What Is Christopher Columbus A Hero

Some say Columbus is a hero and should be recognized, which I believe has some valid points. The main point is that without Columbus we would not of been here with the opportunities we have today. In a video, it says how Columbus was an inspiration to struggling people. I believe that this is a very weak argument that most people bring in. If Columbus never “discovered” America, we would have saved millions of Native Americans and they would never have been placed in reservations that are hideous

In elementary school students are taught that Christopher Columbus is some godly hero who discovered that the earth was round and a shorter route to “Asia”. They even have a day dedicated to him. Typically, children are gullible and just believe what they are taught, rather than actually researching and learning the history on their own. As a child one’s brain is not developed enough to possess a sense of moral discernment. Also, children are not taught any other version of the story. However, as one grows and matures and learns more about Christopher Columbus, one can see a darker side of him. According to research, he took advantage of the kindness of many indigenous land

Christopher Columbus was manipulative. My final piece of evidence, from Document 2 says that "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." This shows the mindset of a conniving man because he exploited the Native Americans in order to get what he wanted which was gold. This was a selfish reason that resulted in the pain of so many Native

When you think of Columbus what comes to mind? A hero? A villain? Most people think he is a hero, but many do not think of the things he did to people such as slavery, beatings, raping, etc. He is most known for discovering America, but he only got to the Bahamas. Columbus was an Italian explorer that sailed the ocean blue in 1492. Columbus Day should not be celebrated because of the awful things that don’t make up for the discoveries that Christopher Columbus did.

     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

School taught us about the infamous Christopher Columbus who was known as the hero who found the Americas in 1492, but is that the truth? Is Columbus really the hero that grade school portrayed him to be? Columbus was not. Columbus was a greedy man who destroyed an entire race of people with genocide just so only he could benefit and become a man of money and power.

The problem was that many people believed that the world was flat. Without knowing what was going to happen to him, Columbus went against the popular belief of his time and bravely set out with three ships and sailed out towards the horizon. Eventually he would reach land and open up an entire New World to Europe. Columbus, on his four voyages, explored all the islands of the Caribbean and Honduras. Columbus was a man ready and eager for adventure and discovery. Today we follow his example as we explore the universe, the ocean floors, and the microscopic world. Scientists, like Columbus, are always questioning popular beliefs and setting out to prove a new theory. Columbus is a hero for all scientists and explorers today. Columbus deserves to be recognized as an American hero on Columbus Day for inspiring all people to pursue courage, discovery, exploration, and adventure.

Christopher Columbus is best known for his voyage across the Atlantic where he accidentally discovered America. He paved the way for future exploration and set the course for history. Although Columbus is known as a historical hero for this discovery, he committed many awful acts along the way. Therefore, this writer concludes that Columbus was more of a villain than a hero.

When Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean, Native Americans were scared, but still friendly toward him. So he took advantage of this people being nice to him, to force them to convert in his religion and also take them as slaves. Columbus also saw that this people had no weapons, they have no way to defend themselves. So as you can see it was very easy for Columbus to take them over and treat them badly because they had no protection. That is a good example to show how cruel Columbus could act toward this people that could not fight back.

Christopher Columbus is commonly known as the “discoverer” of the Americas. From a young age students are taught all the wonderful things he did for our land and how well he interacted with the Natives. Although the truth is disregarded and as students grow, they come to learn that Columbus was not a hero in fact. Columbus came close to causing a genocide of the Native Americans, and basically began the “white power” movement that America is forced to deal with today. The truth of what Christopher Columbus did makes him no better than Hitler, yet America still praises him as an important figure in our history. The actions of Columbus has impacted all Americans lives since the 1400’s when he first landed on American soil. Although it did make America into the super power it is today, the structure within the borders will never be equal because of his abuse of power back then. Christopher Columbus is not the hero American students are taught from a young age and does not deserve any of the praise or recognition that we as American citizens continue to give him on a daily basis.

