I believe Christopher Columbus was a hero in his time, and in ours. But before I can go any further I want to say that what was right and common sense in 1492 was different then in 2011. It is unfair to say he was a villain based on standards and morals that came 500 years later. Also, another thing we forget is the world was different back then. Europe was starting its Renaissance and each country was trying to top the other in development to become the most powerful country. So, there was a lot of competition going on. Besides, the planet was not very well known. The people of the time only knew of Asia, Africa, and Europe. They did not even know the continents they were aware of very well. They were mistaken in many of their beliefs about the world that they did know. They had seriously underestimated the size of Asia, therefore thinking the world was 2/3s smaller than it really was. However, it was a time of great exploration. People were starting to map out the world, partly for trade routes. With those mistaken beliefs: the need to explore, and the Renaissance, you can see what drove Columbus across the ocean blue. I think he is hero for many reasons: he discovered two “new” contents and took the risk of crossing the Atlantic into unknown waters and defying what people said was impossible. Also he was being heroic to Spain by finding gold and killing non-Christians.…