Why The Explorers Should Not Be Glorified

Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, European exploration and expansion thrived. Portugal led the way in this movement of exploration with their development of efficiently built ships known as caravels, seafaring devices such as compasses and astrolabes, and cutting-edge naval academies. Various European countries, including Spain, England, France, etc., followed Portugal’s example by utilizing their progressive naval technology. These technological advancements led to the crossing of oceans and eventually the circumnavigation of the world. These Portuguese sailing techniques were implemented by explorers such as Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, Hernando Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, and Bernal Castillo allowing them to travel by sea to places such as Africa, East Asia, the Caribbean, and the Americas. These nations and explorers were persuaded to put in the time and effort to complete these complex expeditions by three essential motivations. Financial gain, political dignity, and religious expansion were fundamental motivators for the European Age of Exploration.

Were Lewis and Clark heroes or scoundrels? Lewis and Clark are highly respected explorers in textbooks, magazines, and in museums. But looking into all the details of their expedition, other viewpoints need to be heard.By listening to the people affected by Corps of Discovery, textbooks, magazines, and museums might have a negative perspective about them. Despite the heroic accomplishments of Lewis and Clark, they were scoundrels because they ruined the environments of the Native Americans, they ruined people's lives, and they took advantage of the Native Americans to accomplish their goals.

Is it justified to minimize Columbus's genocide of natives? In the wake of the genocide of the natives at the hands of the tyrannical Europeans, the

However there are more negative reasons that show that European explorers should not be glorified today. Such as in Document 6 by Geoffrey Cowley it states that so many Europeans died from domesticating farm animals such as horse, sheep, and cattle.

b.) Zinn’s thesis for this chapter was that Christopher Columbus wasn’t the great hero he was written to be. Zinn portrays him as an evil man who harshly abused the foreign people he came in contact with around the world.

In 1492, Italian cartographer and explorer, Christopher Columbus, set off on a mission from Spain in order to find a quicker, alternative route to Asia. With him, Columbus brought eighty-seven men and three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María, to sail across the large and vast Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately for Columbus, a new route to Asia was never discovered by Spain that year because he had arrived in the Caribbean, which was found in North America. Thinking that he had just entered the Indies, he started to call the people of this land, “Indians”. These Indians were actually Native Americans who had lived on these lands for thousands of years prior. Immediately, letters from Columbus to the King and Queen of Spain were sent by boat back to Europe and soon Columbus was seen as the man who helped create a bridge of prosperous trading and riches between Europe and “Asia”.1 While this discovery proved that Columbus was a hero-like figure to Spain, it’s what he did within the new land that actually makes him one of the biggest villains to ever set foot on Earth. But what classifies this explorer as a villain? Columbus captured thousands of natives, many of which were sent back to Spain to live and work as slaves. Along with that, Columbus also forced the Christian religion onto them, spread diseases that killed thousands of lives, and used violence as a means of persuasion and control.2 Corrupted by his pursuit of riches,

Most children in the United States, grow up with the stories of the brave and heroic Christopher Columbus, who risked his life to connect the western and eastern hemispheres. There is even a day dedicated to his "good work" and "heroism". But the stories don't explore the whole truth. Since his discoveries led to the founding of America, history turns a blind eye to his immoral actions and the consequence of his deeds. Christopher Columbus is a villain because he enslaved, wiped out and manipulated the populations of the Native Americans in the Indies.

