During the Time of the age of exploration, soon after the earth was proven round, European countries traveled far and wide. Searching for new land to colonize, find natural resources and spread thier various religions. Overseas exploration had now defined the European culture. Searching for new wonderlands full of treasure. Most of the famous explorers we still know today could not afford the basic necessities needed to travel, resulting in the navigators turning towards the over meant in hopes of a charter. 1942, the date we know as the year Columbus sailed the ocean blue. We think of him as the man who bravley sailed to America and conquered the land. We celebrate this navigator every October with a three day weekend. However most Americans …show more content…
maybe the beginning of the start of the Americas. There were also many other discoverers who had also discovered the Americas long before Columbus that did not do such great evil as Columbus did. Columbus Day should have some recognition as a day in history much like the date of a historic war or a presidents birthday, however because his discovery was due to miscalculation of the globe, and wasn 't the original explorer to discover the Western Hemisphere, and led the genocide of an entire race, Columbus should not be celebrated as a hero. 1. In the fifteenth century, Europeans had taken a liking to Asian goods. A merchant named Marco Polo had found a route to the new Far East, however, due to the new restriction by the countries he was passing through, and the skyrocketing taxes that had to be payed to be passed through them, the trail was unable to be used. The merchants then sought a sea route to get to their precious Asian goods. Sailing down the Atlantic Ocean, and moving past the tip of Africa and back up to land in Asia. A myriad of other routes had been hypothesized and tried. This voyage was very long because of the ships having to doge an entire …show more content…
The difference between the original discovers and Columbus was preservation of life. (Whoever discovered it first) and (whoever else 's) Came respecting the land, whereas Columbus and his men destroyed everything, committing mass genocide and killing nature to settle in the area. When Columbus first discovered the land, he landed in the Bahamas, returning to spain with captured natives as a gift to their majesties. He then returned again, landing in the Hispaniola. Creating a short lived colony and returning back to Spain again. On his third voyage, he and when the native went out to the ship to greet the sailors. Once on the ship, it was noticed that they wore tiny gold ornaments in their ears. If Columbus wasn 't coming back empty handed and definitely not without gold. Once he reported to the king and queen in an exaggerated letter that there was gold everywhere, he returned to back to Spain. When he got to Spain, he was granted 17 ships and more than 1,200 men. Promising to deliver, he began his search for gold. Instead of commanding his men to search for the gold, he had them enslave the indigenous people to search for it. Forced to supply a certain amount of gold every three months, earning a copper necklace when achieving thier goal, and getting their hands cut off and hung around their neck. With the lack of gold in the area, approximately 10,000 of the slaves died handless. In the first couple years of thier search, around 250,000 aboriginals were dead. Many,
The credit for this change of view can be given to Washington Irving, who wrote a biography based on Columbus in 1828. This biography romanticized him and gave people the idea that he was this courageous hero who despite people’s claims that he’ll never succeed, ended up discovering what lies past the Atlantic. This biography gathered the momentum needed to catapult the collective opinion of Columbus higher in America. As time passed, more biographers wrote about him which resulted in groups forming, particularly the Knights of Columbus. They’re the group that pressed for a nationally recognized Columbus Day, which passed in
Columbus Day was not always a federal holiday. Traditionally, the holiday was observed on the 12th of October locally. Columbus Day first became a holiday in Colorado in 1906. Through lobbying by Angelo Rose, Generoso Pope, and The Knights of Columbus, Columbus Day became a federal holiday in 1937. It was signed in by Franklin Roosevelt. Since 1970, the holiday has been observed on the second Monday of October. Columbus Day had lobbying against it as well. During the early days before information was not easily available, it was said that the holiday would be used to spread Catholic influence. In later years during the Information Age, arguments such as Columbus 's character or the genocide and slavery of the Indians became widespread arguments against the celebration of the holiday. There are also many arguments as to why the holiday should be kept. Columbus 's voyages led to the colonization of the New World. His expeditions spurred the Age of Exploration, where many European countries continued to invest in exploring for shorter and faster routes to India and the Orient, and new territories to claim. His voyages also led to the Columbian
Christopher Columbus does not deserve to be honored as a hero with his own holiday. Close to 500 years, people have praised Christopher Columbus and also celebrated him as though he was the one who truly founded America. Teachers teach students that he was a great man, also how he found treasures and land known as America. Students are also taught about the names of his three ships he used on his first voyage. However, they did not teach us the truth about Christopher Columbus, and his so called “discovery”.
