jews and Muslims. Perhaps he wanted to continue the Spanish legacy and spread the faith toward the west. However, personal ambitions may have also sparked Columbus's interest in finding a water route to the Indies. He asks for gold many times from the natives and searches all the islands in hopes of discovering more. He views the natives as a source of economical benefit, hoping to employ them for practical purposes. Even though there are not any indications of immense amounts of gold and spices in the New World, Columbus continues to ask for more Spanish support in order