The Truth about Christopher Columbus

971 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Bio on christopher columbus essay

Everyone knows the saying Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. However, there is a lot more to Christopher Columbus than what everyone was taught in elementary school through high school. Columbus is thought to be a hero, but just being classified as a hero is a fallacy. Several works including Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies and The Lies my Teacher Told Me have been published about the real Christopher Columbus and his legacy.

The story of Christopher Columbus begins in the city of Genoa in the year 1451. Columbus was the oldest of five children. He went to grammar school but left school at an early age and began sailing on Genoese ships in the Mediterranean. The sailing experience that Columbus gained sailing in the Mediterranean was the base for his sailing knowledge. Between 1476 and 1785, Columbus lived in Portugal. While in Portugal, Christopher Columbus expanded his knowledge of sailing and navigation. The time that Columbus spent in Portugal helped in his later voyages across the Atlantic.

Christopher Columbus had two main motives for trying to find a sea route around the world to Asia. Columbus’ first reason was that he wanted the fame. He believed that the earth was round and according to his theory, the earth was only 18,000 miles in circumference (Symcox, 9). He believed that it would be faster to sail around the world to Asia than sailing around Africa. He wanted to be the first person credited for sailing around the earth to Asia. Columbus also wanted to make a name for his family. The second reason Columbus wanted to sail around the world was simple. He wanted to make money. Columbus’ want for fame and fortune drove him to create a sea route to Asia.

Columbus had f...

... middle of paper ...

...ors to the Native Americans that were living there when Columbus came in 1492. Also the Norse established a colony in Greenland for 500 years (Loewen, 8). While there, the Norse explored parts of North America (Loewen, 8). This evidence proves that Columbus was not the first person to discover the Americas. Columbus began the demise of the current Indian cultures in the area. While Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies neither agrees nor disagree with The Lies my Teacher Told Me, the primary sources and history of Columbus enhances the idea of Columbus not being a flawless hero as the history textbooks embrace.

Works Cited

Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995. Print.

Symcox, Geoffrey, and Blair Sullivan. Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. Print.

Show More
Related

  • The Myint Author Of Christopher Columbus: Hero Or Villain?

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many books have led children to believe Columbus discovered America. Myint discovers “Leif Eriksson is the first European believed to have sailed to North America, having reached Canada 500 years before Columbus set sail to the west.” (Myint, 2015, Para. 2). Columbus did not plan to reach America; the voyage was to reach Asia. It is also believed Columbus set sail to prove the world was round. This is dismissed by Myint as “it was an idea that had been established by the Ancient Greeks in the 5th Century BC.” (Myint, 2015, Para. 4). Historians fail to provide these facts; this creates a false image of Columbus in a child’s

    Read More

  • Analysis in James W. Loewen´s Lies My Teacher Told Me

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    Among the many flaws American history textbooks have, one that stands out above the rest is heroification. Heroification is, according to Loewen "A generative process that makes people over into heroes.”(pg.19) Through heroification national heroes such as Christopher Columbus are always portrayed as perfect individuals, with only the best intentions and absolutely no flaws. Textbooks use heroification to inspire, and instate a sense of national pride in students. Though it may instate a sense of national pride in students, it does not present the truth. Heroification leaves out important details of these "heroes" lives, and only presents trivial melodramatic details. By doing this students will never really fully understand why our "heroes" did what they did, and will never know the truth.

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus: Hero Or Villain?

    605 Words  | 2 Pages

    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”.

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus: The Villain

    352 Words  | 1 Pages

    Columbus does not deserve to be praised for the discovery of America. In short, if he didn't do it, someone else would have within 10 years. He was not the only one who believed that the earth was round, and the ideas of similar voyages had been previously proposed.

    Read More

  • Debunking the Mythical Hero: Christopher Columbus

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    Christopher Columbus is a mythical hero or in other words, not a true hero. The story of Christopher Columbus is part of the many myths of Western civilization. Also the story of Christopher Columbus represents the power of those that are privileged and in most cases white European men that have written this mythical history. Zinn (2009 exposes the truth about Columbus through eyes of the people who were there when he had arrived which were the Native Indians (p.481). Columbus had kept a personal journal for his voyage to describe the people and the journey. What was evident throughout his journal was the Native Americans were very nice, gentle and kind hearted people (Zinn, 2009, 481). As Zinn suggests Columbus spoke of the Native Americans as” they are the best people in the world and

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus Rape

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus: Villain or Hero?

