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Effects of christopher columbus today
Effects of christopher columbus today
Effects of christopher columbus today
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Columbus is a hero
“It’s a bird, it’s a plane, but no it’s a man!” Everyone longs to live in a world where super heroes exist, where magic is real, and Clark Kent is superman. But is what makes a person a hero really the ability to fly? Heroes may not be the things of myths. From Thomas Edison, Martin Luther king junior to Jesus Christ the world has been full of heroes. Perhaps the single hero that affects us, as the country of America, the most is Christopher Columbus, a man who has a national holiday to commemorate him. A figure in our history that because of his great journey has earned the title of having “the greatest voyage” Columbus sailed from Spain and landed in the now a-day Cuba. Despite controversies and misunderstandings, Columbus
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was and will always be a hero. In the beginning, Christopher Columbus was a successful Italian man. He excelled greatly at navigating. People tend to undermine Columbus’s achievements because he was unaware of where he truly was, when he landed in the Americas, and the fact that he never knew, or claimed he was in a new world. However, in this time period they had limited tools to help them determine the geography of the world. No one knew or could’ve known where they truly were. Another one of Columbus’ successes was the Columbian exchange. This allowed the advancement of goods in Europe, it also advanced the way of life for the Indians “Northern American Indian tribes… adopted the horse, transforming their cultures into highly mobile, wide-ranging hunter societies” (Kennedy). Furthermore, one of Columbus acts of heroism, viewed mostly by Europeans, was the spreading of the gospel. In the new world Europeans were able to live with freedom of religion and also convert the Natives “we shall by planting there enlarge the glory of the gospel…and provide a safe and sure place to receive people from all parts of the world that are forced to flee for the truth of god’s word” (Hakluyt). Clearly, when one combines all of Columbus’s achievements, Columbus has the markings of a true hero. Even though Columbus had many successes in life, his reputation is marred by his mistreatment of the natives.
Columbus thought of Native Americans as beneath even animals, and tried to take advantage of them and steal their money (Columbus). However, Columbus cannot be blamed for some of his actions when he was faced with such an unfamiliar culture. Contrast to common belief the down fall of the Native American population was not Columbus’s fault, but Europe as a whole. The decrease of population was mainly because of the European diseases. “Disease was by far the biggest disrupter, as old world pathogens licked lethally through biologically defenseless Indian populations” (Kennedy, David). Also, when the natives received guns form the Europeans, this caused an “escalating cycle of Indian-on-Indian violence, fueled by the lure and demands of European trade goods” (Kennedy, David). The idea that Columbus tortured and made the Indians slaves is all slanted opinion. In reality, Native Americans had been at war with and killing one another long before the time of Columbus. When Columbus did come he gave the Indians a pathway to advance as a culture. The real villain in this story was the European nation as a whole, not the individual actions of Christopher Columbus. Although Columbus is not entirely guiltless in the Native American situation, he was not the main factor of their
demise. Whether it was fate or an accident that caused Columbus to land in the Caribbean, it was the act of a hero. Columbus did not discover America, but he did start the age of exploration. Through this ripple effect, he was a large factor in the future American colonies that came into existence. All Americans now live in a world where they have many freedoms. Americans not only enjoy freedom of religion, but also freedom of speech. If Columbus had never sailed to the America’s, this way of life would not be possible. Although Columbus had his flaws, he was still an American hero. Undoubtedly Columbus was a hero. He opened the world and founded a free country. He was a great navigator and because of that he was able to voyage across miles of ocean safely. He modernized a primitive culture and way of life. Columbus is a hero world wide and should be celebrated with feverously. Columbus was not perfect, he had his flaws--after all, doesn’t every hero have their kryptonite?
Ransby believes “Columbus 's image has been scrubbed clean and sanitized by many generations of American historians so that he can now be offered up as a sterling example of the glorious era of discovery.” (Ransby, 1992/2015, p.14). Objective evidence is also a major component in this article. Columbus’s journal proved he wanted to exploit, and enslave the Indians. A population of 300,000 dwindled to a mere one by 1540. (Ransby, 1992/2015, p.12). Many scene of rape, murder and beating were also described in journals of sailors that travelled with
Although Columbus was increasing the wealth and strength of Spain, he was “a catastrophe for the indigenous inhabitants of the lands” (Belasco 67). He had no remorse for the natives as he proceeded to establish plantations, enslave them, slaughter them, and create a new colony called Espanola on their lands. According to Schuman, Howard, Barry Schwartz, and Hannah d’Arcy, Christopher Columbus “deserves condemnation for having brought slavery, disease, and death...
Columbus described the people as being timid and unfitted to use weapons. He wrote, “They have no iron or steel or weapons, nor are they fitted to use them. This is not because they are not very well built and of handsome stature, but because they are very marvellously timorous.” Columbus described them as though they will not provide any resistance because they do not have the skill to use weapons, and that they very timid people. However, as shown in the first quote, Columbus wrote that they did not put up any opposition; he later wrote in the letter that he took some of the natives by force. If the natives did not put up any opposition to Columbus, why would he need to take them by force? Columbus also notes that they had been very serviceable, and would very much be open to evangelization. An important note, Columbus wrote more and provided more detail about the vast islands he had “discovered” compared to the indigenous people, of which he wrote, “ In all these islands, I saw no great diversity in the appearance of the people or in their manners and language.” In the end, Columbus’s description of the Indigenous people was that are serviceable people would make adequate slaves. Columbus’s letter paints a good picture into his imperialistic mind, as opposed to providing information about the
Who is Christopher Columbus? You may already have prior knowledge of him, but if you do not, Christopher Columbus was a Spanish explorer who made four voyages to the Americas. His voyages led to the Columbian Exchange and colonization. Many cultures, ideas, technology, and foods were spread between the Americas, the “New World,” and Europe, Africa, and Asia, the “Old World”. Even though many great things were exchanged between the Old World and the New World, many diseases from Europe were introduced to the Natives. Does this make Christopher Columbus a hero, or a villain? The answer is not that debatable. A closer look must be taken at Christopher Columbus 's life to be able to judge such things. This essay will take a look at his life,
Along the Columbus journey bits of gold were found amongst the Native Indians which led to Columbus concluding that there was more (Zinn, 2009, p.481). The Native’s were turned into servants looking for a certain amount of gold for Columbus. If they had not met the daily quota their arms were to be cut off (Zinn, 2009, p.481). This is just part of the brutality that Columbus had put upon the Natives. More cruelty can be seen when Columbus sent five hundred Natives as slaves to the King and Queen in Spain. Also stabbing of Indians was done as a sport and those that resisted against the Spaniards were hunted down as animals (Zinn, 2009, p.482). Zinn shows that the Columbus story is one of the many myths of Western civilization. All the stories about Columbus especially in the USA since, it is a celebration are seen as a heroic adventure. However, many teachers argue that children should not be told such a violent story filled with horrific history (Zinn, 2009, p.485). It is important to teach children at a young age the truth about the Columbus story, so that they know what a monster he
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.
Although this essay is historically accurate it lacks important details, which might paint a different view of Columbus. Boorstin writes favorable of Columbus and depicts him as a heroic and determined figure who helped shape history, but he neglects to include Columbus’ unethical acts committed in the world that was not supposed to exist, the Americas. When Columbus first discovered the New World, he took care that the royal standard had been brought ashore and he claimed the land for Spain in front of all, including the indigenous population who had been sighted even before Columbus made landfall. According to the medieval concepts of natural law, only those territories that are uninhabited can become the property of the first person to discover them. Clearly this was an unethical act. Thus, the first contact between European and non-European worlds was carried out through a decidedly European prism, which ensured Spanish claim to the islands of the Americas. Faced with a colony in an inhospitable area, the Spanish soon inaugurated the practice of sending regular military parties inland to subdue the increasingly hostile natives. Members of the indigenous population were captured and enslaved to support the fledgling colony. The object of Columbus’ desire changed from exploration and trade to conquest and subjugation.
In some respects, we can attribute the founding of America and all its subsequent impacts to Christopher Columbus. Columbus a hero in the United States, has his own holiday and we view as the one who paved the way for America to be colonized. However, people tend to forget the other side of Columbus, the side that lusted after gold and resources that often belonged to the native inhabitants he came across in his exploration. In his insatiable greed, he and his crew committed countless atrocities, such as torture and killing of defenseless natives. Columbus’s discovery of these new lands contributes profound and negative effects as future colonists arrived. “Zinn estimates that perhaps 3 million people perished in the Caribbean alone from raids, forced labor and disease” (Zinn, 1980). Columbus was seen as a cruel man, who saw the peaceful inhabitants as right for the conquering and lead to the devastation of the native population, yet is celebrated every October.
For generations upon generations, students have been taught about the “hero” Christopher Columbus who had discovered our new world. However, to say he was a hero would not exactly be the truth; Columbus was an eccentric man who cared much more about his profits than the well being and even lives of the natives. It is documented in journals that he and his crew had slaughtered entire villages at a time, and that he had even killed people just for the point of testing how sharp his sword was. Not only did Columbus and his crew have a thing for violence, on multiple accounts crew members wrote down every single successful rape of women; and used the voyage to help begin a slave export for the royalty of Spain.
For more than five centuries Americans have lifted Christopher Columbus to heights of greatness and god-like. We celebrate his life as though he was a man that had done us a great favor. In resent years Christopher Columbus has come under scrutiny, his life and works being questioned more than celebrated. There have be many great men and women that contributed to the building of our great nation but they do not receive anywhere as much recognition as Columbus. When a person begins to study the actual accounts of the "finding of the New World" they begin to wonder if Columbus should adored or hated for his actions. As a child I was taught that Columbus was a great man that had accomplished great things for the sake of humanity, but in reality his agenda was not to better humanity but to better himself. He found the Americas by mere chance and he did not even know of what he found. We give him credit for "finding" the Americas but history tells of the people, that he called Indians, already inhabiting the foreign land. So you decide whether or not Christopher Columbus should be revered a hero.
...icas. “{There} can be no doubt that when Christopher Columbus made landfall in the West Indian islands in 1492, he set in motion some of the most pivotal developments in human history” (Foner 1). He braved the inconceivable task of sailing across the Atlantic for an undetermined length of time without certainty that he would ever return. In today’s age, getting on a plane and venturing to a foreign country is brave. Joining the military and fighting for your country is brave. Was Christopher Columbus brave or just a mad man? I believe he was both. Sometimes you need to be a little crazy to do “great things”.
“In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue”, is the rhyme embedded in children’s heads in the first lesson of US history. However, beyond the discovery of the New World, Christopher Columbus receives no other mentions. Especially no one acknowledges that he was the reason Native Americans were mistreated and kept as slaves. Although Christopher Columbus’ actions are not all honorable he should still be celebrated during Columbus Day as a brave explorer who risked his and his crew’s lives to find a new way of travel and land. His efforts bridged a gap between the New and Old World and helped feed Europe, which immensely impacts our society. Because of his dedication and bravery to be an explorer Christopher Columbus Day should be celebrated.
The average American thinks of Christopher Columbus as a hero, but in reality, Columbus was arrogant, manipulative, and cruel in the eyes of the Native Americans, which was repeatedly shown through the violent acts and brutality that took place under his command.
Elementary textbooks depict him as a hero with pictures of Columbus looking high and mighty among the Indigenous People. A hero is defined as a person who is admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities, but in reality Columbus was anything but a hero. During Columbus's voyage to the New world, he transferred goods such as animals, technology, and even culture between the New World and Europe, this was known as the Columbian Exchange. In Michael S. Berliner article The Christopher Columbus Controversy he states that Columbus should be honored for bringing Western Culture into the New World and that the Columbian exchange had “brought enormous undreamed of benefits”(Berliner), but one of the biggest exchanges between Eeurope and the Nnew Wworld was slaves. Columbus had never even set foot on North America, he had landed in the Bahamas, the home to millions of natives who had already created a civilization of their own. Upon his arrival, Columbus saw the Indigenous People as tools he could use in order to build his empire and make a profit., Hhe uttered the menacing words “I could conquer the whole of them with fifty men and govern them as I please."(qtd in Loewen). One of the first atrocities that Columbus committed against the Indigenous People was opening the Atlantic Slave Trade, in which hundreds of Indians were
It was a tragic journey. With many dangerous challenges I had to go through. It was August 1 when i started my journey, I was sailing from portugal. It took many rough weeks to finally discover this new place, almost 12 weeks. The journey was all worth the struggle, because it was an “enchanting New world”( what is this from). This journey of mine was inspired by Christopher Columbus, he was the inspiration for our ship to keep going. This was my journey.