The Civilization Of Columbus : Columbus And Christopher Columbus

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.

Though a vast majority of students learn about Columbus’ great conquests and celebrate him as a hero, very few know of the horrible atrocities he caused when he first landed in America. While considered a hero by most in the United States, Zinn argues that people should think twice about Columbus’ actions, and question whether his behavior to the Indians was necessary. In quotes one and five, Zinn clearly depicts his thoughts on the atrocities done by Columbus and other colonists to the natives living in America.

After many centuries, a lot of controversy still surrounds Christopher Columbus. He remains to be a strange figure in history regarded as a famous explorer and a great mariner who made many discoveries in his days. Other people still regard him as a visionary and a national hero while others chose to remember him as a brutal and greedy person who used the rest of the humanity for his own selfish gains. Despite the fact that there have been protests in his being honored through a holiday referred to as the Columbus Day, he still deserves recognition and acknowledgement as a historical figure performed a great role in the making of the modern world.

The Journal of Christopher Columbus is the day to day journal/diary writing of Christopher Columbus. He started taking notes of his journey starting the year of 1492. This took place mostly on his voyage over the Atlantic Ocean on his way to the Indies, and also on the lands he discovers on the way to his destination. He wrote every day of his journeys as a journal to the king and queen of his discoveries.

Zinn argues that the perspective of indigenous people should not be omitted and argues that their perspectives are as significant as any other. He provides insight and perspectives of the Indians to describe how the heinous acts of the Europeans were unjustified. He also discusses that the Europeans had a continual motive of exploring during that time which was to increase the power/authority of the Spanish Crown by whatever means necessary, usually leading to violent wars.

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

• had a formal language to write, a type of counting system, an correct calendar, and a agri system that was ahead of the time

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;

Christopher Columbus was an Italian Explorer,colonizer.He was one of the most outstanding navigator in human history.In 1492, Columbus sailed to the Americas for the first time. It was the beginning of the 21st century large-scale sailing, the beginning of the connection between the old continent and the new continent, and caused a great variety of ecological changes.He traveled four times across the Atlantic from 1492 to 1502 under the support of the King of Spain. Since Columbus’ discovery in 1942,the Columbian exchange began.The Columbian exchange was a biological and cultural exchanges between the old world and the New world.The exchanges of animals , diseases,plants,and technology etc, affected and transformed European and Native American’s way of life from 1492 to 1607. The plants involved in the Columbian Exchange changed both the economy and the culture of the new and old worlds.There was a lot of new plants discovered in the Americas.There were many new plants in the Americas that Europeans had never seen.The most prevalent was sugarcane.According to some information “The Columbian exchange sugarcane preparation sugarcane originates from new Guinea. It then spread to the Tropical regions of south Asia through trade routes.Sugarcane was taken by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage from the canary islands to what is now the Dominican Republic ” (Katherine Hurley).Eventually,the large scale production of sugar in the Americas was because of that.The

Because of all the differences, conflict arose. Violence turned the New World into a blood land causing new colonies to set up, which led to more political differences. There were a number of events between colonists and native groups, some of which turned into full-scale wars. There were many lasting impacts created through this turmoil, these can be seen even

Chapter one in Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress by Howard Zinn tells about the adventures of explorer Christopher Columbus and his journey to the Americas. The way Zinn portrays the events of Columbus arriving in the Americas is solely focused on making the Arawak Indians look like the victims; something different than the way any other historian might tell it. He makes it seem that the Spanish conquers are greedy and cruel while the Indians are all generous and innocent and then continues to talk about exactly how cruel the Spaniards were to the indigenous people, like working them to death or killing them for the fun of it. Personally, I don’t completely agree with Zinn’s viewpoints due to the fact that he never mentions anything

Regarding the article, “Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress, Dr. Howard Zinn argues that there is another perspective to consider as to Christopher Columbus’ adventures. Dr. Howard Zinn’s position is that history books have omissions of slavery, death and innocent bloodshed that accompanied the adventures of Christopher Columbus. In the following statements Dr. Howard Zinn describes his perspective; “The writer began the history, five hundred years ago, of the European invasion of the Indian Settlement in the Americas. That beginning, when you read Las Casas- even if his figures are exaggerations (were there 3 million Indians to begin with, as he says or 250,000, as modern historians calculate) is conquest, slavery, and death. When

Historians use historiography, the study of historical writing, to research topics from different perspectives. The historiography of the Columbus myth showed how several authors caused Columbus to be thought of as a hero. Washington Irving wrote a book which characterized Columbus are brave and heroic, and Samuel Eliot Morrison depicted Columbus as a great sailor in his book. Many things about Columbus were proven false, such as how Columbus was the only one who believed the world was round, yet many people still believe in the myth today. These two books helped me understand how historical writings caused people to believe in the Columbus myth despite its many

History is dead. And it tells of remembrances of the past. It speaks of lives that were once led, breath that was once breathed. In her book, The World Of Columbus and Sons, Genevieve Foster rejuvenates that breath. She brings to life the people who have added a stitch to what the world is today. She delves into the lives of historical figures from the mid fifteenth century to early sixteenth century, and sheds light on all aspects of their lives. She paints a picture of not only famous events, but also the people that made up the events.