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Christopher Columbus is the most well known explorer by most school age children. When children are young, teachers tell them that Columbus was a very good person, a hero even. To be politically correct though, Christopher Columbus brought death and destruction with him to the Americas. He stole , killed, and tortured the natives. Christopher Columbus was not a true explorer, but he was a conqueror of people.

When Christopher Columbus set out on his voyage(August 3rd, 1492) to find a new route to the Indies there was no way that he could know that it would turn out the way it did. When he landed at the Caribbean Islands(October 12th, 1492), the people there were scared, but still friendly toward him. This next quote is from Columbus’ journal: “As I saw that they were very friendly to us, and perceived that they could be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force,… Weapons they have none, nor are acquainted with them, for I showed them swords which they grasped by the blades, and cut themselves through ignorance…. But they seemed on the whole to me, to be a very poor people. They all go completely naked, even the women,… I was very attentive to them, and strove to learn if they had any gold. Seeing some of them with little bits of this metal hanging at their noses” As you can see it was very easy for Columbus to take them over and treat them badly because they had no protection. That is a good example to show how cruel Columbus could act toward people he knew couldn’t fight back.

This is one proof of Christopher Columbus being a conqueror.

In the movie we watched in class, it told us how Columbus was just out to get gold, and riches. He ordered the natives to proclaim him governor of the lands. Since he was governor he made a law that said the natives had to bring him one bag of gold dust every three months. If they did not give him this gold(simply because their wasn’t that much gold on the islands) he would order to have their hands cut off, and they would bleed to death. If they escaped, then he would hunt them down with dogs. Christopher Columbus also ordered his men to hang and burn some natives that wouldn’t do exactly as he told them. Diseases also spread at this time. Many of the natives never encountered sickness before, and didn’t have the immunities. Some people died from the flu! The population decreased from 1 million to 1,000 in the matter of 100 years from Christopher Columbus’ orders.

Columbus tried to use the natives as slaves but they were too frail. They weren’t used to that much physical labor as was expected of them on the plantations. This opened up the slave trade in Africa. More than 11 million slaves were taken from Africa by the 1800’s!!!!

As you can see through my essay, I believe that Christopher Columbus was a conqueror of people. There is an old saying that says,”Might makes right”, and the explorers back then, would go sailing around with this idea in their heads, that as soon as they came to a land that they had never seen before, they could just put up their flag and claim it. This is not exploring, and this is exactly what Christopher Columbus is recognized every October 11th for. Columbus was not a true explorer, but he was a conqueror or people.

Columbus Day, a day celebrated to represent a man who had, in 1492 sailed the ocean blue, and discovered our homeland, America. This is a day to celebrate the discovery of new things, new lands, and the beginning of our gistory and culture. But, in reality, we are really celebratingthe beginning of slavery, disease, and death, even control and donination. These are the issues almost all of our text books and teachings leave out. ‘American history books present Columbus pretty much without precedent, and they portray him as America’s first great hero.’ ‘Meanwhile, they make up all kinds of details to tell a better story and to humanize Columbus so that readers will identify with him.’

Through his voyage, we have learned that Columbus was faced with many hardships. This is not fact. These are stories to make Columbus appear more heroic in his conquest for new land. We learned he faced rough seas and many storms. In reality, his journal states there was smooth sailing and calm seas. This journy was also not to find new land, but to find riches. The myths that were used were to mask the truth of the voyage.

In the beginning, Colubus set out to find gold, not new land , which we all have been taught. He was an egolistic, greedy, self-centered man who’s center focus was to become rich. he wanted fame and fortune, and was primarily driven by the desire for wealth. ‘In fourteen hundred and ninety three, Columbus stole all he could see,’ that is where his particular saying came from. As columbus said, ‘Gold is most excellent; gold constitutes treasure, and he who has it does all he wants in the world, and can even lift souls up to paradise.’ Does that sound like a man in it for his country or for himself? You can decide that.

When Columbus and is men reached the Americas, they introduced slavery to this country. he was responsible for sending more individuals into slavery that any one else. He took the mative americans as his own personal slaves, and even sent quite a few back to Spain. He raped and pilliged many native women, and forced his slaves to do labor, search for gold, and raise Spanish crops. This slavery basically killed off many native nations. Many native americans committed suicide and some even killed their own children so as to prevent them from being slaves to these doministic new comers.

This is a horrible result for the native Americans, who, in the beginning just wanted to help colubus. The native americans wanted to show the Spanish their world that these navigators had stumbled upon. This was just a continuing trend of how native Americans and other tribes would help strangers to their world. Such as when colubus’ ship wrecked on Jamaica and the Arawaks kept Columbus and his crew alive for more than a year.

So as you can see colubus was not the hero perceived. he was fueled by greed and the persuit of power. His drive in turn, lead many historic factors,which are not all stated in our history books. These facts should be told and columbus day should be terminated, for he was not the founder of the new land, but the founder of new dominance and suffering in the Americas.

Christopher Columbus is the most well known explorer by most school age children. When children are young, teachers tell them that Columbus was a very good person, a hero even. To be politically correct though, Christopher Columbus brought death and destruction with him to the Americas. He stole , killed, and tortured the natives. Christopher Columbus was not a true explorer, but he was a conqueror of people.

When Christopher Columbus set out on his voyage(August 3rd, 1492) to find a new route to the Indies there was no way that he could know that it would turn out the way it did. When he landed at the Caribbean Islands(October 12th, 1492), the people there were scared, but still friendly toward him. This next quote is from Columbus’ journal: “As I saw that they were very friendly to us, and perceived that they could be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force,… Weapons they have none, nor are acquainted with them, for I showed them swords which they grasped by the blades, and cut themselves through ignorance…. But they seemed on the whole to me, to be a very poor people. They all go completely naked, even the women,… I was very attentive to them, and strove to learn if they had any gold. Seeing some of them with little bits of this metal hanging at their noses” As you can see it was very easy for Columbus to take them over and treat them badly because they had no protection. That is a good example to show how cruel Columbus could act toward people he knew couldn’t fight back.

This is one proof of Christopher Columbus being a conqueror.

In the movie we watched in class, it told us how Columbus was just out to get gold, and riches. He ordered the natives to proclaim him governor of the lands. Since he was governor he made a law that said the natives had to bring him one bag of gold dust every three months. If they did not give him this gold(simply because their wasn’t that much gold on the islands) he would order to have their hands cut off, and they would bleed to death. If they escaped, then he would hunt them down with dogs. Christopher Columbus also ordered his men to hang and burn some natives that wouldn’t do exactly as he told them. Diseases also spread at this time. Many of the natives never encountered sickness before, and didn’t have the immunities. Some people died from the flu! The population decreased from 1 million to 1,000 in the matter of 100 years from Christopher Columbus’ orders.

Columbus tried to use the natives as slaves but they were too frail. They weren’t used to that much physical labor as was expected of them on the plantations. This opened up the slave trade in Africa. More than 11 million slaves were taken from Africa by the 1800’s!!!!

As you can see through my essay, I believe that Christopher Columbus was a conqueror of people. There is an old saying that says,”Might makes right”, and the explorers back then, would go sailing around with this idea in their heads, that as soon as they came to a land that they had never seen before, they could just put up their flag and claim it. This is not exploring, and this is exactly what Christopher Columbus is recognized every October 11th for. Columbus was not a true explorer, but he was a conqueror or people.