How should we as a society view Columbus? Should he be celebrated? Vilified? Something else? Why?
Responses due by Friday
Yet another view of the man we call Columbus. Pretty interesting - take a look.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Christopher Columbus (Latin), Cristoforo Colombo (Italian), Cristóbal Colón (Spanish), Cristóvão Colombo
How should we as a society view Columbus? Should he be celebrated? Vilified? Something else? Why?
Responses due by Friday
Yet another view of the man we call Columbus. Pretty interesting - take a look.
40 comments:
In our earliest years of schooling, come mid-October the class would gather round and learn about the man who discovered the New World, the Great Christopher Columbus. Year after year we were told the story: In 1492 Columbus sailed with three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Marina, and discovered the New World, where he befriended the Natives and returned to Spain with tales of an amazing new land filled with vast wealth and opportunity. In celebration we would often color in pictures of his ships and read short storybooks on his great discovery, just as many children still do today. However, as we grew older, we came to learn the truth about this so called hero. He was not in fact the first man to discover the Americas, nor was his expedition designed to search for the New World. Instead of befriending the Natives, he treated them as primitive savages. As they years progressed, Columbus fell from his heroic pedestal to the point where he seems nothing more than a common, only slightly educated man who came across the Americas by mere luck more than anything else. He should not be celebrated and revered to the extent that we were led to in our younger years. However, no matter the means of his discovery, he should still be respected for being the initial catalyst for New World colonization by the major European powers.
Contrary to what we were taught when we were younger, Columbus was not the intelligent, heroic leader that he was made to be. His primary goal, to discover a secondary sea route to East Asia, was failed miserably. In fact, his original calculations of the circumference of the world, one of the major components of his navigation, was off by an incredible amount. As a result, his discovery of the New World was more an event of incredible luck than a product of his intellectual skill. In addition, once he began to populate and colonize this newfound territory, it became apparent that he was well versed in governmental processes, yet again displaying his lack of great intelligence. Columbus was just a seaman who happened upon a great discovery unintentionally, he did not possess any great skill in regards to developing this new land. Most importantly, Columbus’s feat was not one of great merit. Indeed, his was an important discovery that had a great deal of influence upon European and World history, but it was a discovery that would have soon been made by a potential multitude of other explorers not too long after 1492 if he had not done so. It was only a matter of time before a sailor either intentionally or unintentionally came across the Americas due to the sheer amount of exploration done at the time. For example, roughly two decades after Columbus, the Portuguese came across what is now Brazil. However, for all of his misgivings and faults, one cannot take away the fact that he did in fact come across this new territory and raised interest in potential exploration and colonization. Even though someone would very well have discovered the Americas not too long after Columbus had, he was still the first man to take the risk and sail out into the unknown, and he was still the first European of the era to land in the New World. Just as the man who invented the ketchup packet reaps the benefits and takes the credit for an incredibly simple invention that almost anyone could have created, Columbus is credited with being the first European of the era to set foot in the New World. Thus, it is only right give Columbus credit where credit is due, regardless of the means in which he went about his discovery.
In terms of the debate of whether or not he is responsible for causing the genocide of the Native American people, he should not be held accountable. Columbus did not intend for the Native Americans to be almost completely annihilated. Yes, he did use those he could find as slaves, but given the standards of the time, this was not an incredibly inhumane act. The practice of slavery is seen as incredibly inhumane and immoral today, but Columbus's time slavery was seen as a useful, cheap source of labor. However, the practice of working slaves to death, a practice that is immoral both now and then, is something Columbus could be blamed for. Columbus also is not responsible for the diseases that ravaged the Native American populace; it was not his fault that the Natives were so susceptible to European diseases. Finally, although Columbus did discover the Americas and is thus at least partially responsible for unleashing the European malice down upon the Native Americans, he can not be put at complete fault for that. His primary goals in his expedition were to find a secondary route to Asia and in the process become rich; there was never any mention of becoming the catalyst for a racial extermination. It is not at all fair to put the blame upon Columbus for the actions of those who followed to the Americas in his footsteps, therefore exonerating him from blame.
Columbus has been given a special rank among historical figures; one so important in history that we feel he deserves a day dedicated to his contributions and his actions that changed history. His image is celebrated and his story of discovering America recounted in classrooms all over the United States. However as those students grow up, they learn that much of the credit given to Columbus is not necessary or even correct. For example when we were all in elementary school we had been taught that Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 to discover the new world, when in actuality he had been searching for a quicker way to Asia based off of his own incorrect calculations on the size of the Earth. As we learn that his landing in the Caribbean was a complete accident, he thought he was in Asia the whole time, he wasn’t even the first one to hit land in the Americas, he enslaved thousands of Native Americans and a host of other mistakes; we end up starting to despise him. Despite this, vilification of his every being is not correct, however neither is celebration. Columbus did not really accomplish that much to be celebrated, in comparison to those others who have days specifically set aside in their honor. His only true accomplishment is having been able to cross the Atlantic and despite failing in his original goal, setting up a new trade route with the natives or that traded the natives as slaves. While this may seem horrible, his trade at least showed that the islands could be profitable and encouraged further expeditions and eventually settlements, which did give rise to civilization as we know today despite the indirect connection. His accomplishment may seem incredible; although accidental, when said like that but he was not the first to know of land across the ocean, other Europeans like the Vikings had set up temporary establishments years before Columbus. Along with that many expeditions were being conducted that sent explorers by ship to Asia and had them look for faster trading routes so it was only a matter of time until someone tried to circle around. As time went on, it ended up being Columbus who made the faithful journey but if given enough time another explorer would have made a similar trip as well. So while most of Columbus’s so called accomplishments were strokes of luck that would be realized in the long run he should still not be hated, since everyone makes mistakes. However others argue that Columbus should be hated because of the Native Americans he killed while he was exploring. It is true that Columbus took Native Americans as slaves but in his time this was not exactly as morally reprehensible as it is now. Slavery was a business and you could not exactly be killing off your merchandise or in Columbus’s case proof that you actually did something while sailing. Furthermore Columbus certainly could not be held responsible for the diseases which ravaged the Native American populations since he probably did not even know that he and his men were carrying such deadly organisms. Despite a small amount of conflicting evidence it is still historically accepted that Columbus was a navigator and sailor, and not well educated so he would not know what caused disease. Along with not knowing what caused disease, the accepted belief was the humors theory. This theory had stated that the body was made up of four distinct humors and that an imbalance between them caused sickness, which is far off from the known scientific laws now that have proved that microorganisms cause disease. So Columbus should be seen as any other historical figure not as one who accomplished “the most astounding feat man has ever seen” or a figure that “made Hitler look like a juvenile delinquent”. Columbus should be seen as a man who had a historical impact by accident but it is important to remember that usually the greatest or most significant events in history happened by chance. As stated by Burke all events in history are connected and Columbus is just another connection that made history and the present what it is today. Still Columbus Day should not be taken away or at least renamed for someone else since most of society views a day off from working as a thing to celebrate.
Throughout the world’s history, people have made discoveries that have dramatically changed society. Everyone knows that Thomas Edison invented electricity and the Wright brothers were the first to achieve flight; both are accredited to be the some of the most intelligent minds the world has known. Yet, these achievements may not be entirely deserved. Recent knowledge shows that one man did not invent electricity, rather Edison continued a process that had began with the ancient Greeks. The Wright Brothers may have flown their aircraft in December of 1903, however, many believe that Robert Pearse of New Zealand was the first to achieve flight in March of 1902. Edison and the Wright brothers were given an insurmountable amount of recognition for their efforts. These men may not have been the first to discover something, but they were the first to introduce it into society. Edison’s invention of the light bulb began the widespread use of electricity and the Wright brothers began interest in the field of aviation. These movements would have without a doubt been made eventually, but they did in fact begin them. Anyone who introduces something as important as electricity and aviation into society deserves a great amount of credit for it. In 1492, Christopher Columbus became the first man to begin the colonization of the Americas, but not all believe he deserves the recognition he receives.
The youth of the United States of America has learned that Christopher Columbus was a great man; a man who took the seemingly insane concept that the world was round and put it into effect by attempting to sail west to Asia. He had bravery that his fellow sailors did not, for he refused to end his journey when his companions believed they were nearing the world’s end. He greeted the so-called “Indians” with the greatest respect and lived with them in peace. Without Columbus, the world we know today may not have existed.
The story of Columbus’s expedition, however, is not what it had originally seemed. He was an unintelligent man, simply a sailor, who happened to be the first to make an expedition west to what he had believed to be Asia. The theory that the world was round was not actually his concept, for the belief that one could sail off the end of the world was more of a myth than reality. Once he arrived in the Americas, his actions eventually led to the genocide of the Native Americans. He died a poor man, with no knowledge that he had actually landed in the Americas rather than Asia. Studies today even prove that the great accreditation he was given was not deserved, for the Vikings had lived in the Americas centuries earlier. With this new knowledge, should Columbus be given the recognition he has currently, or rather be blamed for the genocide of nearly an entire population?
As with Edison and the Wright brothers, Columbus deserves to be accredited with the discovery of the Americas. It would have been done eventually, most likely within a few years, but he did in fact become the first to begin its colonization. He may not deserve an entire day to his name or be called a hero by elementary school teachers, but he does not deserve to be entirely overlooked other than those who claim he began the genocide of the Native Americans. He did not intentionally spread diseases to the Native Americans; his seemingly low level of intelligence proves that fact. He may have enslaved the Native Americans, but at that time in society slavery was a widely used method of work and not considered inhumane. Columbus was the first to colonize the Americas, an achievement that can not be discredited.
In elementary school, the typical American child becomes quite familiar with the adventures of Christopher Columbus. According to our teachers, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, with his three ships and an utter conviction that the world was round, eventually discovering the New World. We are taught that he is a hero to us all, and, being young and impressionable, we believe it. However, as we get older, we have to reassess our vision of Columbus. Much of what we learned in elementary school, such as the brilliance of his idea of a spherical world or the genius of his discovery, is simply myth. And most importantly, we learn that, along with “discovering” the New World, Columbus also discovered people, people who were nearly exterminated by the actions of the Europeans in the years following Columbus’s discovery. We have to ask ourselves how much of this death was the fault of Columbus, and whether or not we should still consider him a hero.
It is obvious that Columbus is not as much of a hero as our elementary school teachers would have us believe. It has been asserted that if Columbus had not discovered the Americas, another European would have within a matter of years, possibly even months. His calculation of the size of the world was completely inaccurate and, in fact, he discovered the New World by accident, looking for East Asia. Columbus never even admitted that what he had actually found was a new continent. Columbus turned out to be an abysmal governor of the islands he had discovered, and was simply a good sailor, not an intelligent thinker or talented leader. He enslaved thousands of Taino Indians, exporting some, and working others to death, many more dying from European diseases. In his search for gold, Columbus left a legacy of brutality remembered to this day, and the explorers that followed him continued his legacy of slavery, death, and cruelty. However, should Columbus be vilified?
