Christopher
Columbus should be considered a villain, certainly not a hero. The
dictionary definition of a hero is 'a person who is admired or idealized for
courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities’. Columbus sailed west in
order to reach Asia, where the riches of gold, pearls and spice awaited.
There was nothing noble about his goal - he was trying to find a shorter
route to get to wealth … the motive was purely profit. He actually
failed in his goal … he landed in the Americas, not Asia.
Once
in the Americas, his thoughts and actions were truly horrible.
As described in ‘A Peoples History of the United States’ by
Howard Zinn, upon arriving in America Columbus wrote ’They would make fine
servants … With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do
whatever we want’. Then, after being sent more ships and men, he searched
for but did not find gold, so he rounded up the natives and sent five hundred
back to Spain to be sold as slaves. Columbus became so desperate to find
gold (that was not actually there) that he forced the natives to collect gold,
and cut off the hands of those that did not collect the required amount.
The
horrible abuses of the natives by Columbus continued. Therefore,
Columbus was clearly a riches-seeking villain, certainly not the hero that the
United States celebrates.
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