Response To Christopher Columbus's 'The Prince'

The Prince, by Machiavelli, expresses principles on how a prince is expected act is directly applied through Shakespeare’s characters in his play, MacBeth. The more vital principle to any prince is how to avoid being hated at all costs. The other includes the correct use of clemency and cruelty, as well as if it is better to be loved or feared. MacBeth and Duncan illustrate the polar sides of the principles Machiavelli presents. MacBeth represents a corrupt prince through the the misuse of cruelty, killing those who present themselves as threats. Duncan shows, through his naive nature, that it is better to be feared than loved. Through Machiavelli’s applied principles in MacBeth, it’s simple to analyze how a proper prince

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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.#

When Columbus and his men arrived to the islands, he noticed that the natives were generous, and accommodating because they willingly traded everything they owned and brought them such things like: food, water, and gifts. Since the beginning the natives offered all of their hospitality to Columbus

    Greediness was the downfall of Columbus, making him a scoundrel. When the Spanish monarchs agreed to sponsoring the voyage, they made a deal with Columbus, in which both parties would benefit. If Columbus obtained gold and spices for the Spanish monarchs, he would obtain ten percent of the profits (“Columbus and the Indians” Zinn 2). In addition, he was egotistical and selfish. These qualities were illuminated when he interacted with his crew, specifically at the end of the voyage to the New World. While on the expedition, Rodrigo, a sailor, saw land and told the rest of the boat,

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

As the Prince is described as demanding his character proves that he understands the level of power and control he has. The prince also understands how much respect he expects from his subjects.

Columbus's arrogance and exploitation regarding slavery began on his second voyage. Ferdinand and Isabella had ordered that the natives be treated kindly. In opposition to this order, Columbus began exporting slaves in great numbers in 1494. It was because he was not making any real profit elsewhere on the island that he decided to exploit the one source of income--people--he had in abundance (Fernandez-Armesto 107). When word reached him that the crown did not want him sending more slaves, Columbus ignored it. He was desperate to make his expeditions profitable enough for Ferdinand and Isabella's continued support. Evidently he was not reprimanded because thousands of Indians were exported. By the time they reached Spain, usually a third of them were dead. Bartolome de las Casas wrote that one Spaniard had told him they did not need a compass to find their way back to Spain; they could simply follow the bodies of floating Indians who had been tossed overboard when they died (17). It is horrible to consider that the exportation of these natives resulted

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.

People may try to argue that nobody would know about the Native Americans if Columbus did not “discover” them. If Columbus did not discover the Native Americans, more people would probably know about them because around 8 million of them would not have died. Though Christopher Columbus praised the nature he “worked so hard to discover”, he failed to mention the people there for obvious reasons. In his second letter to the king and queen of Spain, our preconceptions about what kind of person he was is confirmed. He acted entitled and somewhat rude towards the royals. If that was how he treated his superiors that funded his trip, you can only imagine how he spoke to the natives.

A prince must learn not to be limited to morality when unavoidable; a leader has to be able to use lies, force and deception if required in the world. Whether it is better to be feared or loved clearly addresses the reason for this.

Plato’s The Last Days of Socrates would describe the “ideal prince” as someone who admits their ignorance, which therefore would make them the most intelligent (Apology, 21d). Socrates believes that wisdom is virtue (Apology, 23b) and therefore will improve society.

This semester in Mr. Sellers’ History class, we were asked to read a history novel and write a book review on it. I chose to read The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, and it sure did not disappoint. For a book on history, it was not so bad. The two parts to this review include a summary and a critical analysis. This paper will discuss the major points Machiavelli made in his book and analyze his tone and writing style, with an overall critique.