It is true that thousands of people died, directly or indirectly, because of Columbus. Columbus should bear the blame for the enslavement and death of many of these people. However, he should not necessarily be vilified. It should be kept in mind that slavery was morally acceptable at the time, which does not absolve Columbus of his crimes, but does make them more understandable. And while his terrible cruelties to the Indians are unforgivable, it comes into question whether they arose from his ineptness as a leader, and whether he, a ship’s captain, should have even be placed in the position of governor in the first place. Also, Columbus should not be blamed for the actions of the conquistadors who followed him to the Americas. Many of the atrocities that people now cite as genocide occurred at the hands of later explorers, and though Columbus is the one who opened the way for these atrocities, one should remember that the Europeans would have discovered these peoples eventually, Columbus or no Columbus. It seems that even if Columbus had not discovered the Americas, someone else would have, and, given the morals of the time period, an almost identical fate would have befallen the Native Americans. Columbus was certainly not unique in his disregard for Native life and well–being.
It also cannot be forgotten that though Columbus committed horrible cruelties against thousands of people, he established a link between Europe and the Americas that still persists, and, in fact, the U.S. would not exist without. It is true that someone else would have discovered the Americas had Columbus not, but sailing off into unknown waters definitely takes a bravery that few people have. So, if nothing else, we should credit Columbus with the pioneering bravery that we attribute to many other of the explorers that so greatly contributed to history.
So, while Columbus should not become a hero, he should not be vilified either, despite the atrocities he committed. Although many of his actions cannot be defended, one needs to look at Columbus as a greatly flawed but brave and somewhat typical explorer of the era. We should acknowledge the terrible cruelties and loss of life that occurred at the hands of Columbus and other Europeans, but, at the same time, acknowledge the significant contributions that Christopher Columbus and other explorers made to history.
Christopher Columbus was a man who greatly impacted both Europe and the New World. The debate seems to be whether this lasting impact brought more positive or negative. Columbus believed the world was round, an idea that seemed ridiculous during his time. He bravely sailed into uncharted territory, an act many would not dare attempt. When he discovered the New World, Christopher Columbus established an important trading link between Europe and the Americas. We credit these important contributions on Columbus Day each year.
When looked at more closely, Columbus’s tremendous impact on the New World was not entirely positive. It cannot be ignored that millions of Taino Indians were enslaved or killed by diseases brought over by Europeans; diseases which the Indians had virtually no immunity to. In Columbus’s defense, slavery was considered acceptable during this time period. Slavery would absolutely still have existed throughout history even if Columbus had not enslaved these people. Other explorers that came after him treated natives with this same brutality. This cannot be blamed on Columbus; I believe that any explorer from that time would not have been apt to show any kindness to native people that seemed strange and savage to them.
The actual importance of Christopher Columbus discovering the New World has also been questioned. It is hypothesized that European explorers would have discovered the Americas within a few years anyway. It has also been said that Columbus was not particularly intelligent as a sailor, since his idea of the size of the New World was inaccurate. Also, he discovered the New World accidentally in his search for East Asia.
Thus, the question arises whether Columbus should be celebrated as a hero, or seen as a villain that essentially caused genocide in the Americas. In truth, I see him as neither. It should not be ignored that the Indians were treated brutally by Columbus, but it must be pointed out that slavery was acceptable during this time period and remained prominent throughout much of history. The New World would have been discovered eventually anyway, but what we celebrate is not so much the actual discovery, but the ideas and spirit of Christopher Columbus, a man who believed the world was round, even when no one else believed in this. So it remains true that Columbus was maybe not a brilliant leader or highly intelligent sailor. He did commit some awful acts against others that should not be simply ignored. However, it is still important to celebrate Columbus as a brave and spirited explorer. Though it brought many positives and negatives, Columbus is the man who deserves credit for the wonderful discovery of America, an accomplishment that should not be looked down upon.
Ever since elementary school, the story of Columbus has been told over and over again, from his “discovery” of the Americas to the “discovery” that the earth was actually round. The name “Columbus” became almost anonymous with the very word “explorer” itself during the elementary school days. With the celebration of Columbus Day, his stature was glorified even more. Yet, as middle school and high school eventually came, the truth of Columbus surfaced as the actual nature of his expedition came to light.
He was not actually the first one to come to America, nor can he be credited with the “discovery” of America as the Native Americans were already living there. Rather, he was merely a man disillusioned by the prospect of Asia’s riches and accidentally came to the Americas. Though his arrival in the Americas did open up European prospects in the New World, he also, in turn, led to the great destruction of Native Americans living in the Americas. Columbus’ arrival brought a string of diseases like small pox that would destroy much of Indian population. From his “discovery”, new Spanish explorers came to the Americas for gold and silver. This would eventually lead to further demise of the ancient Indian civilizations like the Incas and more. Columbus’ arrival also signified the beginnings of European power in American colonies, and finally of the world. In turn, he brought back to Europe Indian slaves, and started trade between Europe and America.
Indeed, in the eyes of Europe and from the eyes of future, Columbus did eventually bring about a number of social advances that would be able to link all the continents of the world together by trade. His encounter of the Americas would bring about the Triangle Trade, a highly profitable and stable form of trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Yet, it can also be argued that Columbus introduced slavery in the Americas as the harvesting of sugar cane grew from Central and Southern America. Indirectly, Columbus also brought about the fall of Spain, as the prospect of gold and silver in the Americas clouded Spanish objects and would eventually lead to their demise. However, if it was not for the fall of Spain, would Britain have been able to take over the Spanish Armada and eventually come to America? From the perspective of a history student now, Columbus’s effects cannot be neither glorified nor vilified, for though the actions upon the Indians can be called unethical, Columbus did indeed bring about advancements to Europe and expanded the “world” as it was known to Europeans in the end of the fifteenth century.
Yet, Columbus, the man, is certainly not one to be admired. One could easily argue that he just got “lucky” and stumbled on a land he thought was Asia, but was actually the Americas. He was not an intellect who was the first to believe the Earth is round. He had miscalculated the distance from Western Europe to China as only 3,000 miles, a number that few actually believed. Even Greeks who came hundreds of years before him had a more accurate estimate of the world’s circumference. He had wanted to find the land that Marco Polo described, but was unable to, and reported believe till the end of his life that he had actually discovered Asia. Also, the discovery of America was inevitable. If it was not Columbus, it could have been any other person who could have done it around the same time.
Thus, Columbus Day should not be celebrated for the man, but should instead be commemorated as a day when the world from the west to the East, became truly connected. Despite personal shortcomings, first in his unethical handling of the Indians to his lack of understanding for the world, Columbus should not be truly vilified either. He is, after all, the first major European explorer to reach America and would later bring about significant changes to this world.
Columbus was not the first person to reach America. He was not the first person to say the earth was flat. However, gravity was observed and discovered before Newton, Galileo did not discover the earth goes around the sun, and the bible was not originally written in hebrew. Rather, gravity was discovered and used by the Greeks, the Greeks also discovered the earth moves around the sun, and the bible was originally written in aramaic. However, these facts are ignored, and a misinformed society moves on with it's life.
At the very least, the Vikings had reached the Americas before Columbus. It is also possible that the Romans or Chinese arrived at one point. Also important to note, the Native Americans had also been in America long before Columbus (some people tend to forget that). Columbus did not actually even land on American soil. He landed in the Bahamas.
However, the point of all this is not what Columbus did or did not do. The point is, why do we remember him? Italian-Americans celebrated him as being the first Italian to come to America. The trend spread throughout America. On that ground, yes, we should celebrate Columbus Day. Just as we should celebrate St. Patrick's Day and Chinese New Year (even if your not Chinese). Though, one should look at something about those days. They are not actual federal holidays. Why not? Well, they only apply to a select group of people, even though, "everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day." Therefore, on this ground, Columbus Day should be celebrated, but not a federal holiday.
The reason for the federally backed Columbus Day, is because he "discovered America." He didn't, however, he made it a big deal. He went on a nationally sponsored expedition. Even though it failed in its goal of discovering the East Indies, it told Europe "hey, there's this bigass continent to check out!" So they did. Without Columbus, it is unclear how soon it would have taken for the Americas to become a big deal. This creates a discrepancy. On the grounds that Columbus discovered America, we cannot celebrate it. On the grounds that he drew people to the Americas, we can celebrate.
One last viewpoint is that Columbus was a vile, evil, despicable excuse for a human being, and he should be burned in effigy. Those who support this view believe that Columbus killed and enslaved a people. He did in fact, kill most of the Taino people. However, this was because they had killed all of his crew that had stayed behind in a small fort. Although the extent of Columbus's killings and enslavements outweigh the Taino's, Columbus's rage itself (even if the results of those rage) can be understood. There have been many cases in history wherein one side does something slightly wrong, and the responding side destroys the first completely. In terms of disease, Columbus did not purposefully bring small pox. In the same way that the natives did not intentionally bring syphilis. So although, Columbus's evil deeds are exaggerated, they did exist.
Now for the final question. Taking everything into consideration, should we celebrate Columbus Day? No. Columbus did not discover America. He did draw attention to it, but he didn't actually think it was America. His atrocities are overestimated, his positive actions also face the same problem. Therefore, on no philosophical or educational grounds should Columbus Day be celebrated as Veteran's Day and Labor Day are. On a more personal ground, no one, NO ONE, is taking away a day that lets me sleep in.
The question of how to address Columbus is central to how we view history in general. How do we hold people accountable for their actions when those action were undertaken hundreds of years ago in a different culture with different moral expectations. It is impossible to take an objective look at Columbus' actions without using the lens of history to remove the clouds from our vision. The truth of what he did is not hard to see. He was a sailor and a merchant, no great philosopher, no gifted leader, and no great thinker. Columbus was a merchant out to get a profit, and looking for a western route to the Orient seemed like a gamble he was willing to take.
Columbus is often credited with "proving" or "discovering" that the earth is round. In fact, educated people had known this for thousands of years, and had Columbus looked more carefully at Greek texts, he would have found remarkably accurate calculations as to the circumference of the Earth that would have enabled him to prepare better for his voyage. As it was, he had poor personal calculations that resulted in a near-mutiny aboard his ships; no one would have survived his voyage had the ships encountered slightly worse weather, or traveled a bit slower. Only serendipity saved Columbus from death by starvation or death at the hands of a justifiably mutinous crew.
Once Columbus arrived in the New World, his actions toward the natives were not of a greatly respectful nature. He began the process of enslavement and forced conversion that was the status quo for the following centuries. However, the conduct of his successors cannot be blamed entirely on him, the culture of this time, the "morals" of the Catholic Church, and human failings like greed are far more to blame for the despicable actions of men like Pizarro, Cortes, and even Andrew Jackson. Columbus' true legacy is the introduction of the New World to the people of Europe. His actions likely would have been replicated in the following years by contemporary captains and merchants, however, it remains that Columbus was the first of his era to reach the New World.
All in all, Columbus had a rather neutral impact on history. He was no great leader of men, but he was no great scourge. Columbus introduced two worlds whose interactions were very one-sided, but he did not perpetrate atrocities as did his successors. Columbus perhaps should not be celebrated, but he does not deserve to be burned in effigy either. He can be seen instead as a pivot point, a neutral point in history around whom greater men and women moved the world.
