Christopher Columbus is known as an American hero for discovering the new world. He did many things in his lifetime, some of them good and some of them bad. He was a Spanish conquistador who traveled to North America from Spain. Columbus is also known for the many murders and raping he committed. In a time in which the slave trade was starting to expand, Columbus and his crew enslaved many native Americans of the West Indies and subjected them to extreme violence and brutality on his first voyage in 1492. I believe that Columbus should not be known as a hero.…
Howard Zinn gives a very negative first=impression on Christopher Columbus. Although students learn about Christopher Columbus throughout school, the whole truth is not told. Schools give students the perception that Christopher Columbus did all good and no evil. However, Zinn gives the reader a totally different perspective. Zinn talks about how Columbus murdered mass numbers of Indians without second thought in order to fulfill his selfish desires. Columbus deceived the Indians and used them because they were gullible and would never lie. Zinn does not explicitly state whether or not we should honor Columbus, but rather Zinn states that what Columbus did in the past is easily forgotten. “[T]he easy acceptance of atrocities as a deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress” (Zinn P.5 Paragraph 3 Lines 4-5). What Columbus did in the past is not honorable, but rather recognizable because it was necessary in order to move forward and was easily forgotten.…
Christopher Columbus is well known in history as the greatest explorer of all time. His voyages and discoveries of new land inspired many other Europeans to explore the world. One of his biggest and most significant discoveries, was the New World. During his voyage, Columbus kept a detailed record of what occurred during his time of exploration. His record is a clear depiction of his poor treatment of the Natives who already lived in the New World. Christopher Columbus was a villain, because of his treatment of the Native Americans and the tremendous decline in population he was responsible for when he arrived to the New World.…
In other news, by 1592 only 200 Taino were left and they were considered extinct. As can be seen, Christopher Columbus was a brutal man who tortured and killed an entire population of people. Do you still think Columbus is a heroic figure? To me he is just a glorified…
Authors Peter McDonald and Lynn Anderson said, “Where the greatest need for re-education is apparent, is in understanding that the brutal vision of conquest which Columbus ushered in so long ago continues unabated to this day.” Columbus did not discover America as so many of us have been led to believe. The definition of discover is “to see, get knowledge of, learn of, find or find out; gain sight or knowledge of something previously unseen or unknown” (Random 563). Textbooks generally disregard his many crimes committed against humanity by intentionally omitting them, simultaneously magnifying his role as a great navigator. They glorify him and humanize him to induce…
Regardless of whether or not Christopher Columbus was a moral man, or the fact he discovered America with the intentions of finding a trade route to Asia, or whether or not his intentions were good or bad he was a man of his era who started a new period of exploration and trade. This period ultimately led to the development of the greatest republic known to this date.…
First thing that makes Columbus a "bad guy" is lying. Columbus lied to the queen about the explored island. He said that there's a lot of gold and spices, and people there would share anything with anyone. Columbus also lied that he reached Asia, which was his destination spot. He said all those things to make the queen believe that he's a good man and to save himself from the death. Five hundred years before Columbus was even born, the Vikings settled land in northern North America. They were the true discoverers of the New World. Christopher Columbus merely takes credit while the Vikings are remembered as drunken savages. Not only did he not discover the New World, but his calculations were based on other's works. What kind of "hero" can't find his way to where he wants to go and then receives the credit for a complete and utter accident! This doesn't only make him a liar but it also makes him selfish. But yet we Americans still nationally celebrate his “accomplishments” that were all just faux.…
Christopher Columbus is a man who is known in society simultaneously as a hero and a villain of his time. What if the world had to pick only one, what would it be? Many new studies and scholars believe that Columbus was the villain of his story not a hero as past information would lead us to believe. Past documents were all written from Europe’s point of view, this lead to extremely biased documents because Europe was the side to profit unlike the Native Americans. Columbus was the antagonist of the new world due to how he forced the natives into slavery, he raped and robbed the natives he found, and how he slaughtered the natives if they could not collect enough gold.…
Many people say that Columbus was a demon that came to earth to start a revolution. If he was or not, his discovery was important for the development of the “New World” and remarkable for the world’s history. Without his discovery of the America, perhaps someone else would discover America decades later, and the year of 2014 would face a different reality. His discovery could be less aggressive, and painful, as it happened when the French discovered Quebec, but the American story would be totally different than it is now, even though many American Indians had to suffer tortures, today they have their own story, and they are proud to say they are the North…
In October we celebrate the man who found America. People are taught at a young age that Christopher Columbus was a hero when in fact he was a murderer. Yes, he found a land that was unknown to his people, but in his findings, he murdered, raped and enslaved the true natives of this country. Columbus and his men destroyed the civilizations, cultures, and land of the Native Americans. These actions should not be portrayed as heroic.…
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.…
Christopher Columbus found a new world and jumpstarted an age of exploration like no other. After he found the Americas there was massive colonization, giant trade increases and more resources such as gold and silver were being surfaced. Europeans learned new agricultural techniques from the indigenous people, the Europeans also acquired a large number of new crops to farm such as potatoes, tomatoes, corn and cocoa. With all of the pros that the age of exploration brought to Europeans it is hard for one to imagine that Christopher Columbus could be a villain. Could there possibly be evil behind some of the wonderful discoveries of Christopher Columbus? The problem is exactly what you just read, people only know the good things Christopher Columbus brought to the world and they ignore the terrible things he did. Christopher Columbus was a villain because his discovery of the Americas eventually leads to the destruction of Native American culture, he was not the first European explorer to land in America, and he did now accomplish his mission to find India…
Howard Zinn takes an interesting side when it comes to Columbus and his exploration in A People's History of the United States. While others praise Columbus for what he discovered, Zinn condemns him and attempts to shed light on what treacheries that where committed during the explorations. His focus on the more negative outcomes causes a shift in perspective than most are used to and shows details that many historians may have left out or simply glossed over.…
Columbus a hero or a villain?, This question has plagued historians thru out the ages and its based on this question that Zinn and Schweikart answer in different ways. Howard Zinn in the first chapter of his book “A People's History of the United States” talks a bout…
‘’ Some historians have questioned the traditional view of Columbus as a hero ‘’ ( Doc 2) . T o see Columbus as a hero is just downright wrong , he didn't discover anything for the land he ‘’ found’’ had people on it. According to Doc 4 he greeted the people with only friendship, but it was his plan to enslave them from the beginning. Also in the document is states ‘ the white man … , these people are white ‘’. learly the Native Americans see the difference between each other but treated them with kindness showing them the customs and way of living. During the triangle trade they transferred slaves like and…