The Effects of Columbus' Arrival in the America's Essay

Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Christopher Columbus would not have landed in America? America is home to millions of people today. But some of the things we use and do in our daily day to day lives can be traced back to the early colonization of the explorers. But who and why did they come to America, what effects did their arrivals cause, and most importantly how have their decisions affected our society to this day?

Before the Spanish ship that changed it all, which arrived in the “New World” in 1492, there was a vast population of native people who had lived on this land for centuries prior. That ship, skippered by Christopher Columbus, raised arguably one of the most influential turning points in Native American and European history. It sparked the fire of cultural diffusion in the New World which profoundly impacted the Native American peoples and the European settlers.

Columbus and de la Casas make two very different observations of the new world. Columbus made many detailed descriptions in his letter to the King Ferdinand, who had financed his journey with the intentions of completing three very clear goals. The first, “to procure riches for the Spanish empire,” the second, “to find a new route to the East Indies,” and lastly, “to convert native peoples to Christianity (Casper et al., 4).” de la Casas had a much different intention than Columbus for why he journeyed to the new world. He traveled as a son of a poor merchant and observed all of the wrong doings that were happening to the native people. He later returned to Spain for the remainder of his life to write about all of the awful things that

    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,

Also Columbus took this poor people as slaves. He made them adore his God. Also made them worked for him without any payment, maybe just for some food. He took some of them with him to Spain to show the kings what he had done, while the others were digging gold, making money for Columbus, his people and his country. And what did they get out of that hard work? Nothing! They didn’t got anything out of the good

The long history between Native American and Europeans are a strained and bloody one. For the time of Columbus’s subsequent visits to the new world, native culture has

In the age just before Columbus sailed the ocean blue, there was abundant life, lifestyles, and necessities that sustained that. In the 1500s, Europe was as tense as ever. Kings and popes raise armies to fight against one another. The population capacity of Europe at this time was around one hundred million people. At this point, Isabella, the Queen of Spain, is the most powerful woman in Europe as well.

1) The book, 1491, by Charles C. Mann gives readers a deeper insight into the Americas before the age of Columbus, explaining the development and significance of the peoples who came before us. Moreover, Mann’s thesis is such; the civilizations and tribes that developed the Americas prior to the discovery by Europeans arrived much earlier than first presumed, were far greater in number, and were vastly more sophisticated than we had earlier believed. For instance, Mann writes, regarding the loss of Native American culture:

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.

It has been thought for many years that the Americas were a vastly unpopulated land until Columbus came. However new evidence disputes this previously thought notion. Archeologist, who have been studying the remains of Native American culture, have found evidence suggesting that the Indians were in the Americas for much longer and in greater numbers than what was believed. This new evidence shows us the impact the Europeans had on the New World and gives us insight into what the Americas were like before the Europeans and what they may have been had the Europeans never settled here.

In the 16th century Spaniards Herman Cortes and Christopher Columbus set out on endeavoring journeys in search of new worlds. Christopher Columbus encountered, in the Caribbean islands, a group of extremely simplistic Native Americans. Herman Cortes however encountered a much more advanced Native American group in Meso America; we formally know this area to be Mexico. In my essay I will be comparing and contrasting several aspects between both of these Native American Civilizations including sophistication, technology, housing, weapons, religion and their reaction to the Spaniards. Letters written by Columbus and Cortes will be used to make these comparisons.

In grade school, we are taught that Christopher Columbus was the man who discovered America. Now that we are older, we have learned more in depth about him as a person and explorer. Not only did he set sail Westward in search of new findings, but that he would claim them as his own, eventually they would be inherited by his eldest son, and the generations after (Columbus, Journal, paragraph 1). Columbus did leave a legacy, nonetheless like every story, there are many obstacles that lay ahead.

Christopher Columbus is a very important person in our country's history. He found the "New World," the one we live in today. He started the society that makes us who we are today, the society that allowed our ancestors to come to America and start the life that we live now. This whole world owes their lives to him. Columbus should always be remembered as a very important and very good person in history.

The Catholic Church arrived in the New World immediately after Christopher Columbus laid claim to it for Spain. After Columbus's discovery of the new lands he wrote a series of treatise as to what the European purpose there was. Columbus, in his writings, said that the purpose of the New World was two fold. He said that the gospel message of the church should be spread globally beginning with his discoveries in the New World. Second, he stated that the riches discovered in the New World should be dedicated to the recapture of Jerusalem from the Moslems. Columbus saw the discovery of the New World as a prophesy coming true. He saw the Indians that lived there as a labor source that should be christianized and used for the greater good of the church.

Topics stemming from the arrival of Columbus in America create historical controversy. Having occurred in a transitional time period not many of these topics are factually confirmed, and a number of theories are disputed. Charles C. Mann is a journalist and author who has written books and articles on a wide range of scientific subject matters. “1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus” investigates the origins of the Americas, its first inhabitants, and it’s colonizers.