Not Celebrating Christopher Columbus Essay

Christopher Columbus was a Italian explorer that was sent by the King and Queen of Spain to sail west in hopes of finding a new trade route to China and the West Indies. Instead of landing at either of those regions, he landed on a new continent later to be named America. Many regard Columbus as a hero for discovering this new place, but Columbus is actually the villain in this case. Christopher Columbus should be regarded as a villain due to the fact that his actions led to the death of many Native Americans through disease and by the hands of Spanish conquistadors as well as fueled the African Slave Trade.

When Columbus and his men originally landed on the Islands of the Bahamas the native Arawak people where of the first to greet them they even swam out to meet Columbus. The anxious Arawak people treated him and his men exceptionally well. The Arawaks adorned the men with with gifts of cotton amongst other goods. They were very peaceful, known for their hospitality, and traded their own goods with the sailors. Hospitality however, may not have been the best approach on the Arawak’s behalf.

Columbus was a hero to some like the Europeans that benefits with more lands and valuable, but to another like Arawak he was the worst thing that ever happen to them. When history is told me must be able to put are self in someone else shoe, and understand them from that point of view. History always has many side but we must be able to see the whole thing as

Columbus only saw the Taino as naked, nonreligious, and timid people that they could take control of and govern. He saw them as good servants and thought that they would do whatever that he said. Columbus thought that he could convert them all to Christianity. He failed to notice that they did have a religion. They did have a religion. They worshiped their god. They dressed up wooden dolls, zemis, that they brought food to every day. Their government was organized into provinces, each one had a cacique. Columbus did not see that they did have weapons and that they were united. They were not savage animals that they would be able to gain control over.

He also had a lack of accomplishments such as not discovering America, many people previously knowledge knowing the world was not flat, and causing of pain wherever he explored. Christopher Columbus left behind a very negative legacy which is a reason why America shouldn’t celebrate Columbus Day. His enslavement of African Americans was one of his negative legacies left behind. Once Indian populations decreased, he brought Africans over to America and involuntarily enslaved them.

An alternate history in which European’s did not desire a Western route to Asia would greatly affect the encounter between Europeans and the native American people. In such a world, Christopher Columbus’s motivations would be primarily religious in motivation, in contrast for the desire for monetary gain and fame. Conceivably, the encounter between native American peoples would have been viewed as a great discovery rather than an obstacle to their primary one. With such a mindset, and without the expectation of riches, it is feasible that Columbus may have treated the Taino people very differently. In the absence of the pressure for monetary gain from Spain, there would be less incentive for Columbus to enslave, and eventually decimate the

Columbus is seen as a great man who colonized the Americas but in reality he introduced three horrible acts which include slavery, genocide, and racism. Columbus was the first man to introduce slavery with native people from the Caribbeans. He encouraged his men to rape women as young as nine and forced labor which eventually led to malnutrition and disease. Columbus started transatlantic slave trade by imported numbers of Africans from Haiti to work for him which lead to depopulation. In the Americas Columbus was wiping out a whole population of native Americans so that he could claim the land for himself. This first started when Columbus hung natives in rows of thirteen “in honor of the Redeemer and His 12 apostles.” Columbus eventually ruined two generations of native Caribbeans along with his Spanish discoverers. We shouldn’t celebrate Columbus day because we’re practically being racist towards both native Caribbeans and Hatians because we’re teaching the victims that what happened to their people was perfectly fine. Columbus should not be praised with his own holiday because of his cruelty to native Caribbeans, native Hatians, and native

Many people consider Columbus a hero, but in reality him and his crew mistreated the natives (Bubur). Columbus’s crew enslaved and killed the Native Americans, then they took their land (Bubur). It’s not right to honor Columbus when his explorations led to so much suffering (Bubur). Columbus Day has been a Holiday since the 1930s and the government leaves it up to the states to celebrate, but many would rather get rid of the holiday and celebrate the Indigenous people who were already living here (Bubur). People who do not want to get rid of the holiday argue that Columbus was a risk taker who’s ‘discovery’ changed the world forever, but is it really a good thing to celebrate a man who started years of suffering for a entire race of people (Bubur).

Christopher Columbus is commonly known as the “discoverer” of the Americas. From a young age students are taught all the wonderful things he did for our land and how well he interacted with the Natives. Although the truth is disregarded and as students grow, they come to learn that Columbus was not a hero in fact. Columbus came close to causing a genocide of the Native Americans, and basically began the “white power” movement that America is forced to deal with today. The truth of what Christopher Columbus did makes him no better than Hitler, yet America still praises him as an important figure in our history. The actions of Columbus has impacted all Americans lives since the 1400’s when he first landed on American soil. Although it did make America into the super power it is today, the structure within the borders will never be equal because of his abuse of power back then. Christopher Columbus is not the hero American students are taught from a young age and does not deserve any of the praise or recognition that we as American citizens continue to give him on a daily basis.

Christopher Columbus did not do a single good action in any of his four voyages in the late 1400's. Christopher Columbus was not the founder of the Americas we live in today because he did not discover it, even if he did there were already the natives who inhabited the land. It was just luck that he discovered the Americas, because he wasn’t even coming here, he got here because his ships went the wrong way and “Oh Surprise!” “We got something here to bring to Spain”

The famous explorer has been regarded as a hero only for his achievements and accomplishments only for them to be darkened by his crimes of genocide, slavery and rape thus the controversy arises as to how he should be remembered . In his quest to find riches and conquer new lands, Columbus encountered many native people who he treated as

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

     The spirit and values of a nation are reflected in the nation’s heroes. Christopher Columbus has been regarded as an American hero since 1792. Every year Columbus Day is held on the second Monday in October to honor the man and his legacy. However, many people debate whether or not Columbus Day should be celebrated. I believe that Columbus Day should be celebrated in the United States because he opened up the New World to Europe, inspired a spirit of exploration and adventure that still lasts today, and he showed the importance of diversity and understanding of different cultures.

School taught us about the infamous Christopher Columbus who was known as the hero who found the Americas in 1492, but is that the truth? Is Columbus really the hero that grade school portrayed him to be? Columbus was not. Columbus was a greedy man who destroyed an entire race of people with genocide just so only he could benefit and become a man of money and power.

Christopher Columbus is a very important person in our country's history. He found the "New World," the one we live in today. He started the society that makes us who we are today, the society that allowed our ancestors to come to America and start the life that we live now. This whole world owes their lives to him. Columbus should always be remembered as a very important and very good person in history.