Research Paper On Christopher Columbus A Hero

A hero is meant to be someone you look up to. Someone who exhibits noble qualities, and acts as mentor, guiding you through what is morally right and wrong. A hero is not meant to be someone who is vain, caring only for himself, while spreading fear in those he encounters. It is the qualities of a non-hero that are shown in the early world explorer Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus is a villain for his inhuman acts against the natives of the New World, his sheer greedy ways, and his selfish acts of theft.

To begin, Christopher Columbus is a villain because of the vile way he treated the people native to the New World, the Lucayans, Taínos and Arawaks (Kasum). One of the first things Christopher Columbus did when he reached the New

World was enslave the natives (Kasum). Although the slave trade is a prominent aspect of this time period, Columbus’s inhuman acts against the natives were so cruel that a Spanish officer, Balbadea, chained him up and sent him back to Spain to provide answers for his crimes (Christopher Columbus: Explorer of the New World). It is clear how cruel Columbus truly is when looking at his discipline tactics towards the enslaved natives, set to work in gold mines until they die from exhaustion (Kasum). If an “Indian” worker is unable to provide the full quota of gold by the deadline, Columbus would order the slave's hands to be cut off and tied around his neck, sending a message to the other slaves to get their work done (Kasum). Not only did Columbus enslave the natives in such a torturous and inhumane way, he also started a sex trade with the young natives girl, averaging from ages nine and ten (Kasum). Christopher Columbus treated the natives of the New World as if they were just objects that could be tossed around at his own convenience. He caused many deaths, killing the “Indians” who attempted to escape from slavery by burning them alive (Kasum). One of Columbus’s men, Bartolome De Las Casas, was so horrified with the horrendous acts against the native people that he quit working for Columbus and became a Catholic priest (Kasum). This same guy wrote “Such inhumanities and barbarisms were committed in my sight as no age can parallel...My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature that now I tremble as I write” (Kasum). Christopher Columbus is a villain because he is to blame for the unlawful torture, exploitation, and murder of millions of New World natives.
Thereafter, Christopher Columbus is a villain because of his sheer greed and disregard for anyone but himself. Columbus’s first voyage was motivated by greed, alongside his need to be rich and known (Wright). In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean in search of a new trade route to Asia (Christopher Columbus: Explorer of the New World). He did this in order to gain wealth (Minster). A key importance to Columbus was gold. Finding riches, such as gold was his way of proving that there was wealth in the New World, justifying himself to the King and Queen of Spain, and King Ferdinand, Queen Isobella. Columbus issued all the gold mined by the enslaved natives to the Spaniards, leaving no gold for the natives (Kavesh). Columbus was the governor of Santo Domingo on the New World island, Hispaniola. He was a ruler who never thought of the civilians of his city, keeping all the cities profits for himself (Minster). Christopher Columbus never took into account the needs of others. His obsession with his need for glory drove him to take men and women away from their families, in order to lesson his failure of finding a new trade route (Minster). Columbus’s greed blinded him from the needs of the civilians he governs. He was a heartless man who’s only desire was to make money and create a name for himself. However, while on his search for glory, the civilians of Hispaniola turned against him, refusing to save him when his ships rotted on his fourth voyage to the New World (Minster). Columbus is a villain because he never took into account the needs of those around him, letting his greed take control, and caring for only money and glory.
Furthermore, Christopher Columbus is a villain because he was a theft, stealing anything that was of value to him.

Many believe that Christopher Columbus had the genius idea of sailing west to get east, in order to find a new trade route to China (Christopher Columbus: Explorer of the New World). However, Christopher Columbus did not come up with this idea. He heard this idea from the Italian geographer, Tuscanelli (Christopher Columbus: Explorer of the New World). Columbus saw this as the key to opening the closed door to China, and took it on himself to present Tuscanelli’s idea to the King and Queen of Spain as his own idea (Christopher Columbus: Explorer of the New World). Columbus stole the idea behind his great expedition from Tuscanelli, giving little to no credit. Tuscanelli is not the only person Columbus stole from. A reward was offered to the first person who spotted land on Columbus’s first expedition in 1492 (Christopher Columbus: Explorer of the New World). On October 12th, 1492, land was spotted by one of Columbus’s crew members, Rodrigo de Triana (Minster). However, Christopher Columbus stole the reward away from Triana, insisting that he had seen a “glow” the night before, signaling the sign of land (Minster). However, those who Christopher Columbus stole the most from were the natives of the New World. Columbus stole men, women, and children from the New World, and took them back to Spain to parade around the newfound civilization (Columbus, Greed, Slavery, And Genocide). He also stole all the natives territory, claiming it for the Spanish crown (Kavesh). Columbus stole the natives right to freedom by enslaving them to work in gold mines. He stole the lives of millions of natives by working them to death, or ordering them to be murdered. Christopher Columbus stole essentially everything from the natives, eventually leading to the deaths of all the original natives of the New World (Minster). Christopher Columbus was a villain because he was a

selfish theft who stole his initial expedition idea from Tuscanelli, stole the reward from his crew member, and stole essentially everything from the natives of the New World.
Christopher Colombus does not exhibit the traits needed to be classified as a hero. He is a cruel and selfish man who treated the New World natives horrendously, unlike any other slave traders during the 1400-1500’s. His obsession with glory made him a man controlled by greed, who selfishly stole from other. Christopher Columbus felt no remorse for his action, caring only for himself. It’s clear in modern day society that his vile and inhumane qualities have unmasked his true identity: a villain drunk on the idea that wealth and power is the key to a successful life.