Christopher Colombus was born in Genoa as the son of a merchant. His whole life changed when he went on a ship and it sank, but he was able to float to the shore of Libson on a piece of broken off wood. Next, when he reached Libson, he studied mathematics, geography, etc. During the 15th century, many people were trying to find a route to Asia. However, they knew traveling to Asia was very risky because of kidnappings and killings. Columbus believed the earth was round, so he said they should sail westward of the Atlantic Ocean. However, many thought his idea was outrageous and stupid. One day, his idea was accepted by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Due to the acceptance of his idea, Columbus was able to sail westward in 1492. Next, when …show more content…
He wanted to change the way they were and make them adapt to the European way, when he was the one invading their land. Truthfully, Columbus was a cruel man, who looked down on others just to find gold. “He seized 1200 Taino Indians from the Islands of Hispaniola, crammed as many onto his ships as would fit and sent them to Spain, where they were paraded naked through the streets and sold as slaves in 1495.” (Document H). Not only did he make them work and search for gold, he sent hundreds of them to Spain, to embarrass them. However, it doesn’t make sense how he sent them naked, but when he was writing his letters to the Queen, he was trying to make them adjust to the European lifestyle. Finally, Columbus' drive for gold and power blinded him into misusing innocent people. Columbus did not only make the natives work, but he also killed a lot of them and wiped out a lot of their population. “He kidnapped Tainos, enslaved them ‘Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold,’ Columbus wrote—and “punishes” them by ordering that their hands be cut off or that they be chased down by vicious attack dogs, if they failed to deliver the quota of gold that Columbus demanded” (Document …show more content…
He created a new historical era for the whole world. “The voyage of Christopher Columbus and his diminutive fleet toward the unknown west was not only a prelude to a new historical era.” (Document I). Columbus was an intelligent man, he was the first to think of the idea of going west. “He was worthy to represent the ancient world before that unknown continent on which he was the first to set food, and carry to these men of a new race all the virtues.” (Document F). Also, he was brave enough and opened up many cultures to Europe. However, without Columbus, the world wouldn’t be the way it was; we would all still be separated and not living together as one. Columbus said “God made me the messenger of the new heaven and the new earth, and he showed me a spot where to find it. “ (Document G). Next, Columbus did just that: he found a new heaven and earth, which is why the world is thriving today. Without the braveness and intelligence of Columbus, the world would be boring and all of our cultures would not be mixed. We all thrive when we are together, not as one. Columbus Day should not be a national holiday because of how he stole from the natives, never viewed them as human beings just like him, and he wasn’t the first person to find the
Some explorers were not looking for land to claim, but faster routes. Columbus went exploring trying to find a faster way to Asia/India for spice trading. The reason for this was because his country was receiving Asian Spices from Muslims(Document 3). In order to get the spices from the Muslims, high prices had to be paid since it was exchanged from person to person. Columbus went sailing and found an area that had inhabitants who looked like people he has never seen before which he assumed were Indians. Columbus saw they had foods he never had before and he started trading with them. He brought over foods such as the Irish Potato, Florida Oranges, Colombian Coffee, and French Vanilla Ice cream, for trading purposes(Document 6). All of those
Some of the problems when studying history are the texts and documents that have been discovered are only from perspective. Furthermore, on occasion that one perspective is all there may be for historians to study. A good example of this textual imbalance can be found from the texts about the discovery of the New World; more specifically, the letters of Christopher Columbus and Pêro Vaz de Caminha during their voyages to the New World. Plenty of the text from this time is written from the perspective of the Europeans, as the Indigenous population did not have any written text. What this means is that it provided only one perspective, which can drastically hinder how history is interpreted. Columbus’s letter of his first voyage to the Caribbean
Would you like to be captured and become a slave for some main that came to your land? I doubt that anyone would like for this to happen so could you image the many slaves killed and forced to work for Christopher Columbus. Also, I highly doubt that anyone would like to hop on a ship and go somewhere in Europe that you don’t even know. The natives were good people, and they were a part of the world too. I believe that Christopher Columbus was a villain for coming to the natives land unwanted, he also only wanted to find gold and seize power, and because Columbus in my mind was a hypocrite.
While discovering the New World he brought smallpox with them that wiped out most of the native people living there. Although, Columbus did never mean to do that intentionally, he did basically kill hundreds of people. In the article “Columbus Doesn’t Deserve a Holiday” the author says “Within 70 years of his arrival, of the hundreds of thousands of Arawak Indians on the Bahama Islands only hundreds remained.” Even with the small number of native’s left after the smallpox, Columbus brought them back and put them on sale. They started with 500 native’s, but 200 died on the way there. Not only did Columbus kill hundreds, he also destroyed a natural, peaceful place. He just took people out of there land and called it his. After reading this one might not believe Columbus is the hero we all think of.
