Christopher Columbus: A True Hero
Americans are celebrating the life of a man who enslaved innocent people and then forced
paraded them through the streets of Spain. Sadly, this is true. Remembering and celebrating a person’s
life is a great honor. When recognizing a figure in history, one honors the person because of their
character. A hero is the best definition for this. According to Oxford University dictionary, a true hero is
“a man (or occasionally a woman) distinguished by the performance of courageous or noble actions”.
In reference to the first statement, a man who performs such actions does not deserve recognition.
Columbus Day, which is celebrated on the second Monday of October, is a day honoring Christopher
Columbus, who is the same man that ordered …show more content…
Christopher Columbus ventured through the Central and South American coasts. This man
never even stepped foot into American soil. In reality, Americans are celebrating a man that had
nothing to do with discovering their land. It is simply a misguided consumption. Americans typically
celebrate people or events that shaped and founded the United States. In Christopher Columbus’s case,
he did neither, and therefore, should no longer be commemorated.
The third reason Columbus should not be acknowledged to this day is because he destroyed an
innocent people group. Taino Indians were the unfortunate people group suffered from Columbus’s
brutal actions. Besides killing Indians at disobeyed orders, he and his men raped the women. Columbus
even began slavery in the parts he landed. He loaded the “best men and women onto ships and sent
them off to Europe, thus beginning the widespread enslavement of the native peoples” ("Native
Peoples-the "Indians”). Later he wrote, “Let on in the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can
be sold” (Zinn). In addition to all of this, Columbus started the smallpox disease, dropping the
population of the Taino Indians to very few numbers. “A smallpox epidemic in Hispaniola in 1520
paraded them through the streets of Spain. Sadly, this is true. Remembering and celebrating a person’s
life is a great honor. When recognizing a figure in history, one honors the person because of their
character. A hero is the best definition for this. According to Oxford University dictionary, a true hero is
“a man (or occasionally a woman) distinguished by the performance of courageous or noble actions”.
In reference to the first statement, a man who performs such actions does not deserve recognition.
Columbus Day, which is celebrated on the second Monday of October, is a day honoring Christopher
Columbus, who is the same man that ordered …show more content…
Christopher Columbus ventured through the Central and South American coasts. This man
never even stepped foot into American soil. In reality, Americans are celebrating a man that had
nothing to do with discovering their land. It is simply a misguided consumption. Americans typically
celebrate people or events that shaped and founded the United States. In Christopher Columbus’s case,
he did neither, and therefore, should no longer be commemorated.
The third reason Columbus should not be acknowledged to this day is because he destroyed an
innocent people group. Taino Indians were the unfortunate people group suffered from Columbus’s
brutal actions. Besides killing Indians at disobeyed orders, he and his men raped the women. Columbus
even began slavery in the parts he landed. He loaded the “best men and women onto ships and sent
them off to Europe, thus beginning the widespread enslavement of the native peoples” ("Native
Peoples-the "Indians”). Later he wrote, “Let on in the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can
be sold” (Zinn). In addition to all of this, Columbus started the smallpox disease, dropping the
population of the Taino Indians to very few numbers. “A smallpox epidemic in Hispaniola in 1520