Christopher Columbus Summary

Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen-hundred-ninty-two. He came over from Spain in three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria and discovered America, or at least that was what I was taught in elementary school. Since then there has been much controversy going on over the issue of weather or not Christopher Columbus really “discovered” America because when he landed in San Salvador he was not alone. Native Americans already inhabited the land and they had been there long before Columbus, but this doesn’t mean that he should be atacked stripped of his dignity.

Columbus has always been portrayed as an enlightened, peaceful explorer who “discovered” a new world, and became friends with the native people. Howard Zinn’s view on Columbus’s encounter with the natives is an entirely different perspective. Zinn describes Columbus as a man who is willing to torture and kill others to be able to accomplish what he wants; in this case he wanted to obtain gold and other resources to take back with him to Spain.

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,

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

Christopher Columbus account on the meeting of the Arawak for the first time consists of many tragic events in history. However, there are two different points of view that should be considered upon the opinion of Christopher himself, and Bartolome de Las Casas. Comparing and contrasting the two documents one can truly see that the truth would always come to light. In Christopher Columbus voyage, he had mentioned that the Native Americans were nothing more than loving as they were willing to give as much as they could without any resentment. As they were always lavish with everything in their possession. In the second passage, Bartolome de Las Casas has also indicated that the Indians were rational and wise individuals. They never had any desire or feeling of hate toward another

The arrival of Columbus lead to the decline of the Arawaks because of many factors. Columbus took advantage of the Arawaks’ land, resources, and people. As Zinn mentioned, the Arawaks lived in Bahama Island (which Columbus arrived on) and they were known to be very kind and generous. The Arawaks had great agriculture and weaving skills; they had farms of corn, yams, cassava. But lacked on having working animals and iron. What intrigued Columbus the most was their gold earrings. With no iron and real tools of defense, the Arawaks became defenseless.

The full measure of Columbus's failure as a colonizer was not yet apparent when he returned to Castile in 1496. Yet by the end of six or seven years of his governorship, with his own, the monarchs', and the settlers' objectives all still unachieved, and Hispaniola suffering an apparently interminable series of rebellions not only by the Indians but by the colonists too, Columbus was to be superseded and disgraced, and shipped home to Spain in chains.1 Overall, Fernandez-Armesto depicted Columbus as an annoyingly eccentric person incapable of succeeding. Although, he discovered the Americas, he failed to be a leader to his crew and the natives. Instead, he was on the lookout for ways of manipulating the motives for profit.

For my compare and contrast paper I decide to write about Christopher Columbus because he is big in geography and his name is known throughout the world, and not only in the United States, and he did a lot in his lifetime. And I know every student will learn about him in schools. Christopher Columbus is mentioned in Davis’ book; however, I also decide to do my own research as well.

When Columbus saw the people on this land, he assumed they were people from the West Indies, therefore he called them  “Indians”. In Columbus’ letter to Lord Sanchez, he described the people as “savages, [who are] naturally timid and full of fear” (document 13).  In document 2, his letter to Santangel, he goes so far as to say that when he tried to establish trading relationships with the Indians they acted primitive and uncivilized. Columbus also states in document 2 that he hopes they will become fond of the Spanish and establish trade relationships as had been requested. Obviously this would be a difficult feat because of the lack of coherence between cultures. Columbus worked very hard to ensure the development of trade relations.  As seen in document 9, Columbus writes many letters back to the King and Queen of Spain reporting on the status of his mission and updates on the relations with the people. One key detail from this document is Columbus’ opening line where he includes the statement “in obedience to your Highness's’ commands.”  This is significant because it shows that Columbus is working under the King and Queen's commands and that he is not entirely to blame for his actions. Columbus should not be held responsible due to the fact that he was abiding the orders of the King and

The main argument of Columbus in his diary from October 11-15, 1492, is that the natives that populated America before he “discovered” it are ignorant brutes who should be enslaved into servants and taught to be Christian. Columbus clearly supports his thesis as shown by three pieces of evidence. The first piece of evidence he gives is that the natives are ignorant: “They do not carry arms nor are they acquainted with them, because I showed them swords and they took them by the edge and through ignorance cut themselves.” He writes about how they do not even know what a sword is and how they use primitive weapons without iron. Another piece of evidence is that they are poor in everything: “All of them go around as naked as their mother bore them; and the women also . . . Our Lord pleasing, at the time of my departure I will take six of them from here to Your Highness in order that they may learn to speak.” The natives don’t understand about covering their bodies to preserve modesty, and they still need to be taught to speak properly. The final piece of evidence Columbus gives is that the natives are savages. He alludes to the fact that the natives do not understand how the world works and that they are cannibals who are a threat to society. The source did add to my own understanding of the topic. Before I read Columbus’s account of meeting the natives, I did not know that he thought the native inhabitants of the West Indies were deserving of torture, murder, and enslavement;

It is disheartening that the Arawak tribe which received Columbus and his crew with open hearts could be subjugated to mere slaves. Also evident in his writing, “the Indians are so naïve…” This further exposed who he really was, a tyrant who capitalized on the warmth and affection shown upon his arrival for monetary want.

Chapter One Thesis: Even though it is taught in history books and in schools, Christopher Columbus was not a hero but rather a selfish man who used cruel manners in order to obtain what he wanted, harshly killing thousands of Indians. Additionally, the ethics of these manners are not questioned but rather praised for bringing on economic and social progress.

Despite the author’s bias, Columbus’ selfishness closely connects to history’s pattern of power corrupting humans, resulting in the abandonment of morality; therefore, Zinn’s sources detailing Columbus’ enslavement and extermination of the native races seem partially valid. Throughout the excerpt, Zinn inserts primary sources from Columbus himself, but mostly Las Casas, a former plantation owner who criticized the cruelty he witnessed daily. As Zinn struggles to include the perspective of those who positively view Columbus, the reader does not understand the whole story, decreasing the validity. Additionally, the account is only somewhat accurate as bias often leads to exaggeration, which limits the accuracy of a statement. For example, Las Cases remarks how Columbus wiped out three million Hispaniola natives, but modern historians believe there were only a quarter of a million. While primary sources may not always be completely accurate, these descriptions detail gory occurrences that

Everyone knows the saying Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. However, there is a lot more to Christopher Columbus than what everyone was taught in elementary school through high school. Columbus is thought to be a hero, but just being classified as a hero is a fallacy. Several works including Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies and The Lies my Teacher Told Me have been published about the real Christopher Columbus and his legacy.

Christopher Columbus wrote this letter in the hopes of outlining his discoveries to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. They along with other backers helped him in his pursuit of finding a quicker route to the Chinese trade markets. Columbus wanted many things from his voyage, fame and fortune being the front runners. The King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella wanted the the fame and fortune like Columbus, and also the ability to bring their religion to many lands all over the globe. His crew set sail from Spain in the three well known ships listed as the Pinta, Nina, and Santa Maria. Columbus sailed from new island to new island for many months on end, in what we now know as the modern day Caribbean. Christopher Columbus’s efforts were groundbreaking, and his letter served to further his efforts of another voyage by showcasing his success of discovering the Indies, routes, the people, and their natural resources. The promise of new trade routes, silver, spices, silk, and other merchandise were replaced with his belief he “conquered” new islands, set up a colony, and brought back a small supply of gold and slaves.