    1520 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Columbian Exchange

    2028 Words  | 5 Pages

    Christopher Columbus was a famous navigator and explorer who was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. Columbus wanted to claim land for Spain so he could be rich and spread religion. He originally set out to find the East Indies for many reasons. One was that he hoped to establish trade routes and colonies in order to gain wealth. Another was that there were now bigger guns that could be strapped on ships so he felt that his voyage had more of a chance of being successful. The main reasons for his exploration was that he wanted to find a western route to Asia to find the riches that Marco Polo talked about in his book. So basically he was not courageous, he was just greedy. He intended on arriving in Japan on his first voyage, but instead, he arrived at the Bahamas archipelago. He ended up making numerous voyages and claiming the lands he visited for the Spanish Empire. Columbus continued voyages creating the first lasting European conta...

    Read More

  • Is Christopher Columbus A Villain Essay

    1437 Words  | 3 Pages

    To determine if Christopher Columbus is a hero or a villain, one must first consider his background. He was born sometime between August 26 and October 31, 1451, in Genoa, Italy (Flint). From the age of twenty-five to his death, Columbus spent his whole

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus: The Villain

    548 Words  | 2 Pages

    I didn?t know much about Columbus, but when it was taught to us as a class, which was rarely, the lessons were brief and covered only the ?positive? things that he did. That is, from the eyes of those who believe Columbus was a noble man. It wasn?t until 6th grade when my teacher showed my class the book Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen that we opened our eyes and saw reality. We had been deceived. Deceived by videos. Deceived by books. Deceived by teachers. But at least it felt good to know the truth-finally.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Christopher Columbus Day

    1332 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus: Discoverer or Invader?

    821 Words  | 2 Pages

    Christopher Columbus was a renaissance explorer in 1492. he was sent by queen Isabelle and king Ferdinand of Spain to look for a trade route to east Asia

    Read More

  • Cause And Impact Of Christopher Columbus

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    Christopher Columbus is well remembered today. The discoveries Columbus made are well appreciated and even though, Columbus is credited with discovering the New World, Columbus really didn’t accomplish any of his goals because he didn’t find any riches for Spain and he didn’t discover the New world nor was he the first to visit. However, he gave the people the opportunity of exploration on the American continent and just like everyone else Columbus had his ups and downs during his four voyages. During his last two years of life after his last voyage, Columbus recovered some of his riches and tried to recover his titles, but didn’t have any luck. Then in 1506, Columbus returned to Spain with nothing but sickness and died on May 20, 1506 due to illness. Christopher Columbus died believing he had discovered a shorter route to

    Read More

  • Cause And Impact Of Christopher Columbus

    811 Words  | 2 Pages

    Christopher Columbus was one of the most legendary sailors and explorers of all time. Christopher Columbus , an italian explorer, was born in the year of 1451 in the Republic of Genoa. Christopher Columbus was a teenager when he first set sail the ocean in 1465. He became a sailor in 1476 and started to travel many places before going on his largest voyage in 1480. In 1492, Christopher Columbus exploration to the New World linked Europe and the Americas. His discoveries enlightened the globe and started a new age of exploration. His standards and morals changed the history of the whole globe. He was known for traveling for all types of reasons for many foreign monarchs. But why would a monarch from one country be interested in employing an explorer from a foreign country to complete such an important task?

    Read More

  • Who Really Discovered America?

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    Reaching towards the peak of trade, Europe faced difficulties in trading with Asia due to sections of multiple trade routes being dominated by Muslims. This meant that men were lost and it took a great amount of time to be able to give and receive the products being traded. This was when Christopher Columbus proposed a solution, believing that a route which sailed west through the Atlantic Ocean, would be a much safer and faster way of trading with Asia.

    Read More

More about The Truth about Christopher Columbus

Open Document