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.
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.
During the 15th century Europe had numerous changes. The population expanded rapidly which gave rise to new classes of merchants. European nations were very wealthy when it came to spices. Therefore, they traded them on the land route from Asia. These land routes were controlled by the Turkish Empire, which lead to many problems for the countries who were trying to trade these spices and acquire other valuables. This then steered them to begin searching for other routes of trade to essentially cut out the “middle man”. A race then began to erupt between many European countries such as Portugal, Spain, France, and England. These four countries all wanted to be the first to discover new land. However, Portugal pulled ahead and sailed along
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.
One reason we shouldn’t celebrate Columbus Day is because he enslaved Natives to have them work. The text states,”The aim was clear: slaves and gold. They went from island to island in the Caribbean,capturing Indians,”(page 8
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
Age of Explorations was a time of discovery of the new world during the 15th through 17th century. Many Explorers were in search for new passage ways, new trading ports, new land, new spices, and riches. The three explorers discussed in this paper is Henry Hudson, Jacques Cartier, and Francisco Pizarro. Henry Hudson was an explorer whose main purpose was to find a route to Asia from Europe, he had a series of three voyages trying to achieve this. Jacques Cartier was sent to find riches and a route to Asia as well. Francisco Pizarro served on an expedition, which he discovered the Pacific Ocean.
Columbus discovery of the Americas was very profitable for the Spanish Empire, but devastating to the Native Americans already living there for thousands of years. This is conveyed in “a Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies” by Bartolomé de Las Casas. The main goal of Las Casas was to inform the Spanish King about the atrocities committed by the Conquistadors to the Indian people and their land. From the beginning the rules were that the Spanish were to convert the Indians to Christianity and help them achieve heaven. On the other hand, the Conquistadors did not follow the rules and instead murdered millions of Natives for their riches. Unfortunately to the Indians, the arrival of the Spaniards brought them total destruction. The Europeans took advantage of the Indians’ submissiveness and used mass murder (of men, women, children and elder), rape, and torture to get what they wanted, and those who survived were turned into slaves working under very harsh conditions.
On the second Monday of October, Columbus Day is a holiday that is celebrated in the United States, Spain, etc. This holiday signifies the discovery of the new world; however, this may not be the case. Since the day President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announced Columbus day to be an official federal holiday, there has been a lot of controversy whether people should or should not celebrate the holiday. Many people do not believe that this holiday is significant enough to be celebrated. So the question is, should Columbus day be celebrated? The answer is no. Columbus day is a holiday that celebrates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the new world.1 It glorifies Columbus being the first European to discover North America. This is all not entirely true and that is one of the many
On October 14, 1492, Christopher Columbus founded the New World, sparking one of the biggest domino effects in history, and changing the world forever. Columbus 's expedition led to the discovery of the vast natural resources of America, such as precious metals, vast expansive woods, and nutrient rich soil perfect for growing crops and raising livestock. Whenever there are large quantities of resources found, it is not long before colonization follows. This spawned a period of competition for territory, resources, and colonization in the Americas. Columbus was not the first person to discover the Americas. Chinese merchants and Vikings had already been to the Americas, as well as the indigenous people who lived there. He was the first person
Christopher Columbus bridged the gap between the Old World and the New World of the Americas. For this reason, Columbus Day should continue to be recognized as a national holiday. By returning from his voyages with the astonishing news that he had discovered previously unknown lands west of Europe, Columbus opened the gate for future explorations. In particular, the information that he brought back from his travels played a crucial role in establishing an oceangoing route that could be navigated by future explorers. Ultimately, this route provided an avenue for an indispensable cultural exchange between America and Europe. Columbus started the ball rolling that led to the dissemination of science, medicine, art, music, and philosophy.
European exploration brought many new ideas and practices to the world. Europeans exploration discoveries brought negative and positive impacts to the society they were building. The explorations was a success for many countries, but it also was a loss for a lot of Native Americans people. The exploration started a new mankind, it gave countries and people items they never had. The discovery of new world was a big impacts from the European exploration. Countries were now fighting over lands and the resources that were on the land. Slavery and the Columbian change were also big impacts from the exploration. The world changed because of these three big impacts of the European explorations. There