Why Is Christopher Columbus Wrong

In the United States, there are many holidays that are celebrated by its citizens. Some of these holidays consist of individuals taking the day off from work and school, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s Day. During these days off, individuals have the chance to reflect on the day itself, and rejoice on the purpose of the holiday. Every holiday has a distinct and positive meaning towards the United States and its people, but there is one holiday in particular that is controversial in this aspect- the celebration of Christopher Columbus- Columbus Day. This controversy is JJJJJJ because even though Christopher Columbus had a big role in discovering America, he also was a terrible human being who tortured many. In my opinion, I believe that the celebration of discovering America should continue to be celebrated. Although, the holiday should be shifted from honoring Columbus, to instead celebrating the discovery of the United States of America by the indigenous people who were already settled in our land.

     Throughout all of our years that we are taught about world history, we are led to believe that Columbus was one of the greatest explorers of all time. In my mind there is no question about whether Christopher Columbus discovered America; of course he did, its Columbus! However, this is a highly debated issue and through writings by authors Jeffery Hart and James W. Loewen we will investigate the true importance of Columbus.

     The spirit and values of a nation are reflected in the nation’s heroes. Christopher Columbus has been regarded as an American hero since 1792. Every year Columbus Day is held on the second Monday in October to honor the man and his legacy. However, many people debate whether or not Columbus Day should be celebrated. I believe that Columbus Day should be celebrated in the United States because he opened up the New World to Europe, inspired a spirit of exploration and adventure that still lasts today, and he showed the importance of diversity and understanding of different cultures.

Christopher Columbus discovered America or “the new world.” He was a navigator, explorer, and colonizer.

Christopher Columbus is an internationally celebrated explorer, due to his voyages to Central America during the Age of Discovery, a period between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when explorers were sponsored by eastern 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 for the monarchs. When Columbus succeeded in landing in the New World, he believed he landed in Southern Asia, but rather he landed in Hispaniola, modern day Haiti and Dominican Republic. The “New World” was a term used for the area Columbus landed in, on October 12, 1492. When Columbus landed in the New World, it was inhabited by native people, who were used by the Spaniards to help navigate and understand the landscape of the islands and as workers to find gold. Columbus has a mixed legacy because he had positive and negative attributes; he made the Columbian Exchange, which increased biodiversity in the New World, and is an important explorer in American history, but also began the African slave trade and caused population devastation due to slavery and diseases in the native populations. The legacy of Christopher Columbus should be remembered as a villain because he was greedy for wealth and power, he introduced diseases to the New World, and enslaved and used violence against the natives.

Have you ever wondered why America has had an annual holiday known as Columbus Day ever since the early 1900s? While enjoying the day off has the question of why an Italian explorer has a day dedicated to him in America ever occurred to you? Probably not, but every American with at least an elementary education has the general knowledge that Christopher Columbus is the hero credited with discovering America. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to even say that he is a national icon. In actuality, he’s far from being a hero. Although he did find a land that was unknown to the “civilized” world, his actions after the discovery illustrate no characteristics of being heroic at all.

Columbus Day is a holiday widely celebrated throughout the Americas. It is a holiday commemorating the voyage, Christopher Columbus made for when he landed in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. “Christopher Columbus was an Italian-born explorer who set sail in August 1492, bound for Asia with backing from the Spanish monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.” His voyage was so successful that when he returned to Spain, he came with goods that the Europeans had never seen. The discovery of new merchandise brought about the Age of Exploration and in 1937, October 12th was officially named Columbus Day and nationally celebrated in the United States by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

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.

The arrival of Columbus in 1492 has been viewed with mixed feelings with others believing the day should be viewed as an occasion for mourning. Some activists advocate for the day to be replaced with a day for ethnic diversity. The belief that he discovered America is not to say that he was the first to set his eyes on America, it meant that he opened up America to new opportunities. This was by bringing America to the attention of the New World by bringing the civilization of Western Europe to its residents. It was the discoveries of Columbus that led to an interaction of ideas and people and different cultures that made America what it is today.

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.

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, 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.

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.

Children are often only taught that Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 and discovered America. Though, only part of this is true, they aren’t taught about the awful man that Columbus was and the fact that he did not discover America. History should judge Columbus’ actions as they were. He was a cruel treasure seeker who focused only on enriching himself and would do anything to enrich and please the King and Queen.

“In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue, it was a courageous thing to do but someone was already here,” everyone knows that song, right? Undoubtedly you learned it sometime around second grade as a way to remember who first “discovered” America. Well now that we’re big kids, we can confront this matter head on, and upon investigation, we realize Columbus wasn’t the ‘good guy’ we thought he was. Actually, it turns out that he was quite a terrible person, but we’ll get to that. In short, I believe that Americans are not getting the full story of Christopher Columbus, and once they do, they’ll agree with me that Columbus Day should not be a holiday.