As children, we were taught from an early age that Columbus was a great explorer who had discovered the New World after he had sailed across the Atlantic in an attempt to find new routes to India. Granted that yes, he did in fact “discover” the New World for Europe, but he was not the first one to land there. To say flat out that he had discovered it wouldn’t be entirely accurate, rather it should be said that he found a land that other cultures had in fact previously discovered. As a society we should recognize Columbus as a man, who simply got lucky by going on an expedition to find new trade routes, but went the wrong way, and happened to bump into a land which was unknown to Europe at that time. If the land masses had not been there for him to land on, then his crew would have mutinied and then starved to death shortly after. Columbus really had an amazing stroke of luck by finding a new land mass due to an incorrect assumption that he could get to India by that route.
Columbus should not be celebrated as he currently is, but rather there should be a celebration of the actual event of the finding of the New World. Because he was not the only one to find the new continents, as well as not the only person on the ships that he landed with, he therefore should not get all the credit. Maybe if they named it “New World Day” or something along those lines, it would make more sense. Columbus should not be celebrated or looked up to as he was when we were first taught about him. However, as we progressed through our education, it seems as though he is gradually lessened in his accomplishments. He was not some glorious captain of a fleet of royal ships, but rather a simple captain who was sent with three ships to find alternate trade routes. He also clearly was not the smartest man in the world either, as his completely inaccurate calculations show. He attempted to calculate the circumference of the Earth, and failed, rather miserably. In fact, he was so far off with his calculations that I wouldn’t even consider them to be an educated guess. However, he did manage to get lucky and find a new source for raw materials which would benefit the economy of the whole of Europe. All in all, he didn’t fail completely in his voyage, he did manage to reveal a new source of materials for Europe, although he was not able to complete his original goal of finding a new route to India. Therefore, he should not be celebrated as he was when we were in elementary school, but he also should not be looked down upon as he is by the time we are in high school. A middle ground between those two extremes would be the ideal position to take, because it would be the most objective, and accurate approach.
Christopher Columbus is known to all for being the “first” to discover American, when really all he did was bring everyone’s attention to its existence. He thought he had come across a new route to Asia at the time. Growing up though we always learned year after year that Columbus had discovered America, even learning the little rhyme to help us remember; In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. They have numerous storybooks for kids praising Columbus for discovering America and the new world. However I am now not so sure he deserves this great credibility of discovering America. In fact Columbus who “discovered the new world” had thought he had discovered a new trade route to China so he could forego unsatisfactory trade routes in the Eastern Mediterranean. Columbus was just lucky that he had stumbled across the lands that existed that no one new about. Many other explorers would have discovered this new world shortly after him; it just happened to be that Columbus was the first to do it.
Not only did Columbus think it was in Asia but once he landed he started to exploit the native people of the Caribbean and America. He enslaved the people, brought over disease that caused a pandemic throughout the natives, and he had many murdered. The populations of the native people drastically reduced everywhere once the Europeans invaded. A decrease of 99 percent in some areas of native people occurred. Columbus caused a holocaust larger than even the Holocaust that we all say was a massacre of the Jews.
Columbus should not be celebrated and have his own day to recognize his achievements because truly his only one great achievement was being the first sailor to sail west and bring light to the fact that the America’s existed. He did change European and world history to a great extent but discovering this new world, but it would have been done shortly after by a number of people had he not been the one to first discover the lands. He ended up causing many people to be slaughtered and, did not even run the colonies under great politics. He enslaved many, though it was not looked down upon at the time, but truly it is an act that is not regarded highly today. He was truly only a sailor through and through and does not deserve to be celebrated as we do and have done for many years.
We grew up thinking of Columbus as the discoverer of America, recited the rhyme “In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue”, and celebrated him every October. Gradually, our image of Columbus as a great explorer disintegrated. We learned that the Vikings had actually been to the New World before he had. Then we learned that he had gotten lost; he didn’t land in America on purpose, he was trying to get to India but had made incorrect calculations. Then last year Zinn enlightened us with the extent of how horribly Columbus treated the natives. Each new piece of knowledge gradually shattered our image of Columbus as a heroic figure. He went from a standing equal to George Washington’s in the founding of our country, to a despicable man that’s encounter with the New World was nothing more than fortuitous. In order to view Columbus accurately, we need to strike a balance between vilification and deification. Elementary schools shouldn’t start teaching that he enslaved natives and treated them brutally and High Schools shouldn’t revert to the overly laudatory towards Columbus.
Should Columbus be charged with genocide of the native people? No, His expedition was fueled by greed not by racial cleansing. Although Columbus enslaved the natives and treated them as savages, this was not unusual or seen as very immoral for the time. He was not a gifted leader by any means, and slavery may have been the only structure he was capable of achieving. It was not Columbus’s intention to find the Native Americans and spread diseases that decimated their populations; medical knowledge was very limited. And while his brutal treatment of the natives will always be a part of Columbus’s legacy, later conquerors outdid him in cruelty. If Columbus had not reached the Americas, it would have been inevitable for another European to reach them and inflict a similar fate on the Indians.
He did establish a new trade route and was the first to colonize the Americas, which encouraged future exploration and settlement. His journey created an important relationship between the New and Old Worlds. If nothing else, Columbus was a brave man for making his voyage into unknown waters and a lucky sailor for reaching the Americas. No matter your opinion on Columbus, everyone can agree we should still be given the day off every year to remember what Columbus has/has not contributed to the history of America.
People seem to have mixed feelings about Christopher Columbus. Some feel that he is a great hero for discovering America in 1492. Others feel that he is a horrible man who forced the Native Americans into being his slave; ultimately causing a great major of them to die from working them to hard and from the diseases that he brought over with him from Europe. You can also argue that he was a man who simply got lucky in his findings of America, and if he had not done it when he did, surely someone would have come along and discovered the land mass shortly after. Any way that you look at it, Christopher Columbus was a man who made an impact on the history of the world.
Today as a society we seem to view Columbus from two different extremes. In elementary school students are taught about how great Columbus was. Everyone learns the rhyme, “In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue” along with the name of his three ships. You are taught how back then everyone thought the world was a cube and that you would sail right off the end of it if you weren’t careful. Columbus was taught as a hero who went against what everyone thought. He was said to be the first person who thought the world was round and that if he sailed west he would be able to reach Asia, allowing him to come up with an alternative trade rout it China and India to get spices. When you hear all of this, along with the fact that Columbus has a holiday devoted to him, he seems like one of the most heroic, and bravest people in history.
Later, you are taught the true facts about Columbus. You learn how people actually did believe the world was round before Columbus, the only difference was Columbus thought that it was a lot smaller than it actually was. Due to his miscalculation he ended up in the Americas thinking that it was an island off the coast of India that he had reached. If he hadn’t reached land when he did, he would have gone through all his supplies and been stranded at sea. Basicly, it was pure luck that he ran into North America and the Caribbean when he did. However if he didn’t, it would have been only a matter of time before someone else did. Also how little education Columbus had. Another fact that is taught about Columbus is how some people believe that he committed genocide in America. Columbus is said to have used Native American’s as slaves when he arrived. Also that the diseases he brought with him killed of a great majority of the native populations. To hear that a figure who was taught as a great hero years earlier is now said to be responsible for genocide to Native American’s is a troubling thought.
Today as a society I feel that it is important to note Columbus as an important historical figure, but not to praise him as much as teachers of elementary school do. Also I feel that the truth about Columbus’s findings being somewhat shear luck should be included as well. I however do not think that it is fair to view him as a person who was responsible for genocide in America. He had no way of knowing that he was a carrier of different diseases that in the long run would kill Native Americans. Also in 1942 slavery was acceptable and not seen as inhuman as it is today. So to Columbus he saw nothing wrong with using the natives as slaves. I feel that it is not our place to judge Columbus as harshly as some of the articles that are written about him do. Even though he wasn’t the first to come up with the idea of sailing to the west and he accidentally found America and the Caribbean Islands, doesn’t take away from the fact that he was still the first one to land there and write accounts of it. For example Ernest Duchesne, who was a French medical student back in 1896 was the first one to note Penicillin yet we still give credit to the discover of this medicine to Alexander Fleming's. How is giving the credit to Columbus for finding America any different? This is why I feel that we should continue to honor Columbus the way we do despite all of the negative things that one can say about him.
Michael Saxton
Christopher Columbus should be viewed as a symbol of America. In 1492 he sailed for India in order to find riches. With riches, he correctly believed, would come opportunity. Years after his voyage, when it became clear that Columbus had actually discovered a "New World," many people followed his lead for exactly the same reason: opportunity and freedom. Even today foreign people leave their country and come to America for a better life. There are some people who believe that Columbus is a symbol of genocide and destruction, yet it can be argued that Columbus actually saved lives. When it later became apparent that the new world could be colonized, thousands of people left their home as a matter of necessity. Many people who were poor left the dirty, diseased infested cities and came to a world that was environmentally cleaner. There are others who argue that Columbus introduced people to land that they later exploited. This is an unfortunate consequence of a growing population. Had thousands of people not left their current environment, it would have suffered a similar fate. It should also be argued that although people can destroy their environment, an ecosystem is able repair itself given time. One should not feel melancholy about a disturbed environment, for it will heal. There are some people of African American and Native American origin who believe that Columbus represents slavery and death. However, is it not true that there are people of African American and Native American descent who currently live comfortable lives? Although it is true that people of different races suffered while in America, can it not be acknowledged that race relations have improved since 1492? The arguments above suggest that Columbus should be viewed as a symbol of opportunity and nothing else. For those who still demonize Columbus, I have one more thing to say to them: The world today has many problems, but Columbus day represents a day in which people can see America in a more positive light. At the end of the day, don't we all need a symbol of freedom to forget (if at least for a moment) the troubles of our planet?
I think that as a society, calling Christopher Columbus a villan is wrong and also foolish. He didn't actually do anything to be named one. He was only looking for a shortcut to Asia so that Spain could trade with China. How can we blame him for sailing across the atlantic ocean and stumbling apon a continent? First off, if he hadn't done it, someone else would surely just make the journey within the next 10 years anyway. We can't blame him for trying to exterminate natives or for the enslavement of Africans. Disease from Europe that killed many natives in the Americas was not a planned act or even intentional. The triangle/quadrilateral trade routes were established because new colonies in the Americas needed cheap and reliable labor. It was more the fault of whoever established the colonies(monarchs) then of the guy who found the land for them(Columbus). Thats why I think villifying him is the wrong direction.
In schools, we are taught that Christopher Columbus was the man who discovered a new continent and therefore enabled expansion and a giant snowball effect to occur from this one event that leads to the modern world. That is only partially true because he only discovered that the lands that the vikings found earlier were actually part of a big landmass and were infact a whole new continent rather then just a rather large group of islands. I think that for this reason we should celebrate Columbus day as a day congradulating his bravery because he was the FIRST one to go searching for alternate passage to Asia to stumble apon this great new land. It was because he had the guts to sail out across the open ocean only counting on mathematics and luck. He braved the unknown and came apon a great revelation; this revelation being a landmass of unknown size but quite clearly one to rival that of the previously known world.
Christopher Columbus has been celebrated as the discoverer of the New World and as a man who started a chain reaction that dramatically reshaped the economic, political, and even social standards of Europe. Yet recently historians have revealed that Columbus killed many natives upon arrival as well as bringing various European diseases over to the America. So should this celebrated hero whom we learned about in elementary school now be considered a villain?