Many Americans honor Christopher Columbus Day as a holiday that celebrates his discovery of the New World on October 12, 1492. Some make the argument that Columbus is not to be considered a hero because of his actions. However, this day celebrates his discovery but not his mistakes after. His findings brought new knowledge to the Old World, profited many countries, and improved life conditions of many people. Before his voyage some thought if sailing West all one would find is India, however Columbus’ expedition found
It is thought by many that Christopher Columbus was a skilled sailor on a mission of greed. Many think that he in fact did it all for the money, honor and the status that comes with an explorer, but this is not the case entirely. Columbus was an adventurer and was enthused by the thrill of the quest of the unknown. “Columbus had a firm religious faith and a scientific curiosity, a zest for life, the felling for beauty and the striving for novelty that we associate with the advancement of learning”. He had heard of the legendary Atlantic voyages and sailors reports of land to the west of Madeira and the Azores. He believed that Japan was about 4,800 km to the west of Portugal. In 1484, Columbus wanted support for an exploratory voyage from King John II of Portugal, but he was refused. In 1485, Columbus took his son Diego and went to Spain to get some help.
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, navigator, and colonizer. He was born around 1451 in Genoa, Italy. He was the son of a wool merchant. As a young man, he studied astronomy, geography, and history. As a teenager, Columbus went to sea participating in several trading voyages. Once he grew up, he went of four voyages himself that opened the way for European exploration, exploitation, and colonization of the Americas. He made his voyages under the sponsorship of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I. He was given three main ships; the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Niña. After he got old and discovered a few things, he died on May 20, 1506.
In 1451, Christopher Columbus was born. He was born in a city called Genoa, which is now in present day Italy. Columbus’ father was a wool weaver, wool merchant, tavern keeper, and a political appointee. When he was growing up he was very limited with his education, but he still read a ton of books when he finished childhood. Columbus always had a passion for sailing for sailing even at a young age, he was always wondering about the world. During the 1490’s there was a lot going on at this time such as
After Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean and found the New World the Europeans got to meet the Native Americans. The Europeans who began to come to the New World after Columbus were people like Francis Daniel Pastorius, from Pennsylvania, Francis Louis Michel, from Virginia, and Christoph Von Graffenried, from North Carolina. These people met Native Americans from the New World like Shickellamy, from New York, and Minavavana, from French Canada. All these people had no idea there was another side of the world so it makes sense that there was some disagreement between the two different sides.
Christopher Columbus is probably the name that I mostly remember when I was taught about the discovery of America back in elementary school and even in middle school. I myself took part in several school plays and even once I got to the play the role of this Spanish conquistador. I saw him as a great brave man, and we were taught to see him that way. We were taught so see him as the hero of the story. There’s even a statue of him two blocks away from campus. Every time I drove and passed by it, I would always remember the things that they told me in school about him. About how he was the only one that believed that the world was round when no one else did. About how he had come to America and had seen the land first. About how he was so brave
What Christopher Columbus did was not only tragic but unfair towards the Indians. He brutally murdered natives that lived on the land he had discovered and claimed the land for Spain. To celebrate the actions Christopher Columbus performed to gain this land is absurd and outright wrong. Action to be immediately taken to tell the real story of Columbus and the Native people of the new world.
Before the most famous historic voyage to the Americas Christopher Columbus had no support to go on his expedition. Christopher Columbus tried to get support from the King of Portugal John II, but he was turned down. Spain finally agreed to sponsor his voyage in 1492 across the Atlantic Ocean. By agreeing to sponsor Christopher Columbus voyage they believed they would have gained leverage in what they were trying to do in Spain. The Reconquista made the Spaniards very powerful. By Christopher Columbus finding new land with people and gold it convinced King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to continue to support his voyages. Even though the king and queen believed that allowing him to go on the voyages benefited them it actually allowed Christopher
In the years leading up to and including 1491 European explorers had been researching and studying the world, however they lacked a real understanding of the true size and geography of our planet. When explorers finally began setting out on their expeditions in the late 1400’s, the world began to experience serious change. Before Columbus is credited with the discovery of America in 1492, the Americas were untouched by Europeans, but within a few hundred years permanent settlements would be founded on American soil despite the presence of the native people.
It is interesting what we find justifiable and what we see as “wrong”. There are many controversial ethical decisions that the U.S. have taken that leave to ponder the very idea of originality. Is something original because one has found it or because one has claimed it? It is interesting that the U.S. has established a holiday in commemoration of Christopher Columbus and his “discovery” of the Americas. In some way, it is interesting that people just seemingly forget about how America was truly discovered and the blood bath that took place to Native Americans from that land. (1) It was a huge genocide that led all the Native Americans to be pushed off their original land. Native American women were generally raped, used for labor, or in some
Christopher Columbus had a great voyage that began August 3, 1492. It is mentioned through extracts from his journal, that the purpose of this voyage was to try to convert the Indians to Christianity, as declared by his King and Queen. Therefore, we get a glimpse into Columbus’ mind and his thoughts on his impression of the natives and what is drawn from that, his insights on the flora and fauna of the islands, to what ends up becoming his own self-serving reasons to have taken this voyage all leading up to the creation of the New World. He first departs from Palos de la Frontera, Spain commanding three ships the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina.