Christopher Columbus: The Hero Essay

Columbus started out on his first voyage in the middle of 1492. It turned out to be a great success and he won Spain many places in South America. The king, queen, and the people of Spain were pleased with Columbus. Isabella immediately ordered him to sail again. On this second voyage, he formed the first European settlement in the Americas. Colonists that accompanied him began to criticize Columbus and his adventures. However, Isabella continued to support him.

School taught us about the infamous Christopher Columbus who was known as the hero who found the Americas in 1492, but is that the truth? Is Columbus really the hero that grade school portrayed him to be? Columbus was not. Columbus was a greedy man who destroyed an entire race of people with genocide just so only he could benefit and become a man of money and power.

Christopher Columbus was an Italian who worked on behalf of, King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I. The Spanish monarchs’ ultimate goals were to find a trade routine to India, Asia and to spread the Catholic religion to others. They financed Columbus with the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria to find a western route to India. Thinking that it was India, Columbus found land. In his journal, Columbus described his first account of the natives as “they were very friendly to us, and perceived that they could be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force” (“Fordham University”). Also, he plans for them to be great servants so they “may learn our language” (“Fordham University”). He says

Everyone knows Christopher Columbus as the man that discovered America, but was he a hero? It depends on what one defines as a hero, but the most basic definition of a hero is someone who is known for their courageous and noble acts. If that is the case, then Columbus is not a hero for three different reasons. First, He only discovered America on accident. Second, he captured Native Americans and brought them back to Spain to be slaves.

The name Christopher Columbus is recognized by many as that of the discoverer of the New World. Variations of this famous name change according to nation, being referred to by the Spaniards as “Cristóbal Colón” and, by those of his own Italian heritage, as “Cristoforo Colombo”. Aside from these insignificant contrasts, his narrative remains unfaltering in its global recognition as a tale of hardships faced and victories won, all met with indubitable passion and determination embodied by Columbus himself to achieve his goals. In August of 1492, he, along with his 87 men, set off in search of a western route to Asia aboard three renowned ships: the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María. This expedition and the four that would follow began with ambitious visions of monetary gain, religious propagation, and glory, the entirety of these with the overarching theme of competing in the imminent race for continental, and perhaps world, power between civilizations. Before executing this tremendous voyage, however, it was required of Columbus to embark on a search for a willing sponsor with access to resources he otherwise would not be able to obtain. The Genoese explorer at last persuaded rulers of Spain Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon to finance his trip due to a combination of characteristics taking place during his final request of them, specifically the unification of religion during this time, the economic advantages the quest would bring, and the impeccable timing of

To fully understand the motives behind Columbus and his idea of sailing westward, you have to look at the time period in which he lived. He lived during a time

Christopher Columbus, born in 1451 in Genoa,Italy, believed that sailing to the west across the Atlantic Ocean was the shortest and fastest sea route to the continent of Asia. Columbus did not realize that the western hemisphere is between Europe and Asia. This led to Columbus making the assumption that the Earth was a third of its actual size. Like many others in this time period, Christopher Columbus was unbothered by the political allegiances. He was willing to sail for whatever country would sponsor his voyage. However, he could never find a patron due to his arrogance or ambition. On August 2,1492, Columbus sent 3 ships which were accompanied by crews of eighty-seven men. These men made landfall on October 12th,1492, on the island of San Salvador. He made another voyage and explored present day Puerto Rico and Jamaica. Columbus made two more voyages made between the years of 1498 and 1500 to the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America. Months after he explored present day Cuba and Hispaniola Christopher Columbus found significant amounts of gold. Many of Christopher Columbus’ successes created potential conflict between Spain and Portugal. There are many reasons why the Spanish Monarch hired Columbus to find another route to Asia, however the main reasons are to get the Queen and King more land, riches, and crops.

“ Was the world was flat or round?” But I believe, he was a greedy, selfish explorer seeking for gold. Persuading Queen Isabella to help, in the establishment for his ships to find a faster route to gain profit of the new found lands in India and Asia, there was a trade to find gold, spices, silk and spread of christianity. He never reached Asia. Instead, throughout the voyages, a sailor named Rodrigo found an island in the bahamas, which Mr. Greedy Columbus took credit for.

He was not accepted by King Phillip the second of Portuguese for a three ship voyage of discovery. Columbus took his project idea first to Genon than Venice but still was not accepted there at all too. He went to the Spain monarchy of Isabella and Ferdinand in 1486. The King and Queen said, "They can't help because they were in war now but after the war we will help you." Columbus continued to ask and ask until Spain said "yes". Finally after Spain was out of war, they gave us the support for the long exciting trip. We were off to the New World in the Santa Maria, with the Piñta and the Niña along with us. The Piñta captained by Martian Alonso Pinzon and the Niña by Vicente Xañez

Before the voyage began, he promised his sailors a large reward for the man who saw land first. While on the expedition, Rodrigo, a sailor, saw land and told the rest of the boat, on the morning of October 12, 1492.  As Rodrigo anticipated his reward, Columbus said he saw a light the evening before and retrieved the reward for himself (Zim 3). On the whole, Columbus did not take care of his crew, but rather only cared for himself. On the exterior, Columbus seemed to be a generous and gracious man, by offering a reward for a completed job, but on the interior, Columbus was greedy and self-serving, by taking the reward from a well deserved sailor. He considered himself superior to his crew and denied a promise to them. He continued to fend only for himself and became excessively arrogant throughout the conquest. Columbus should be remembered as a greedy and self-serving explorer.

Christopher Columbus is mainly known by the famous saying “ Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492”. This saying has been used for centuries and a lot of people think that’s what defines Columbus, well it doesn’t. Christopher columbus was in fact known for sailing across the atlantic ocean not knowing where he was going so that he could find treasure basically. He presented his plans to sail to officials in portugal and england. In 1491 he found two people that wanted exactly what he wanted which was money, the two people that had a contract with Columbus were Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille. His contract promised that he basically could keep a small percentage of whatever money he found and the other percentage of the money goes to Ferdinand and Isabella. On August 3, 1942

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator and colonizer. In 1492, after many negotiations, he convinced the Spanish court, the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, to financially support his voyage to the Indies by sailing west from Spain. However, not knowing that there were two continents, the Americas, between Spain and the Indies, instead of sailing to the Indies, as he’d hoped, he eventually reached what is now known as the Caribbean islands. Columbus’s main goals during his travels were to trade for gold, pearls and spices, and to conquer new land. He did everything he could to get those resources, and while doing so, he committed many dirty deeds: “massacres and torture” (Sanders). Although many consider Christopher Columbus a hero for discovering the New World, many also consider him a villain for committing so many terrible and inhumane crimes.

Columbus spent years trying to convince people to pay for his voyage. Finally he convinced Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain to pay for the trip. He set sail on August 12, 1492 with three ships named the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. The voyage was long and difficult. At one point his men threatened him and wanted to turn back. Columbus promised them he would

Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa. He was the son of a wool merchant. Columbus have three brothers named Bartolome, Giovanni Pellegrino and Giacomo and a sister. Columbus grew up with many sailors and became a sailor who worked in a merchant ship: “At 14, Columbus began sailing on trading ships.” (Higgins,13) The love that Columbus have for the ocean have caused him to study the world’s geographic and navigation. Columbus learned from his studies that the world, mostly consists of land and water. As a young Italian explorer, Columbus was determined to find an easier path to Asia. Many merchants were also trying to find a better route to Asia because it was hard for them to bring back goods by taking the land route. Trading by land is very dangerous and time consuming, which causes many foods to rot.

Christopher Columbus was born in Italy and eventually moved to spain. He has participated in several expeditions to Africa, which gained him valuable knowledge of the Atlantic ocean. 1485. Columbus is taking a passage to Palos, Spain looking for a sponsor for his voyage to the Indies. He proposed this same voyage to the Portuguese king, Genoa, and lastly Venice, which all three rejected his idea of a three-ship voyage. He was now on his way to Spain to talk to Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon. Yet again, Colombus was rejected due to the fact they were focused on a was with the Muslim, but was never forgot about Columbus and his voyage.