The Last Voyage of Columbus

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.

Jack Weatherford in his essay “Examining the Reputation of Christopher Columbus” proposes the idea that Columbus was not the person who people believe to have accomplished all the things we were told about him at a young age. Weatherford's determination and his persuasiveness can be seen with his use of emotional diction, fluid tone, and the logos juxtaposition of Columbus’s events with others.

The dominant portion of the excerpt is Bergreen's exposition of various historical arguments against Columbus, his foremost example being the works of Bartolomé de Las Casas. He integrates much of de Las Casas' work through the use of direct quotations, which helps to maintain a rigorous and analytical tone. This serves to improve Bergreen's credibility and reinforce the reader's initial impression of him as a rigorous and learned historian—an appeal to ethos. Through the use of direct quotations such as "Las Casas championed the nearly extinct victims of this outrage—'the simplest people of the world,'" (Par. 3) he is able to provide the reader with historical knowledge without directly taking a stance on the underlying divisive issue of the moral qualities and actions of Columbus. This extremely objective tone pervades the rest of the essay, and ultimately makes any moral judgement difficult to discern which would detract from the focus of the Bergreen's ultimate

In this report Christopher Columbus writes a letter to the King and Queen of Spain. The journey

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who received credit for the discovery of the Americas in 1492. His goal was to discover another route to India instead, he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Hispaniola which is present day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Although, historians argue he did not technically discover the Americas, he opened trade routes between the Old World and the New World. He influenced later explorers and impacted the development of the Columbian Exchange. The historians present their attitudes towards the consequences and outcomes of Christopher Columbus and his discovery. They also state their argument on his controversial legacy about whether Christopher Columbus should be perceived as a hero or a villain.

Christopher Columbus is mainly known for being the one to uncover America. He had been labeled as a brave voyager who discovered new land, and started settlement there.

Without the desire to acquire a safer trade route over sea to Asia, no one would have ever tried sailing west to get east. “The explorers of the fifteenth century and early sixteenth centuries did not set out to make a revolution in knowledge, but that is what they achieved,” wrote Christopher Farman in “The Ocean Adventures” found in Voyages of Discovery (Document 4). This quote shows how many of the explorers did not set out to find the Americas, but once they knew what it was the Americas were quickly integrated with their own world. Many of the foundational thoughts and ideas of today’s society would have never developed if not for this link between continents. Arthur M. Schlesinger makes note of this writing, “In fact it was precisely the contact with the Americas that stimulated Europe to develop further some of the principles we take for granted today as the basic minimum of human rights…” in Columbus on Trial (Document 5). Without all of this exploration the world would have continued to be stuck in isolation until inevitably some other group of people decide to explore the sea. Contact between the Old and New world would have happened at one point or

Columbus was an illustrious hero in America history books since most people didn't know the truth. But as time goes and people begin to read, they realized that he was the person who discovered America. He set sail on a dangerous journey across the Atlantic Ocean with three ships: the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. His crew almost called a revolution, but then land was spotted in 1492

Columbus had wanted to go on a journey to find a western sea route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia. He had thought that sailing west would take him on a shortcut. As maps back then did not have the knowledge we possess now, the Americas were not on the map.

After five centuries, Christopher Columbus remains a mysterious and controversial figure. He has been described as one of the greatest mariners in history, a visionary genius, a mystic, a national hero, a failed administrator, a naпve entrepreneur, a symbol of slavery and genocide, and a ruthless and greedy imperialist.

Sinking Columbus, at first glance, wouldn’t catch the eye of a passer-by due to its very plain appearance. With its binding a very pale beige and its hardbacks a moderate shade of grey, it’d be easy to fail to acknowledge this publication if seen on a shelf next to those of brighter, more appealing colours. Those who judge this book by its cover would miss out on the many things it has to offer regarding the memory of Christopher Columbus. The two main questions that the authors aim to answer are: How did Columbus go from hero to villain and from cultural icon to false idol in such a short time? and How did the 500th anniversary of his voyage serve as an estimate of the ultimate significance of the change of the meaning of Columbus in contemporary

Christopher Columbus is an internationally celebrated explorer, due to his voyages to Central America during the Age of Discovery, a period between 15th and 16th centuries where explorers would be supported by countries to claim land. Columbus was an Italian explorer, on a conquest for gold and riches, who was sponsored by the monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, to travel to Southern Asia. Columbus proposed the idea of traveling from East to West, rather than traveling along the borders of countries and continents, such as Africa and Asia, to Eastern countries for gold, spices, and other riches. When Columbus succeeded in making land fall, he thought he landed in Southern Asia, but rather he landed in

Most people would agree that Christopher Columbus was a courageous man. He sailed across unknown seas on four different occasions, used extraordinary navigational skills, and opened up the western hemisphere to exploration that created what is known today as the modern world. He was considered the greatest navigator of his time and he trained other navy captains who sailed for Spain. He had a firm belief in god and with that belief enjoyed the beauty of the coastlines that he explored. Many people praised Columbus because he “carried Christian civilization across the ocean.” There was ample evidence to show Columbus’s heroic exploits. However, historians have a more complete story to tell about Christopher Columbus. His explorations caused millions of deaths, destroyed countless cultures, added to the spread of slavery and treated the subjects he conquered with violence and cruelty. As a result the negative outweighs the positive. Columbus was not a hero. He was a villain.

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.

Christopher Columbus’s life was filled with adventures and new beginnings that would leave a remarkable impression throughout history. Born in 1451 in Genoa, Columbus from an early age would become well acclimated to sailing as he began his career aboard a merchant ship and later study mathematics, astronomy, cartography, and navigation. Growing up and experiencing new thing Columbus began to come up with a plan different from all others to set sail across the Atlantic instead of going around the African continent. With his ideas being turned away from both Portugal and England it was Ferdinand and Isabella who took sympathy upon him and financial back his voyage as they both had hopes of gaining fame and fortune. In 1942, Columbus began his voyages and would carefully document each experience in the form of letters that would have a lasting impact on the world. I believe with the dramatic change in tones we see between the first and fourth letters it gives us the reader a true insight into Columbus’s mental and physical emotions over the years. Furthermore, these letters allow us to explore a part of history that is considered monumental while gaining information of what took place over a ten-year journey.