Was Christopher Columbus, Navigator, And Collonist

A common belief about Christopher Columbus was that he discovered the United States, in 1492. According to Michael Berliner, this is not the politically correct view because before Columbus arrived, many individuals had settled in America (Source D). These indigenous people were considered American Indians, mostly consisting of Indian, Chinese, and Mongolian individuals. When Columbus arrived in America, the natives looked up to Columbus and his people because

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.

According to Document 6, Joel Barlow a renowned historian, Columbus was a remarkable young man who was proficient in geography, astronomy, and drawing, all of them necessary for his pursuit of navigation. His courage and perseverance had been put to test many times making him a universally known and respected man. But, even though he was well respected, he was not a good man. He was barbaric to the Native Americans even when they treated him with respect and fervor. He enslaved them for the good of “Christianity” and manipulated them because they were “idiots”.

     Conversely, James W. Loewen, who did extensive research of high school history lessons to write his book Lies my Teacher Told Me, feels Columbus wasn’t really as great as he is made out to be. Loewen writes, “The history books make up all kinds of details to tell a better story and to humanize Columbus so that readers will identify with him” (38). Just as Hart pushes the idea that Columbus made a great new discovery finding the Americas, Loewen argues that “Columbus’s voyage was not the first, but the last discovery” (39). His importance has to do with the changes that were made in Europe and not having “discovered new land”. People from other continents had gone to America long before 1492. “Daring sailors reached America in a series of voyages across the North Atlantic, establishing communities on the Faeroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland. The Norse colony on Greenland lasted five hundred years (982-c.1500)”. Loewen further goes on to argue against Hart on the issue of the Turks and their supposed land route control and describes the claims as a “falsehood”. Loewen also points out the several times Christianity is used as an excuse

Columbus sailed the Atlantic not knowing where he was going; only knowing that he had to find a faster route for Spain to trade their goods and money. When he landed in the New World he had no idea what so ever where he was nor in which direction to go. The New World was filled with Native Americans back then so Columbus was a bit nervous because they were a whole different race to him. He didn’t know if they were friendly or dangerous. Some of the natives were friendly but the ones that weren’t, his men and he had to kill them because they would cause great conflict back in Spain. Columbus was a very tall man with red hair and was 22 years old when he sailed off to the New World. Christopher also came from a very poor family just as Cortes. He had many voyages, and took over large amounts of land. Not all the land he claimed was in the New World some of them were in South

When Columbus sailed to prove that the world was round, according to the website Livescience.com, he was late by two-thousand years. Ancient Greek mathematicians already have already proved that the world was round and not flat. Also according to this website, Columbus’s education was self taught and he believed that Europe was wider, and that Japan was further away from China’s coast. These are the reasons that he was going to try and find shorter trade route to Asia. When a student hears Columbus’ name they may instantly think that he was the first person to discover America. Although there were millions of Native Americans who were living in the New World, Columbus is the man who is getting all of the credit for finding the New World. There were also other travelers who had discovered America before Christopher Columbus.

According to Loewen they got his name right, and not much else. Lies points out that there were many groups of explorers that had "discovered" America before Columbus. He probably used some of their information as a basis for his plans to sail west. A full eight pages are devoted to other possible explorers. These groups include ancient groups from Indonesia, Japan, China, and Phoenicia. More recent groups include the Vikings, British Islanders, West Africans, and Portuguese fishermen. There are varying levels of evidence connecting these groups to pre-Columbian America, but still enough to throw doubt into the mix. Columbus got the credit because of the way in which Europe responded to his "discovery."

“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”, these words are taught all around the states and are meant to help teach and remember the year that the now notorious Christopher Columbus went on his renowned exploration. Columbus was an Italian that was sent by the Queen and King of Spain to find riches in other lands, and during this voyage he stumbled onto the Americas. During his time in the Americas he enslaved the Native Americans, forced Christianity onto them and brought over diseases that would result in the eventual deaths of Native American. For a long period of time though, Columbus was known as the “man who discovered America”, nothing more. Now he is thought of as a murderer and a thief for stealing the land and lives of many Native Americans.

“In fourteen hundred ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” One of the first things we learned in primary school was that Christopher Columbus discovered America, they also made us read Christopher 's Journals (1493) such as: “ They … brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks ' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned... . They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane... . They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” Here he was describing what he encountered with the “Taino indigenous peoples of Hispaniola.” However, we as students never questioned how is it Columbus “discovered” America. In his journals (1493) he states that he encountered people that lived there before he arrived, even though it wasn 't really America. The word discover is defined as “ to obtain sight or knowledge of for the first time.” There is evidence that validate Columbus did not discover America. One evidence that validates Columbus did not discover America is the inaccuracy in his studies. Columbus and his cohorts believed and

Many people believe believed throughout history that the beginning of North America’s inhabitance was when Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the year 1492. They believed that he is the person who discovered America where in fact it was the Native Americans who made the initial discovery. Therefore, Columbus’s mission is considered more of a journey. One of the motivators behind the voyage was to move away from Britain and begin a new life in what was to them, land of potential opportunity.

Even though Columbus did find his way to the Americas, it was not North America he discovered. In fact, he never stepped foot in the United States during his four expeditions. Columbus actually made landfall in various islands located in what is now known as the Bahamas, which had hundreds of thousands Native American inhabitants that had already made

Entry 1: Columbus was most likely not the first to travel across the Atlantic Ocean and he probably never even set foot on the North American mainland. He also did not set out to explore to prove if the Earth was round or not. His calculations of getting to Asia were wrong and the countries Portugal, France, and England knew that and told him no when he asked for money to help him on his quest. The names of the three ships he took were actually called other names. He left 40 crewmembers to start the first European establishment in the New World because the Santa Maria crashed during the voyage.

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. Once, he went to go find India, but as a matter of fact, he just crossed the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Islands instead. But, there were Native Americans living there already for thousands of years. Therefore, I believe the theory that Christopher Columbus discovered America should not be taught in public schools because it isn’t true.

Christopher Columbus sailed for Spain in 1492 and claimed all islands around San Salvador looking for gold. Spain eventually sent Columbus back to create an Empire. America should not celebrate Columbus Day because of Columbus’ cruel punishments towards others, the way he influenced today's world, and the way he did not prove anything new. Christopher Columbus caused cruel punishment by cutting peoples hands off, making dogs attack the Native Americans, and by silencing the Native Americans. Columbus Day should not be celebrated because he influenced today's world negatively through slavery,stereotyping, and genocide. Finally, Columbus did not prove anything new because people already lived in the new world, he was not the first non-american

Since he is the one people usually think of when discussing alterations of America as the Indians knew it. I argue that since America already had many people living that and was already colonized he didn’t really discover it. I believe that he stole America from the Indians as the Europeans will do many times throughout history. Christopher Columbus was really searching for the riches that Asia held when he found America. Through research a person would find that the initial contact with the new world started with trade.