Columbus did not set sail from Spain with the intentions of destroying the majority of the Native American population upon his landing there. At the time the European world of trade was looking for faster routes to the Indian Ocean for trade with the major Asian powers of that area, for their current trade route was controlled by the Muslim powers. Columbus tried to sail west to the Indies instead of circling around the Africa, for at the time he believed that this path would led him directly to the Indian Ocean. Therefore when he landed on the shores of the Caribbean Islands, not even setting foot on the American mainland, he truly believed that he was in the Asian realm. Thus discovering the Western Hemisphere completely by mistake, for he did not even recognize the fact that he had discovered a “New World”. Columbus should not be celebrated as the discoverer of America for he was not even the first to find it, the Vikings had done so years prior, nor did he realize that he had discovered new territory but merely recognized as the first man to establish a permanent settlement in the New World.
When viewing Columbus’s acts against the Native Americans one must think in relation to that history in time. What is considered socially acceptable in our modern world is completely irrelevant to the actions that occurred five hundred years earlier. Columbus set up a slave trade between Europe and the Western Hemisphere, as well as bring foreign diseases over to the new world and killing thousands of Natives there. Although these deeds may seem atrocious to contemporaries of our time, during the era when Columbus lived they were considered acceptable. The slave trade was created with the intention of bringing exotic goods and a cheaper form of labor over to Europe. The Spanish did not intentionally bring over diseases to the new world, for they did not even realize that these natives would be extremely susceptible to these diseases. Many natives were persecuted and killed not due to the color of their skin, but because they were not Christians, just as people in Europe were persecuted due to this fact as well. Because his actions were not of a new nature, for the culture of his time and the actions of previous explorers had set the norm for the age, one cannot consider him a villain. If Columbus had not discovered this new world it is incredibly likely that another explorer of that time would discover what he had, yet he was simply just the first person to find the New World.
Therefore I think that society should not view Columbus as a hero or a villain, but rather an important historical figure who changed the course of history simply by luck. Therefore we cannot consider him to be a hero for he was not a master navigator (he had many miscalculations in his work), a successful leader, or a great thinker but merely the first person to connect the eastern world with the west.
Christopher Columbus is widely known as the first person to “discover” the New World. His initial 1492 voyage took place during the time when countries were competing for land and resources, or in other words, power. Though history has corrected itself and found that there were other explorers to touch the Americas before Columbus, he is accepted as the first explorer to establish a connection between the Americas and Europe.
For those who have taken American History or European history, the Italian explorer is also “credited” as a murderer to an entire population. Historians today are more critical to Columbus, viewing his discovery of the New World in a negative light. Even so, the population’s opinions on Columbus remain at an elementary level, and that is how it should remain. There is no reason to change society’s view of Christopher Columbus. Should little children be taught that the man who founded their home and his crew had brought diseases that killed many of the native population? That he enslaved many and sent them packing over to Spain? Perhaps society needs to be ignorant in some areas. Dwelling on whether or not Christopher Columbus was a hero or murderer will not solve anything of the present; history has been recorded, and nothing can change that. That is not to say that Columbus should continue to be viewed as a hero. In fact, maybe society should reconsider their definition of hero in the case of Columbus. Society also has to consider reasons why Columbus was celebrated during his time. Columbus lived during a different time when slavery was part of the rising economy and was not, at all, an inhumane act like people today see it as. Greed drove many explorers in his time; that was Columbus’ most dangerous flaw. His discovery was new, and like with everything that was foreign, fascination was felt by most of the population.
Now, should Columbus be celebrated? He should not. Celebration is meant for something grand, something worth remembering. The founding of the Americas is definitely worth celebration. It was the start of our civilization. But October 12th should not be celebrated under Christopher Columbus’ name? If one was to take the time to research the background on Columbus Day, he or she would discover that Columbus Day would have never existed if the explorer had decided to take a different route in his quest for Asia. Columbus had actually “accidentally” encountered the Americas. It was spontaneous and the result of Columbus’ completely inaccurate measurements in traveling distance. Luck happened to be by his side.
Christopher Columbus should be acknowledged as, more or less, an explorer. No one brilliant but just lucky. A holiday under his name is inappropriate and a bit too much. Even so, he should not be vilified; society has gone on for years, learning that Columbus was an explorer who founded the Americas. Let’s just keep it at that. Why change it now?
The lifetime accomplishments of certain men of the likes of Leonardo de Vinci are often all but overlooked by the average American citizen. The extent of his contributions to society, though baffling, remain for the most part untold. The contributions of other men of the likes of Christopher Columbus however have been engrained into our memory banks since childhood and given more weight than they are likely due. There are but few who share Christopher Columbus’s level of recognition. Every year, come early October, elementary school students the nation over are told and retold of the account of Christopher Columbus’s brave journey over the Atlantic. If these students don’t come away with an appreciation of his expedition four centuries prior, they at the very least acknowledge his existence and are thankful for the day off attributed in his honor. As these students grow older however their perceptions change, molded by newly presented information. Christopher Columbus, is not exactly all he’s made out to be.
Columbus set sail August 3,1942 with the attention of reaching Asia via a western sea route. He is often given credit for discovering that the earth was indeed round when the fact of the matter stands that men years prior were well aware of this fact. With the hopes of reaching Asia, his discovery of the Americas can very well be said to have been unintentional. Had Americas not interrupted his journey, his faulty calculations of the earth’s circumference would very well have stranded him and his men at sea. Christopher Columbus however clung to his belief that he had reached Asia to the time of his death. He insisted on calling the land the Indies and misnaming the natives the Indians. Though an indirect result, Christopher Columbus’s dealings with the natives led to the eventual death and destruction of a vast majority of the indigenous populations. During his failed attempt at colonization, Columbus began enslaving and converting the “Indians,” a process that eventually led his successors to a mass annihilation of the native race. Contemporaries have drawn comparisons to its likes and that of the Holocaust. Treated as sub human, the native populations were enslaved and killed off through overwork, starvation, disease, and in certain cases sport. The blame however cannot be put singly on Columbus. One must be empathetic to the nature of the time period, an era when such treatment was deemed acceptable. His actions also paled in comparison to his successors of the likes of Cortes. Columbus can also not be put to blame for the diseases that spread throughout the Americas. The susceptibility of the European bred diseases was not something he could have controlled.
Columbus’s contribution was the introduction of the New World to the Europeans. The Vikings, though they discovered Newfoundland five centuries prior, hit a dead end, resulting in an eventual abandonment of their settlements. The fact that others would very likely have made landfall in the Americas years if not months after had Columbus not been is irrelevant to the fact of the matter. Columbus had the resolve and tenacity to set out on this journey at a time when few dared venture beyond the shores of Europe. He sacrificed his safety in Europe and persuaded Queen Isabella to finance his expedition, a proposal that must have been adamant at the very least. He sparked interest in the new world and fueled a new age of curiosity. As a result, two previously disconnected worlds came into contact for the first extended period of time.
Christopher Columbus’s expedition however is given more weight than it was likely due. To the best of my knowledge, men and women of South America do not enjoy a day off to celebrate the accident discovery of their landmass by Portuguese sea captain Pedro Cabral. If we were to celebrate any voyager, why not Amerigo Vespucci, a voyager who wrote series of letters describing the geography of the New World and whose name “Amerigo” bears the origin of the name the “Americas.”There is no reason to disregard his contributions yet at the same time, no reason to place him in such a heroic light. I, and the millions of other children nation wide, however will be the last ones to complain about setting a day aside every year to commemorate the life of this man
Some of the fondest memories of elementary school are those in the days prior to and after Columbus Day. We are taught the notorious rhyme “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” By the end of first grade, it is common knowledge to know that Columbus went on a trek aboard the “Nina”, “Pinta”, and “Santa Maria” to prove that the world was round. Our teachers tell us that he is a hero for discovering America, that he was a brave man far ahead of his time. The United States had numerous cities and colleges erected in the memory of his name (even the capital of the state of Ohio is named after this man!). What our teachers did not warn us of are the unspeakable acts that he had a hand in unleashing on the Native people of the lands that he invaded.
Columbus was an imbecile, miscalculating his journey to find a better route to reach the Far-East. He went on his journey with the intention of making a fortune in opening up new trading grounds for the Spanish. He arrived, instead, in the Americas, finding an entire civilization that had, for thousands of years, been thriving on their land. What did he do in response to these findings? Looked upon them and admired the fact that they would make good slaves. He then proceeded to begin a massacre of an entire civilization, killing thousands and opening up the doors for further brutality of these indigenous people. Truly, he can not be held responsible for bringing the knife to an entire population. He did, though, lead the way for the violence. After his “Encounter”, it is said that 60 to 80 million Natives died at the hands of invaders in North, Central, and South America. Nearly 95-97% of the population was exterminated at hands of these barbarians. If they were not tortured or brutally murdered for sport, the Natives were enslaved either on their own land or on lands far across the Atlantic Ocean. Unknowing of these invaders, the Natives endured many hardships and losses while nearly their entire population perished.
In answering the question, “Should Columbus be celebrated?”, I say that he be condemned as a mass murderer. He single-handedly led to the demise of an entire civilization. He captured and enslaved a Native population. The actions against the Natives are comparable to the actions of Hitler against the Jewish peoples of Europe. In fact, if the figures given by historians are true, Native Americans suffered ten times more losses than those suffered by the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust. I feel that he is responsible all of the losses suffered by their people. As said by historians, teaching our children to condone his actions would be like teaching children to condone the actions of an assassin.
Christopher Columbus was a man that had a great impact on the world. He and his crew sailed bravely through unknown sea looking for an alternative route to India, and landed in a New World. His accomplishments changed history, and it had such an impact on society that today we have a special day to honor him and his contributions to this world. He is celebrated in elementary schools throughout the United States and many students are taught about his voyage. But are these teachings totally accurate?
Everybody who has studied Christopher Columbus would know that in 1492 he set sail and found the Americas. What some schoolchildren may not know is that though finding the Americas was a great accomplishment, it was a complete accident. Also, he was not even the first person to land in the Americas. To top it off, Columbus enslaved thousands of Native Americans and killed many more. Should Columbus be vilified for these actions? One could say not. While he did enslave thousands of natives, this was not as morally incorrect as it is today and was a practice that many people took part it. Also, Columbus cannot be held completely responsible for the deaths of all of the natives because killing slaves would not be profitable, meaning that intentional manslaughter would not make any sense. Secondly, while Columbus failed to find an alternative route to India, he was able to make a profitable investment in it by setting up trade routes and opening the horizon for later voyages and settlements. Christopher Columbus’s discovery was a great accomplishment that cannot be discredited.
When a child enters school he or she learns the alphabet, how to count past ten, the colors of the rainbow and how Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. As a kid in elementary school you are taught all about Columbus’s daring voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and his adventures once he landed. The image of this heroic figure discovering the land in which we now live was engrained in millions of young kids minds. Columbus inherited this infamy that puts in a very distinguished class; this class is one of famous figures that people immediately think about when the word history is mentioned. However, did Columbus really deserve all of this credit? In fact, it is proven that he was not the first person to set foot on the Americas; that accomplishment goes to the Vikings and maybe several other civilizations as well. Columbus was also said to have discovered that the Earth was round, but in actuality it had been known since the Greeks. For these reasons I believe that Columbus in extremely over glorified in our society.