In 1492, Italian cartographer and explorer, Christopher Columbus, set off on a mission from Spain in order to find a quicker, alternative route to Asia. With him, Columbus brought eighty-seven men and three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María, to sail across the large and vast Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately for Columbus, a new route to Asia was never discovered by Spain that year because he had arrived in the Caribbean, which was found in North America. Thinking that he had just entered the Indies, he started to call the people of this land, “Indians”. These Indians were actually Native Americans who had lived on these lands for thousands of years prior. Immediately, letters from Columbus to the King and Queen of Spain were sent by boat back to Europe and soon Columbus was seen as the man who helped create a bridge of prosperous trading and riches between Europe and “Asia”.1 While this discovery proved that Columbus was a hero-like figure to Spain, it’s what he did within the new land that actually makes him one of the biggest villains to ever set foot on Earth. But what classifies this explorer as a villain? Columbus captured thousands of natives, many of which were sent back to Spain to live and work as slaves. Along with that, Columbus also forced the Christian religion onto them, spread diseases that killed thousands of lives, and used violence as a means of persuasion and control.2 Corrupted by his pursuit of riches,

First, I am going to provide evidence from my article about Mr. Columbus being a hero by discovering the places I write about earlier. “Among Columbus’s discoveries were Dominica Island (spied on Sunday), the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.” And “Columbus did discover Jamaica on May 5, 1494.” According to the article Mr. Columbus is “an iconic historical figure widely regarded as the "discoverer" of America throughout the United States and Europe, Columbus has been honored in everything from place names to postal stamps”, and that he is a “Traditional narratives of US history in particular

To begin with, Christopher Columbus should be vilified for converting Native Americans to slaves. In the diary of Columbus, Columbus wrote about his intentions to turn Native Americans into “good and intelligent servants”. Columbus turned his intentions into a reality when he brought Native Americans to Europe as servants. As well as bringing slaves back to Spain, Columbus was an active involver in the slave trafficking network between America and Europe, thus becoming the “first slave trader in the Americas”. Slavery, the cruel practice that blighted the Americas for centuries, was heavily used by Columbus. By founding the American slave industry and kidnapping several slaves back home with him, Columbus showed that he did not value the Native Americans, as he treated them as objects rather than humans. If

Most history textbooks take Christopher Columbus and put him on a pedestal. These textbooks make Columbus the fantastic hero who was the first person to discover the Americas. These textbooks were wrong in idolizing Columbus. One text called The Lies my Teacher Told Me contradicts these textbooks. The text states that there were already many different groups of people that landed in, explored, or colonized the Americas. The first group of people was the ancestors to the Native Americans that were living there when Columbus came in 1492. Also the Norse established a colony in Greenland for 500 years (Loewen, 8). While there, the Norse explored parts of North America (Loewen, 8). This evidence proves that Columbus was not the first person to discover the Americas. Columbus began the demise of the current Indian cultures in the area. While Christopher Columbus and the

Before we can truly label Columbus as a hero or evil, we must first define what is viewed as a hero. Many dictionary definitions exist having the meaning of a hero as one with courageous or noble qualities but seeing as these definitions are extremely objective, the definition of a hero I will be using for the purpose of defining Columbus will be, quoting Joseph Campbell, “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” Christopher Columbus clearly demonstrated giving and self sacrifice in his investments of time and risking his life for his voyages with “commercial expeditions resembling warlike cruises” and at some points in his travels being away from home for 29 months. The rewards that Columbus, along with the rest of Europe, reaped from his efforts include the new access to vast expanses of resourceful land, as well as the eventually successful, even flourishing, colonization of America, not to mention, that Columbus, “[the] founding figure of a new world” laid the framework to modern day globalization as well as played a key role in the creation of one of the most significant, powerful, and impactful nations existing today. The fact that Columbus grew up in poor conditions and being completely self taught in the art of navigation and seafaring only adds to the magnitude of his immense accomplishments.