Christopher Columbus: Hero or Villain

Christopher Columbus: Hero or Villain?

Dear Milford Board of Education,
Was Christopher Columbus really the hero that everyone perceived him as? Or was he really just a scoundrel who was not accepting of others? And should we celebrate Columbus Day or should we not? Most are innocent to the facts about Columbus believe that Columbus is a hero, but I’m not that naive. I believe that Christopher Columbus was more of a villain than a hero. Although he discovered the Americas and he followed his dreams, there are quite a few historical events and pieces of evidence that proves him to be more of a villain than hero. He regarded the Native Americans as inferior and cruelly, as well as his crew, he was inept at math and at being governor, and he was disrespectful and selfish towards the king and the Native Americans. I don’t know about you, but I believe those are the makings of villain, and not the makings of someone who should be celebrated.
An example of Columbus’ villainess acts was his cruelty towards his crew members and the Native Americans. Christopher Columbus miscalculated the amount of days and miles it would take to get to the New World. So the supplies he took with him for himself and his crew ran out before the voyage was over. After the supplies ran out, the crew began to starve and became ill. Instead of doing what would be in the best interest for his crew, like stopping somewhere for them to recuperate or bringing them home, Columbus forced his crew to continue on the journey. So to recap, it was Columbus’ miscalculation that made them run out of supplies and made them get sick, but instead of delaying the expedition by a couple weeks or even a few days to recover, he constrained his crew to endure the rest of the trip. He neglected the needs of his crew when they needed him. If he couldn’t even show compassion and understanding towards his own crew, there is no way he could show any type of kindness to strangers, like the Native Americans. And, this proved to be evident as Columbus treated the Tainos horribly. When he first met the Natives, he automatically thought about how easily he could make them into slaves and how easily he could convert them to Christianity. Columbus wrote about it himself. He stated in a journal entry that it “appears to me that the people are ingenious, and would be good servants and I am of opinion that they would readily become Christians, as they appear to have no religion.” He went on to say “If it please our Lord, I intend to at my return to carry home six of them to your Highness that they may learn our language.” Not only did he think of how easy it would be to force them into slavery and Christianity, but he already planned on taking 6 Native Americans back to Spain with him when he returned. He was going to remove, probably forcibly, these innocent people from their homes and change everything about them and their beliefs. When Columbus was governor of Hispaniola, his cruel behavior only got worse. If his workers did not gather enough gold, they would have their hand cut off and Spanish rebels were executed in the gallows. When colonists began to complain to the monarchy in Spain, Queen Isabella sent an investigator to the New World to see what was going on in the colony. Christopher Columbus was sent back to Spain in chains in August 1500. I don’t think that this degree of cruelty towards any living creature is something that should be celebrated. Even the most evil beings should never have to endure this degree of brutality.
Another reason why Columbus should not be celebrated is because he was inept at math. Christopher Columbus did not know how to do math, so when he was trying to plan the voyage, he made many miscalculations and misjudgments. He was even advised by many experts that he made quite a few errors. When he tried to get European monarchies from England, Portugal, and France to fund his voyage, they all refused because his calculations were wrong. He fiercely underestimated the circumference of the Earth and the size of the oceans. These mistakes lead to the starvation, and in some cases the death, of his crew members as I stated before. Columbus was also inept at being a governor, as mentioned before. He knew nothing about running a fair government. He brutally abused the Native Americans and sometimes even murdered them and sometimes took their homes and their goods under his rule. The only thing Columbus proved he was good at was being a cruel, inhumane villain that had no compassion for others and their feelings. Is that something you want students to think of as acceptable and something that should be celebrated?
As well as being cruel and inept, Christopher Columbus was also a disrespectful and narcissistic man. He was disrespectful and selfish towards those who didn’t agree with him or didn’t do what he wanted them to do. He executed the Spanish rebels because they tried to go against his harsh rules and didn’t share the same beliefs that Columbus had. Christopher Columbus tried to convert and change the Native Americans to be just like him. He wanted them to be Christians, like he was. He wanted them to speak Spanish and to become slaves for him and the monarchies. He didn’t care if they already had their own belief system or if they had a family that needed them, he only cared about what he wanted. He cut off the hands of the Native Americans and sometimes even killed them if they didn’t gather enough gold for him. Did you notice the pattern? Columbus was a very selfish man and the facts here prove it clearly. Not only was he greedy and disrespectful to those who were beneath his power, he was also disrespectful to King Ferdinand. Christopher Columbus called King Ferdinand a tyrant. He called the king a tyrant because he was rich, powerful and didn’t agree with Columbus. If only Columbus knew the irony in that statement. Columbus disrespected the man who gave him the money to go on his expedition. Not only is that selfish and disrespectful, it’s also a clear sign of ingratitude. The king didn’t have to fund the voyage, but he did, and then for Columbus to go and blatantly disrespect him is just plain wrong. His disrespect and selfishness, along with his cruelty, is probably why nobody attended his funeral. Many of the people who fell victim to the torture of Columbus’ inhumanity were probably were grateful he was gone. Is that what we should be celebrating; the disrespectfulness and selfishness of someone who was a supposed hero?
In conclusion, I hope I have made it evident that I believe Columbus was nothing but a villain. Christopher Columbus may have sailed the ocean blue in 1492, but he is no hero for doing so. He was cruel to the Native Americans and his own crew, he was inept at math and inept at being a governor, and he was a narcissistic and disrespectful man. I don’t think that we should be celebrating this man for his positive accomplishments, when he has so many more negative ones. Instead of celebrating Christopher Columbus, I believe we should celebrate the bravery of the Native Americans who had to put up with his harsh rule for so many years. I feel that this holiday be more meaningful than Columbus Day because we would be able to admire the bravery of the Natives for putting up with the wrath of Christopher Columbus. It would show us that if these people can have their whole world completely turned upside down and still somehow manage to be able to put on a brave face, then we can get through any difficult situation. I hope I have revealed the real facts about Christopher Columbus to you. After finding out these facts, I found that some people perceived as heroes can may not and this can be masked by a huge accomplishment they have made. I wonder who else is hiding behind their accomplishments. Thank you for reading my letter and I hope you take these facts into consideration and see that Christopher Columbus wasn’t the hero we believed him to be.
Yours truly,
Gabrielle