Columbus has been credited for being a world-class explorer and pioneer, when in reality he got lucky. He didn’t even mean to land on the American continent, he intended to land in Asia. He miscalculated the circumference by an extremely large amount and because of that he almost killed his whole crew from lack of supplies. Christopher Columbus was not nearly as glorious as every elementary school teacher makes him out to be. He was in fact just a common seafaring captain in search of a trade route to Asia, when he ran into a large body of land and into the history books. The other reason I believe Columbus doesn’t deserve all of the acclaim he receives is because of his treatment of the natives he encountered. Columbus and his crew were indirectly responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands native Americas, either by enslavement or disease. Columbus and his crew enslaved the natives and worked them to death; he also carried over diseases from Europe like smallpox. These diseases wiped out almost all of the natives and just left the Americas devastated. This mistreatment of the Natives by Columbus is often overlooked when discussions of him arise. However, on Columbus’s defense slavery was an acceptable thing practice in their time; slavery was not condemned as it is today. And it was also not Columbus’s fault that diseases were carried over from Europe to the Americas. It happened all the time in those days when hygiene and ship conditions were horrid. It was also not his fault that the natives had not built up immunity to these diseases and therefore cannot directly be blamed for those deaths. With this said I still do not believe that Columbus went about handling the Native Americans in a correct manner. He was still relatively cruel and mean hearted and for this he should not be celebrated as he is today.
As bad as Columbus treated the natives, and even though he got extremely lucky, what he did cannot be ignored. He did, in fact, discover the Americas to the European nations and that discovery changed the outlook of the World forever. His discovery is one of great importance but not for the reasons most people believe. I believe that Christopher Columbus should be remembered and celebrated in a different light then he is today. He should be remembered as the founder of the “New World” cause that is what his discovery led to. He was not the discoverer of the American continents as he is known now but he discovered what became America and Cuba and Puerto Rico. He should not be commemorated for discovery that the world is flat because that was not him, he should be celebrated for changing the world, although by complete accident, and for the changes that followed his discovery.
The utterance of the name Christopher Columbus elicits a new reaction with each coming October in one’s life. At a young age we are taught of a strapping and ambitious explorer with dreams of adventure and proving the whole of European society wrong. We learn of his trials and tribulations to find support for his journey across the “round” world to find a faster and more efficient route to the trade rich Asia. We learn of the benevolent and just King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain who so kindly agreed to fund Columbus’s journey, and of course of his three majestic ships the Niña, Pinta, and the Santa María and their corresponding motley crews. From there he valiantly sails “the ocean blue,” and takes his first heroic steps on the sandy shores of a new and uncharted world. At this point, the cheerful elementary school teacher would close her thin, hard-covered book with a reassuring smile, and we would stare at her with a look of satisfied awe like we were gazing at the great Christopher Columbus himself. This trend usually continues for about five or six years, until late elementary school or early middle school when our teachers feel we are mature enough to handle the general truth of the matter. In the gentlest possible way, our teachers proceed to sprinkle in greater pieces of information regarding Columbus and his historical significance. We learn of the growing national imperialism in competing European states that lead to the Age of Exploration, and the lucrative spice trade that Spain would have access to if Columbus did in fact find a quicker route to the West Indies. We learn of Columbus landing within what is currently known as the Bahamas and about his first interactions with the indigenous people of Central America. Most importantly, we receive a slight idea of the doors of slavery and disease of the natives of South, Central, and North America that Columbus pried open when he pioneered and inspired the colonization of this “new world.” Still, the majority of us would still admire the bravery and sheer degree of accomplishments of Columbus and feel a small degree of apathy for the natives, if any at all. Finally, as a sophomore in high school and our new found titles as “adults,” society feels it is acceptable for us to learn the entire story and form our own opinions on the matter whether they be in appreciation or condemnation. Now, we are certain that Columbus was preceded by the Western Vikings and of course the indigenous people in the discovery of the Americas and that he should be more accurately labeled as the person who brought the Americas into the forefront of Western attention. We discover that the idea of the earth’s spherical nature was known in ancient times and that most educate men agreed to this during Columbus’s time. We read about the cruel treatment and massive decline in population that the indigenous people of the America’s faced at the hands of Columbus and later European settlers due to their desire for power, wealth, and prestige.
So the question comes down to, should Christopher Columbus be celebrated every October 12 or should his actions and legacy be condemned? In my opinion, I say neither. Columbus Day should not be celebrated for the “greatness” of Columbus but simply for the discovery of two highly significant continents in history. I believe this, because when we celebrate Columbus Day with positive celebrations we are in many ways justifying the explorers and pioneers ongoing acts of genocide against the Native Americans of the continents. In fact, in 2003, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez urged Native American Latin Americans to not celebrate Columbus Day Chavez for he blamed Columbus for leading the mass killings of the Native Americans by the Spanish. Still, I do not believe Columbus should be altogether vilified because with out his actions and the precedent he set for the exploration and colonization of the Americas, we would not be where we are today. Yes his actions were in no way righteous or good, but he does hold a great degree of responsibility for the tremendous global effect the “new world” would have on the already existing world.
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He went astray, ended up in the Bahamas, when he was supposed to be sailing to the East Indies. Without even recognizing it, Columbus had made a discovery that would open up North America to the rest of the world. Though Columbus is often credited with discovering the New World, he died believing that he had found India. The legacy he has left behind has been tarnished by reports that he methodically destroyed the Taino peoples of San Salvador by forcing them into slavery and murdering those who resisted. It's also hard to argue that Columbus discovered anything because the Vikings had explored North America years before, and you can't "discover" a land that had already been occupied. Columbus did begin a new era of exploration in North America, but there were many lives lost and many cultures destroyed along the way, something that should not be disregarded.
Still, many of you won't have to go to work or school on Columbus Day, although as a country we still celebrate Columbus Day, even as history continues to prove that Columbus wasn't exactly a superman. We should view him as just a bloodthirsty explorer desperately in need of a GPS system on the Santa Maria. As we all grew older, Columbus’s cred as a true hero of the New World diminished because when we are younger, we are taught heroes and people to look up to, but as we grow older in the American Society it is the child’s job to weed out the bad role models and our brain capacity is higher so we can learn the true facts of Columbus apparently because “we can handle the truth”. I know that he does not deserve all the hype he gets. He did explore and good for him, but there are many more explorers who should be credited for their finds, not just a holiday because no one really celebrates the person for whom the holiday is for, but for his/hers accomplishment that bettered society. To appreciate it, we should be in school, although I love having a four day weekend, but I love to respect history. We should go to school on Columbus Day because we shouldn’t even have a holiday in his name. I’m not for celebrating a holiday for a man who killed the majority of a society and ruined culture which reverted the world’s culture thousands of years. Most of the explorers of his day killed millions, but Columbus is one of them and yes he landed on what he thought was a New World and was totally wrong about the location, but there are plenty of other explorers who discovered the land they first set their plans on and the natives that were there were better off, but not by much. Columbus, is not worth all the hype, and should be taught to society but not put upon such a high pedestal.
The controversy over Columbus Day has been raging for years now: should we still celebrate Christopher Columbus? Or are there other people or causes who should be given a National holiday instead? South Dakota, for example, has already addressed the issue by designating the day "Native American Day.", which I agree with totally.
“In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” This one rhyme seems so incredibly juvenile and yet whenever you ask high school or even college students what they know about Christopher Columbus, these are typically the first words out of their mouth. If these students are ill-informed then the next phrases out of their mouth might be, “the founder of the New World,” “he was a hero in the history of America,” or even “he befriended the Native Americans.” However, as our knowledge about this historical figure progresses, we learn that Columbus was not the man that we learned about in our younger years.
We soon learn about the dark side of Columbus. We learn that he was not in fact the first person to discover the Americas, it is commonly thought that Leif Ericson or the Vikings preceded Columbus’ in the discovery of the Americas. And most importantly of all, we learn about Columbus’ effect upon the Native Americans. At first we had believed that he had “befriended” the natives, but then we learn that despite Columbus' amazing "discovery," he also brought disease upon the Native Americans which ultimately led to an "uninentional Genocide."
However, I do believe that Columbus' achievments are frequently overlooked because of some of the mistakes that he made during his explorations of the Americas. He is frequently criticized for the mass extermination of the Native Americans, but in order to make this claim, one needs to understand the true definition of the word genocide. Genocide is more commonly referred to as "the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group." One of the most important things that Columbus brought with him to the Americas was essentially invisible. He had brought with him diseases that the Native American's immune systems were unable to protect against. Because of this break down in their immune systems, many Native Americans died shortly after Columbus' arrival. Despite this, it is unfair to call this a genocide since it was not intentional and Columbus did not anticipate this mass extermination.
Despite the fact that Columbus is the one who began colonization in the Americas, he is often remembered for the many flaws and mistakes in his voyages. It's not fair to only remember Columbus for his mistakes, instead he should be remembered for a combination of both his achievments as well as his errors. Students need to recognize is that neither the information they learned in elementary school which glorifies Columbus or the information they have learned in high school which typically criticizes him, is flawless. In order to truly understand Christopher Columbus, you need to combine these ideals to understand the bigger picture. Although Columbus did bring deadly diseases to the Americas, he also made a perilous trip to the Americas despite the judgement of his fellow citizens as well as the extreme danger in this particular voyage.
Therefore, the age old questions continue to live on, was Columbus a hero or a villain? Did he create good or evil? And does he truly deserve a day in his honor? I personally believe that Columbus did make a great deal of mistakes and there were a variety of flaws in his voyage as well as his plans and ideas. However, it is unfair to base your views simply upon these flaws. It is essential that you also consider the perils Columbus faced as well as the fact that he is the one who began the colonization of the Americas. Once you have considered all of these components is when you can truly understand the "big picture."
Christopher Columbus should be credited with the discovery of the Americas however he should not be considered a hero. Columbus deserves the credit for discovering and colonizing the Americas. Although he believed he was in Asia, Christopher Columbus was able to set up a type of civilization that supported the survival of the travelers with him. It is true that Columbus enslaved the natives; however this was not unusual or immoral acts for the time period. He was not a gifted leader or thinker so Columbus used slavery to create structure and to begin to construct a civilization in the New World. Another benefit from Columbus’s mistake was that he enabled a trade route between the Americas and Europe a route that had not existed until his discovery.
Although Columbus should be credited with the discovery of the Americas he should not be considered a hero. He did not leave Spain searching for a New World. He embarked on his journey with the destination being Asia. However Columbus miscalculated his navigation and instead of finding a faster route to Asia he ended up finding a new world. He ended up killing many of the natives with the diseases that he brought from Europe to the New World. Although Columbus made his fair share of mistakes to find the New World I feel that Columbus should be credited with the discovery of the Americas.
In our earlier years of schooling, we were taught about a man by the name of Christopher Columbus, the very person who "sailed the ocean blue" in 1492 and founded the New World. We would all gather and sing a song that was made especially for him, and we would even have a day off dedicated specifically for Columbus. At that age, we were taught to believe that Columbus was this intelligent hero with a sense of navigation and founded this miraculous land. We idolized Columbus, but to what extent? We did not question his findings and the legitimacy of historical events on whether Columbus did find the New World. Now, being older and learning more in depth about history, we now know for a fact that Columbus was indeed not the first one to discovery the New World and that all this credit that he acclaimed may fully not be his.
Christopher Columbus did not even set off to find the New World, which happened to be mere coincidence. His initial goal was to find a sea route to East Asia for trade, and being just a seaman and not a very intelligent navigator, like we believed, he landed in the land called the New World. But he stubbornly convinced himself that he landed on East Asia. Also his epic journey was one of pure selfishness. Columbus made this journey in hopes of gaining riches and fame and to be praised and adored for his findings. To make matters worse, he wasn't the heroic figure like we were taught. When he landed in the New World he did not befriend the Natives but was a man that massacred hundreds of thousands in the Americas.
Personally, I was very disappointed as a little girl who idolized the man who founded the very land I was born in, and although studies and history analysis proves that the truth of Columbus is far from what I was taught, I still believe he deserves some credit. It is true that all this praise that he receives is not entirely his or pretty unnecessary, he is nevertheless the man with significance.
As young students we’re taught that Columbus be revered as a hero; the founder of the new world and the one who pushed our region into existence. This however, is obviously far from the truth. With the advances being made in naval sciences and other areas of technology during the 15th century as well as the frequent exploratory trips by countries competing for power, it was only a short matter of time before any one of these explorations stumbled upon the America’s. The tradition of our Columbus Day is celebrated only by the chance that Columbus happened to be the first of these explorers to land on this continent, which in fact as we later learned was not true either. Artifacts found in the America’s suggest that people came across the Atlantic as far back as the ancient Roman Empire. It is in my opinion that Christopher Columbus should get less credit than he has been given for the discovery of the America’s. And in no way should he be viewed as a hero in any way. He was not considered an expert explorer; he happened to accidentally stumble upon the islands of the Caribbean and mistakenly believed that he had made it to Asia. He even caused the death of countless amounts of natives with disease which was brought over from Europe accusing him and his men of being the cause of Genocide in the America’s.
However, in the case of this “genocide” I don’t believe that Columbus is to personally blame for the deaths of the Native Americans. The dictionary defines genocide as the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group. In no way was what the Spanish did in 1492 a deliberate act against the natives. It was a completely accidental and unfortunate circumstance which could not have been foreseen by anyone at the time. The medical advances and resources at this time were not capable of predicting this epidemic in the Americas or curing such a vast majority of those affected. In conclusion, Christopher Columbus should not be held accountable for the deaths of the natives due to disease brought over from Europe by him and his men. This unfortunate event was one that could not be avoided and should not have anyone held accountable for it.
Columbus Day has been celebrated since 1792; we get a day off from school in order to appreciate Christopher Columbus. Should we as Americans really celebrate Christopher Columbus? Should we be proud? Was he actually the one who found America or was it just plain luck? The biggest question of all is that should we celebrate a man who took lives of so man innocent beings? Most of us just enjoy our day off, but would we celebrate it if we knew all the right facts. I think that we as Americans have a very vague and hazy concept of the so called icon Columbus. In my opinion Columbus invaded America rather than discovering it.
Christopher Columbus was an explorer who was funded by the Spanish Queen to find other lands and other valuables. Christopher Columbus reaches America by a complete accident; he never set off to find America. The natives he came across during this time, he made them all slaves and brought some of them back to his land and sell them. His only accomplishment was that he introduced Europeans to his newfound land. He did not discover America because the indigenous people who already were present there. He was responsible for bringing disease to the Natives and infecting them. His legacy is one of violence, of slavery, of brutality against the indigenous people that he encountered,” he said. “And to honor that individual is to honor the murders and genocide of indigenous people.” This was said by a young journalist who is strongly against the celebration of Columbus Day and feels that it’s degrading. I feel that Columbus is just almost a tall tale. He was ignorant and persistent about the fact that he had landed in Southeast Asia, when he was way off.
I do not think that Columbus Day should be celebrated because there is nothing to celebrate about him, he is not the founder of our country nor did he contribute to anything. If anyone should be given credit it’s the Native Americans who were actually settled here before anyone. He tricked the Natives and forced them into slavery and basically violated their rights, he had no reason to force them to do anything but he used them for his pleasure and comfort. As a young child we were taught “in 1942 Columbus sailed the ocean blue”, but we never went into too much detail. Now that we are grown up and can support our views with strong examples we know that this day does not cause for any sort of celebration what so ever.
My first memory of history is one of Christopher Columbus. We were always taught that he discovered American in 1492. That is basic information that everyone from the littlest kids to the oldest adults know about Columbus. No one would ever think that the man who is credited with discovering this country could be cruel. Now new information is coming out saying that Columbus caused genocide of over 100,000 native people in the Americas. Personally, I am indecisive on this matter because I believe that he should be credited with the discovery of the Americas but he should not be viewed as a hero.
Columbus was a deeply religious man and someone who was dedicated to the exploration of the seas, his goal was to find a water route from Europe to the Indies. Instead he discovered the “New World”. He did not recognize that he had found a new place and called the people that he found there Indians. Most explorers would have realized that they were not where they had expected to be, this shows that Columbus was not the most educated of men, but there is nothing particularly wrong with a lack of education. The idea that bothers most people and historians is the fact that he enslaved and killed almost all of the native people that he came in contact with when he first went to the New World. Although the blame cannot be placed solely on Columbus, since many new diseases were introduced into theses countries, he did enslave many of the people and these working conditions could eventually lead to deaths. This is the reason why I am on the fence about remembering Columbus as a hero or as a villain because he contributed many positive things to the world but also many negative ideas such as slavery, as well. I think that children should be taught about his achievements and flaws in school, so that they can get the full picture of who Columbus actually was.
I am wholeheartedly of the opinion that society, as a whole, should persist in its celebration and appreciation of Christopher Columbus and his Discovery of the Americas. For, undeniably, it was a Discovery, at least from the perspective of Christendom. For while the Amerindian peoples were certainly aware of the existence of their land and themselves, Columbus’s great “encounter” effectively constituted the first true and lasting introduction of the European world to the Americas. Christopher Columbus is not merely a man- he is a symbol, an embodiment of the Western discovery of, interaction with, and expansion into the New World. Regardless of his flaws, delusions, oddities, and transgressions, it is undeniable that his actions set into motion the colossal gears of history, gears that have always been lubricated with blood and tears. Some might argue that, had Columbus failed to encounter the New World (or impact and stimulate European Imperialism through his actions), another would likely have taken his place as the great Discoverer. This is entirely correct and, under such circumstances, we would have just as much reason to celebrate his (or her) memory and his deeds. However, the fact remains that it was Christopher Columbus that landed at San Salvador in 1492, and that it was Columbus whom sparked the great wave of European exploration and colonization that would ultimately consume and reshape the entire New World. For all of the strife, affliction, injustice, and misery that it wreaked, the coming and ascendancy of Europeans in the Americas is irrefutably of enormous significance in the annals of history, directly leading to the foundation of several of the most significant nations on the planet.
Certainly, it was not Amerindian populations, culture, economic and territorial ambitions, social standards, etc. that lead to the formation of nations such as the United States and Canada, nor did they directly or consistently constitute overly significant or widespread elements of the Western societies from which the aforementioned entities were spawned. While Ameridinian peoples and practices certainly did persist and prevail to a far greater degree within the Imperial and post-Imperial populations in modern-day Mexico, Central America, and South America, it is still undeniable that the coming of Europeans vastly altered and influenced the state of demographics, civilization, technology, etc. in those regions and its resultant progression. Regardless of the merits or sophistication of the various indigenous peoples of the Americas, Western exploration and colonization played a tremendous role in shaping and developing most of the cultures and societies of the Americas, and through them, that of the entire world. From it arose the foundations of the nation in which we now reside and prosper. From it arose some of the greatest triumphs and some of the direst transgressions of man. Could other paths of development, independent of European “invasion” have lead to similarly great and significant civilizations and events? Perhaps. But to judge the value of Columbus’s actions based upon vague, unfounded, and improvable speculation is pointless and unnecessary. What we do know is that Columbus was the first to truly spark significant Western interest in the “New World”, that Europeans did “invade” the Americas, and that from this chain of events arose the modern face of the New America. Yes, it certainly exerted a bloody toll on all, and especially the Amerindians, but do we not still respect and embrace the achievements of the Romans, the Arabs, the Chinese, and countless others despite their myriad acts of brutality and cruelty? Many of the greatest advancements and accomplishments of man, or the conditions (that of the growth of civilizations and populations, the resultant expansion of their economic systems, the exploration and conquest of new lands) that were necessary for their development, are associated with no small amount of bloodshed and cruelty. The same did certainly apply to the independent evolution of Amerindian prosperity, culture, and civilization, (the Aztecs and Apaches were hardly saints, after all) and would continue to have applied without the intervention of extra-continental powers. The burden of sin of those Europeans whom sought to explore, exploit, and dominate the New World is not anything unique or, in context of the greater course of history, especially odious. While I by no means condone the destruction and subjugation of innumerable different Amerindian people by those whom followed in the footsteps of Columbus or the transgressions of the man himself, I do believe that Columbus, or more aptly, the act and event that that man embodies in the modern consciousness, is entirely worthy of our respect and acknowledgement. Columbus’s historic landfall signified the commencement of a new era for the New World, and it his name and person that most prominently and conveniently serves to encapsulate the beginning of European exploitation of the Americas and its momentous consequences. The man himself is, by comparison, irrelevant.
I can still remember in second grade, when the whole class would gather around for circle time and our teacher would would read to us from short picture books. I remember in October of that year, just before the Columbus day weekend, we gathered to hear a story about Christopher Columbus. It was all about how much of a hero he was, discovering the New World and being one of the greatest explorers ever. This was the line that everything I learned about Columbus took. He was presented as a great hero who made great discoveries, brought new things to the natives, and opened up a whole new continent to colonization. This was the only view I would hear of Columbus until about sixth grade at the earliest, and I heard it quite a lot. I would even come to be familiar with that ages-old rhyme about Columbus: "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue."-a corny rhyme if I ever heard one, but useful in learning Columbus. As I got older though, I began to read more about Columbus, and my opinion of him began to change as I found out more of the details about his handling of affairs in Hispaniola. My opinion still remains the same after reading these articles about Columbus. I believe he is to be vilified, not celebrated. I believe that he should still get credit for discovering America, as his was the first official documented discovery of America (and I do support the holiday, since it celebrates not the man, but his discovery), but this should be taken with a grain of salt, because it was more luck than anything else; however I do not believe anything else he did even remotely deserves celebration.
Firstly, his discovery was purely accidental and by no means a result of his intelligence, leadership, or seafaring skills. His intention was to sail to the Far East by sailing westward in the hopes that this route would be shorter. The idea was a smart one, if not entirely original, but he grossly and massively underestimated the size of the earth and the distance he would need to cover to make such a huge journey. He set off on this journey, nearly lost his crew (they grew impatient and restless and almost mutinied), which casts further doubt on his ability to lead, and ended up running into land that was obviously not his destination of the Indies but something else. He would never admit that he had falied to reach his destination, though, an example of misplaced and silly vanity and pride. In short, Columbus is celebrated for something that he achieved by accident, by being there at the right time in the right place. In this sense, Columbus is overrated.
However, we are only now getting to the number one reason why Columbus should not be celebrated. Once he arrived at Hispaniola and assumed governor's duties, he managed to screw things up colossally. He came with the intention of gaining economically. Once he failed to fnd gold, he set the natives to work growing sugarcane and other such crops, instituting a harsh slave system that was likely one of the roots of the infamous triangle trade of later times. Columbus was harsher than most masters. What some accounts say is that Columbus gave all the Indians tokens that they earned by paying him out of what they produced. Those who were caught without a token had their hand cut off. If they disobeyed orders, a nose would be cut off. This may or may not be true, but some sources I've read say that some mothers killed their children to spare them that life. One thing is for certain, though. Columbus was a harsh master. The startling fact is that he did such damage to the Indian population that they had to import new Indians from other islands to be slaves. He almost single-handedly decimated them, killing nearly sixty million. Whether a man who commits such brutal acts of genocide without remorse should be celebrated is highly doubtful at best.
Thus, I believe he should be vilified. His only claim to fame is that he discovered America. While this was the first official one, he was not the first to America-the Vikings beat him. Also, to reiterate, it was simply a case of being there at the right time and beating out everyone else. He also botched the management of Hispaniola, managing only to set the stage for a global slave trade and wipe out many innocent natives. For these reasons, I think he should be vilified.
Arguments can go in multiple directions regarding the celebration of Columbus’s landfall in the Americas. Was he a hero? No. Was he a villain? No. Columbus was simply another uneducated European looking for riches in a new, imaginative way. He did not plan on discovering a new land, nor did he plan on full-scale genocide. Columbus was just another explorer who based his morals and decisions off of the church and state.
Beginning with the “discovery” of America, most easily conclude that Columbus should gain no credit in such an event. Both the Vikings and the Native Americans (who Columbus thought were Indians) settled on American grounds far before Columbus set out on his first voyage. However, his landfall in America still is considered a monumental event simply because it was the first time that Europe truly began to see the Americas as a new world to settle in and develop. A new question then arises: if Columbus did not make landfall in the Americas, how long would it be before someone else did? Odds are, not very long. The Portuguese had been exploring for decades around Africa and were bound to expand their expeditions elsewhere. Therefore, any idea that Columbus’s discovery reshaped the world in a way that would not have been done for centuries is absurd. The final piece of evidence against Columbus is that he found the Americas simply because of a mistake so large that he would have died if he had not made landfall. Even throughout the remainder of his life, Columbus refused to admit that he had found the New World and not the Indies, meaning that the “discoverer” of America did not even acknowledge his discovery. Amérigo Vespucci was one of the first to actually write down his belief that they had landed in a new world, meaning that and credit of “discovery” should go to him if anyone. All in all, it is safe to say that Columbus was no hero in his voyage across the Atlantic.
However, Columbus was no villain either. Many people point out that his landfall and actions led to the enslavement, mistreatment, and genocide of millions of innocent people who had lived quietly for thousands of years. However, one must realize Columbus’s rational at the time. The man spent enormous amounts of national funds to embark on the voyage and was looking for an easy route to Asia in order to tap into the East-Asian spice trade as described by Marco Polo. Columbus hoped to gain enough money from the voyage to, not only pay his country back, but also to gain incredible wealth. When he reached the Americas, all he found was vast amounts of land and people. He enslaved the people and exploited the resources in order to show his country that he did not waste their money and to convince his country that another voyage was needed.
So how can one justify such horrible actions against human beings? The answer is simple; a lack of scientific education. Today, people see such acts as atrocities easily worthy of torture and death because people see other people has just that, people. Most modern-day civilians are taught from a young age to see others as equals, no matter what the origin or skin-tone others may have. Yet some, even today, are taught from childhood to hate those who are different, as seen by the continuation of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups. Most see that the hatred is for naught, yet it still continues simply because of how the hater was brought up. In the hater’s eyes, the hated people are inferior and undeserving of respect. Such beliefs are held as truths to such haters because that was what they were taught. Columbus had the same problem. From childhood, he was taught, either directly or indirectly, by the church to see non-Christians as infidels who have no soul and are only good for work and profit. Columbus held such teachings as truths because that was what he was taught. Therefore, the exploitation and genocide he supported was not even close being his own fault, but more the fault of the church and the institutions which brought him up and educated him.
As one can see, Columbus was neither a hero nor a villain. He was not the reason that the Americas were inhabited, nor was he at fault for the destruction he caused. He was simply another greedy person in search of a short road to wealth, blinded by the teachings of the church.
Christopher Columbus is a man, who for the majority of my life, I looked at him as an American hero. He was the man who discovered the Americas; he was the one who showed the Earth to be round not flat. Columbus even had a song recounting his journey and three ships with cool, Spanish names. On the surface, this man was the epitome of cool, the definition of adventure. By now, however, being older and, hopefully, wiser, I realize that Columbus’s trip was not as pleasant and purposeful as most of us had been taught. First of all, the discovery had been completely by accident. Columbus had been looking for a direct route to the Indies. He never found his passage but still believed he had, even when evidence showed that he clearly had not. This showed Columbus to be a stubborn and foolish man who would not back down. Not the nicest of qualities. His “adventure” had also been the cause of numerous native deaths and enslavements, most for justifying his journey to the Spanish courts. From the 21st century standpoint, these are despicable actions that really cannot be justified by today’s standards. However, as a society, we have to realize that Columbus was not doing anything wrong for his time period. In fact, he may have even been praised for treating non-Christians inhumanely as was the protocol of the time. Europeans had been using Jews and Muslims for years as servants, because, to them, those religions were secondary citizens. Their rights were not the same as a white, Christian’s. Columbus was coming from a place that used lesser people as slaves and, looking at the issue from his view, it only made sense to continue the tradition in the New World. Especially when there was a debt across the Atlantic that needed to be paid. It only makes sense that 550 Taino people should be shipped off to be used as manual labor.
Even with that knowledge, it is still unfair to completely excuse his actions for sticking with the status quo. Columbus did not have to introduce slavery into the Caribbean. Nor did he have to shackle together the natives he found in the Caribbean when he brought them over to Europe. A sense of decency should have stopped him from doing what his fellow Europeans had been doing for years. Sadly though, Columbus proved himself to be a mindless follower of the European ways. He further proved himself to be the leader he was not when the island of Española failed terribly under his leadership. The proof? The 50,000 deaths of natives that occurred while he was the governor.
We also cannot vilify Columbus either since it was America’s founders who also tried to exterminate the Indian population through brutal relocation, slavery, and even blatant murder. For us to condemn Columbus for the crime that we too committed, would be hypocritical and unfair.
Overall, I’m unsure of how society should view Christopher Columbus, despite his discovery of the Americas (which was accidental and still not believed by him), it cannot be ignored that he was responsible for the deaths of millions of Caribbean and Mexican natives. I think the solution would be to celebrate the fact that the Americas were discovered by him, but to not take it any farther than that. Columbus discovered America, but then destroyed it.
The most famous example of Genocide throughout history is clearly The Holocaust, and that’s what comes up on everybody’s mind when this word is used. In contrast, when the name Christopher Columbus comes up, the majority of us tend to think of the bold and courageous explorer. But since new information has been found about the man, people throughout the latter part of the 20th Century have argued about how society should view Christopher Columbus. Was what he did a noble bold discovery that connected two worlds together? Or did he in fact indirectly initiate the destruction of an entire race? Personally, I feel that what Columbus did was something that would have been achieved sooner or later, thus making him easily replaceable, and his despicable treatment of foreigners, high risk taking personality, and close-mindedness makes him a figure any sane human being should be disgusted by. His so called “discovery” was purely accidental, and he did very little in his life time that should make him exulted by our history books. The reason I feel that Columbus’s should not be treated with any empathy is because, for a man to be commemorated, he should show outstanding values or accomplish something that no one else could have done.
First off, his life background is not a distinguishable one, and even the nature of his first voyage show that Columbus was inherently not intelligent. He drastically miscalculated the distance from Portugal to the Far East assuming his voyage was a rather short one. Not that he had access to it, but since the Second Century BC, the Greeks had already figured out the circumference of the Earth. This does not mean that unintelligent people should not be commemorated, but what we know of Columbus seems to show that he seems to be the opposite of the quintessential Renaissance man. Columbus’s motive in his entire life was only of self-promotion and that is truly not noble. Likewise, his task was to find an Eastern sea route to India and he never did: fact of the matter is Columbus failed. Even when evidence was presented showing that he clearly did not reach there, he persisted on saying that this was the Far East showing his closed minded stubbornness. Secondly, his treatment of Native Americans continued a precedent of cruelty and racism in the New World. Columbus did not do a marvelous new thing by following his Christian values and treating these men like his brothers. No, he enslaved these free men and women and brought them back to Portugal because he could not justify that he had actually reached India, and thus had to ensure that his voyage was not entirely useless. Columbus also treated these natives as second class citizens and did not recognize their civilization. He claimed the already inhibited land for his Queen, completely ignoring the fact that people were already living there.
Some argue that the reason Columbus should be recognized is that he created this new link to the New World and led to an age which will connect two worlds and in retrospect globalization. But really, if one were to look at a globe and track down the routes that Europeans were sailing and exploring through, he/she would notice that eventually America would have been discovered. There is obviously no solid evidence if anyone else would have explored to the Americas, but this route Western route to India has been talked about for a very long time, and I strongly believe that his discovery could have been done easily by any other sailor. What Columbus did was taking a big risk and getting lucky. Also, he was not the first even European to reach the Americas. Evidence has shown that Vikings has reached the Americas in Greenland before Columbus’s time. Columbus did not discover, what he did was popularized.
I guess one could argue that in a sense, doing something someone else has already done , and being the infallible all knowing celebrity without people knowing all of the details about you is fundamentally American, but in all seriousness, Columbus day sets the tone that Columbus’s and European actions towards the indigenous people was justifiable and even acceptable. Perhaps the day should be changed to The Day of Exploration to commemorate the actual noble explorers to chart the unknown not only for their own greedy self interests.
Christopher Columbus, no matter how anyone goes about viewing him, is a household name in a positive sense. The man is given credit for the discovery of America and is world reknowned for doing so. Should he be praised so highly for his actions? Probably not. It was an accidental find, one caused by serious miscalculations on the size of the earth, because he was trying to find a shorter passage to Southeast Asia. Historians have even viewed him as a relatively uneducuated man who is unworthy of the praise he receives for his so called "discovery". None of this truly matters, because no matter what, society will still view him as the man that in 1492, discovered America, and should be respected for that reason.
Members of society should not respect this man because of a discovery that was credited to him, even though he was obviously not the first person to set his sights on this land. It is a known fact that upon his arrival, he showed disrespect to the Indians of the land. He was not a born leader and was not the type of man to lead a people to populate and colonize a new nation. Much more worthy people could have been in the same position as Columbus and done a more successful job, but the point in the matter is, Columbus was the first to lead a voyage into uncharted waters, and he was the man that had to begin colonization of this nation.
Christopher Columbus' treatment of the Native Americans provides much negative criticism to his otherwise highly praised name. Based on the time period, his use of the Native Americans as slaves was not such a terrible act. As a very cheap source of readily available labor, any European explorer would have done the same in Columbus' position. The countless deaths of these people can be partially credited to Columbus and his voyage, but the blame cannot solely rest on his shoulders. Some died due to overwork in slavery, which can be considered the fault of Columbus, but others died of disease, which is not a factor that he can be blamed for. Even though his journey from Europe brought disease to the new land, he could not have foreseen the devastating effects it was going to have on the population. So yes, the deaths of numerous Native American people can be partially credited to Christopher Columbus, but the deaths of many others cannot be blamed upon him.
So when asked how should society view Christopher Columbus, I believe that they should respect him for the discovery that was made in his name, and beginning the population that continued to the people of today. So while he did commit such unforgiveable actions, they were the custom of his time, and who is to say that if he did not discover America, the next explorer to arrive would not have committed the same actions. So Christopher Columbus should be respected in his disovery, regardless of its coincidental origin.
Columbus day occurs once every year, in celebration of a man that by no means earned or deserves such recognition. It is my personnal opinion that society should view Columbus as a racist fiend who destroyed the lives of millions all the while on a selfish search for economic gain, not as the great "founder of the Americas".
Columbus day occurs once every year, in celebration of a man that by no means earned or deserves such recognition. It is my personal opinion that society should view Columbus as a racist fiend who destroyed the lives of millions all the while on a selfish search for economic gain, not as the great "founder of the Americas".
The fact is, Columbus was far from the first man to set foot on American soil. It is a well known fact that Vikings regularly visited the areas well before Columbus mistakenly landed on it. Let it also be known that his stubborn attitude kept him from acknowledging that the land he had found could in no way be the West Indies. It is even more unreasonable that he returned back four times and still did not make the connection that he was neither in nor near Asia.
The biggest reason his acclaimed status should be removed is for his brutality towards Native Americans. It is unforgivable that he sailed to this country and carried on to destroy the homes of a people that had been living on American soil far longer than he had been breathing. His genocide of the Indians for economic gain is sickening. In the sources, the arrival of Columbus and his impact on the Native Americans is often compared to the Holocaust. It seems quite unfortunate that we as a people can forget about the murders that occurred in our own native country after Columbus' arrival, with such methods as disease warfare, horrible slavery conditions, brutality etc. Yet, the Holocaust forever laments in our hearts as the greatest tragedy of all time. If that is so, why did more Indians die from the result of our "renowned" Christopher Columbus than the Holocaust and numerous wars combined? For an example of his complete lack of concern for any human he deemed second class, one needs only look at this statement given after arriving in America, "These people look fit enough for labor." Such a sentence can only come from a racist bigot who needs the suffering of others to occur before he can deem himself a success. This type of behavior cannot be excused. Even if slavery was more acceptable during his time period, it is not today by any means. And it is my opinion that traditions should change with the times, and when the times say that racism, slavery and genocide are wrong, then the traditions celebrating the men who encompass those aspects should be stopped as well.
Overall it is sickening that a man who did nothing but kill and discriminate gained the honor of a national holiday. By no means should a day of work be suspended for the sole fact of honoring this "great" figurehead in history. But while we celebrate, it seems that we are forgetting what was done to the Native American people in order to honor this "wonderful" man.
Christopher Columbus, a tremendous explorer, will forever be remembered as a hero, right? Well, it’s actually debatable. There is no doubt that Columbus benefitted the world with his discoveries. His findings, such as the Americas and the Earth being round, made a tremendous impact on history. The sacrifices he must have made and the dangers he must have encountered are praiseworthy, but after deeper investigation, it has been found that Columbus may not have been completely the man he is portrayed to be.
I agree with the many historians/scholars that believe that Columbus did not leave Spain with the intentions of searching for “The New World” but rather with the intention of discovering a new trade route that would further benefit Europe. When reaching “The New World” Columbus was an atrocious leader. “Jan Elliott, the editor of Indigenous Thought, a Florida-based anti-Columbus newspaper, described the loss of American Indian life as "the biggest holocaust in history" and called Columbus a "mass murderer."”(The Moral Dimensions of 1492- James Axtell). The term genocide has become a word closely related to Columbus’s relationship with Native Americans. Columbus enslaved and killed thousands of Native Americans leading to a drastic decline in their population. He completely mishandled his power and ruined relations with the Native Americans.
To conclude, Christopher Columbus can be credited for many great discoveries that furthered our knowledge of the world while he can also be blamed for the deaths of thousands of Native Americans. His positive contributions make us unable to label him a villain yet his negative contributions make us unable to label him a hero. I feel that Christopher should not have any other label than a “European Explorer”, that way, when learning about him, people are able to learn of both the positive and negative aspects of Columbus and make the decision of what label to give him on their own.
Christopher Columbus is highly spoken of through the teachings of common day history as the discoverer of the Americas. Children in elementary schools are taught to revere his brilliant discovery and ideas. Regardless of what elementary school students are taught his discoveries were by no means brilliant and his ideas by no means solely his own. This “discovery” he made was not one of brilliant navigation but sheer luck of a man sailing into the unknown and who had grossly miscalculated the circumference of the globe in the first place. Columbus was not even the first to discover the Americas. It can be conclusively proven that the Vikings and other people from Iceland and its neighboring countries had made several trips to parts of Nova Scotia and other locations throughout the Northeastern part of North America. His idea of the Earth being spherical, making it a possibility to travel west and around the Earth’s circumference to reach the east was an accepted idea among educated Europeans, Columbus being a mere advocate of the idea. Once making the discovery of the Americas he was too stubborn to admit that he had not reached Asia (shown through his insistence on referring to Native Americans as Indians). The rest of his “accomplishments” lead to the destruction, exploitation, and massacre of Native American spanning both North and South America and would continue on for centuries. There is, therefore, no basis for the claims that Columbus’s “accomplishments” should make him a hero. In addition to this, there were no benevolent intentions to seek a new world could be noted among his actions, and that he entered into this voyage purely as an economic venture.The several “discoveries” he made during his life time should be known only for their true historical significance and not by an opinion sugar-coated to appeal to the minds of smaller children.
Columbus can also be regarded with contempt because his several voyages to the Americas are responsible to introducing Spain and other European countries to the Native Americans living throughout America. His trips resulted in the exploitation, destruction, and extinction of several Native American civilizations. For example had Columbus not landed in the Americas the Spanish would have been unaware of the Native American Aztec and Mayan civilizations would have remained at peace. However due to his discovery, the Spanish began sending conquistadores to the Americas to conquer and claim land for Spain. Had Columbus not landed In the Americas, The Mayan and Aztec empires would not have collapsed under so much pressure, and they would not have to worry about the constant European demand of the Native American’s raw material. The Spanish Conquistador Pizzaro was responsible for the kidnapping and offering him to the one who would pay the highest price. After bleeding the native Americans for all the gold that the Incans had Pizzaro ultimately Eliminated them. These examples of the result of Columbus’s “discovery,” the fact that his ideas were not at all original, and that he discovered the Americas based on pure luck establish that his Greatness resulted in the “accomplishments” he achieved throughout his life is a large misconception. Rather than revered Columbus should therefore be vilified for the various reasons listed above.
Christopher Columbus is undeniably one of the most famous historical figures in America. Any student older than 5 years of age could tell you something about his “discovery” of the Americas in 1492. But Columbus was far from noble in his exploration of the new continent and should be anything but celebrated.
Columbus’ so called discovery in fact happened by accident. Columbus’ original intent on sailing west was to map a new route to the Indies from Europe. This was for the economic benefit of Europe. When Columbus happened upon the new continent, he didn’t even know for certain that he hadn’t reached his original destination.
Columbus was also not the first or last to reach America. Evidence of Vikings and other European explorers before Columbus’ time has been documented and countless explorers followed after him. Many of these Europeans explored more of what is today the United States, rather than Central or South America as Columbus did. Why should we celebrate a man who accidentally stumbled upon our continent and made gains for another country? The European explorers who followed him certainly had more of an impact on American history. And because they explored these regions, in relatively the same time period as Columbus, why is it that we celebrate him and not these other Europeans?
There is clearly not much evidence of why Columbus should be celebrated other than the fact that he unintentionally happened upon the new world. However, there is a great deal of substantiation which can be used to condemn Columbus on his exploration of the Americas. Through the disease brought to the new world by the Europeans, as well as the enslavement of the natives and merciless killings, Columbus created his own Holocaust. His cruel treatment of the Indians of the Americas forever changed their culture and population. It is documented that Columbus and his men chained the natives together and used them as a labor force. The natives were underfed, overworked and senselessly tortured. Men, women and children were murdered, frequently just for fun. Also, the natives’ susceptibility to the various diseases brought over by the Europeans caused a countless number of deaths among the innocent people. This genocide of the natives by Christopher Columbus has been proven to have taken place on a much larger scale than even the mass slaughter of the Jews and other minorities in Europe during WWII. Is this really someone we should be celebrating?
Columbus’ encounter with the new continent wasn’t the first in European exploration and certainly wasn’t the last. Other than small claims of land south of what is now the United States, Columbus hardly had an effect on our country today. However, he massacred the enormous populations of Native Americans in Central and South America through brutal and inhumane tactics. As you can see, this historical figure so commonly portrayed as a hero in American history, was far from noble but in fact just the opposite.
Christopher Columbus is, and will forever be an American icon, and every October we will have a day off to celebrate his achievements. But as any properly educated person can see, Columbus was certainly not the glorified discoverer of America as it is taught in elementary school. Due to the reality of Columbus’s discovery and the events that occurred, Columbus should not be celebrated in as high regard as he is in American society.
The first fact that makes Columbus no visionary or hero as he is sometimes portrayed is the motive and nature of his “discovery”. Columbus’s motives were pure and simple: money. His sole goal of his journey was to find a new, faster trade route to India. This would put the country that was financing the trip, Spain, ahead of other European powers in trading with Asia. It was pure dumb luck that while on his journey to Asia he stumbled across a land that was virtually unexplored by Europeans.
However, Columbus was so focused on his goal of gold and trade routes that when reaching the New World, he almost refused to see the signs that he was not in fact in Asia. He called the Native Americans “Indians”, he continually talks about finding islands in Asia that simply aren’t in the area. Also, the Native Americans that he does find he utilizes them as slaves, and ultimately killing many of them. Should America be celebrating a man who upon discovering a New World enslaved the native population? This is not to say that Columbus should go done in history as a terrible man as he was under pressure from Spain to produce profit and slavery was the norm of the time. Columbus, though, was exactly that, an ordinary explorer trying to increase the wealth of his country. He was nothing unique or special; if he hadn’t terribly misjudged the geography of the globe and ended up in the Caribbean, thousands of other explorers that followed him would have. So to take an entire nationally holiday off for him and deem him the discoverer of the Americas is needless to say quite ridiculous.
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