However, opposing historians address this fact through varying degrees of approval. In A Patriot's History of the United States, Schweikart and Allen do not mention any of Columbus’ faults, and refer to the massacre of Aztecs by Cortés and his men as a “stunning victory” (Schweikart ) in order to preserve their goal in retelling history from a patriotic standpoint. Because Schweikart and Allen choose to ignore the undeniable brutalities and damage inflicted on native people and societies, they fail to recognize the importance of addressing these issues as a root of racial intolerance. On the other hand, Zinn’s documentation provides a far more in-depth description of the injustices faced by the native and states, “Even allowing for the imperfection of myths, it is enough to make us question, for that time and ours, the excuse of progress in the annihilation of races, and the telling of history from the standpoint of the conquerors and leaders of Western civilization” (Zinn). As a social activist, Zinn’s primary focus is calling out flawed systems and actions within history, but by doing so, he disregards the positive outcomes of European exploration. Conversely, Mintz points out numerous advantages from exploration, pointing out that “Columbus's voyage of discovery… contributed to the development of the modern concept of progress”

Throughout recorded human history, authors, leaders, and researchers, have documented the past from many different perspectives, and viewpoints. Not every historian has the same stance on a certain issue, therefore, differences in point of view occur in almost every writing. In the textbook The American Pageant, A People’s History of the United States by Larry Schweikart, and Michael Allen, and Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, the reader can see many different perspectives throughout each reading. The infamous explorer known as Christopher Columbus, has been documented in many different ways. Depending on the reading, Columbus has be called everything from a “[...]symbol of the new age of hope”, to an inhuman tyrant who captured Indians and turned them into slaves.

Though a vast majority of students learn about Columbus’ great conquests and celebrate him as a hero, very few know of the horrible atrocities he caused when he first landed in America. While considered a hero by most in the United States, Zinn argues that people should think twice about Columbus’ actions, and question whether his behavior to the Indians was necessary. In quotes one and five, Zinn clearly depicts his thoughts on the atrocities done by Columbus and other colonists to the natives living in America.

In his article “The Columbian Voyages, the Columbian Exchange, and Their Historians”, Alfred W. Crosby seems to think that much of the Columbian voyages and what came out of them was detrimental to many cultures, most of all the Native Americans. Crosby brings up many institutions and ideologies to re-enforce his opinion, such as the slave trade and the conquest of many Native American

Historians estimate that as much as 95 percent of the Native American population died within a year of Columbus’s initial contact with the New World, and while there were certainly European acts of genocide against the Native Americans that added to

Chapter one of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States discusses the differences between the culture and attitudes of the Europeans and the Native Americans. It further describes how the Europeans came to the New World and committed genocide against the Native Americans in order to get land and gold from them, which displayed the cruelty and greed of the European explorers coming to the Americas. However, many historians consider these actions by the European Conquistadors to be necessary in order for human progress to occur, but Zinn argues whether human progress needed all of these barbaric actions. He talks about how history has had many important details left out of many events and believes that it is important for history to be seen for all that happened. For example, Zinn writes, “To emphasize the heroism of Columbus and his successors as navigators and discoverers, and to de-emphasize their genocide, is not a technical necessity but an ideological choice. It serves- unwittingly-to justify what was done.” (Zinn) This quotation shows how Zinn emphasizes how this brutality was not a necessity but it is a choice on how it should be interpreted. Zinn also talks about Hernando Cortes’ time with the Aztec Empire. In the text, Zinn writes, “Cortes then began his march of death from town to town, using deception, turning Aztec against

Whether viewed as a monster who destroyed ancient civilizations or a legendary figure who led society to where it is today, Christopher Columbus remains a greatly controversial historical center point as his impact on civilization then, and now, have sparked ongoing debates for centuries. But despite the greatly exaggerated slander against him, Columbus should be revered and celebrated as a hero for his contributions to societal development instead of hated for the blatant lies created by mainstream media in an effort to demonize an iconic historical figure in an attempt to push anti-western sentiment.

During the Renaissance many people were curious about the world, and had a desire to trade. This led to the Age of Exploration, during this time many nations grew more powerful and influenced the world. Europeans started to explore the world for gold. However while on this journey many European explorers did things that were great. Such as taken away natives land and rights, killing and mistreating natives, and lastly bringing a disease that killed thousands. So you then start to ask should these people be remembered today even with all the bad things they’ve done and brought to the world. I believe that European explorers, conquistadors and settlers from the Age of Exploration should no longer be glorified and celebrated in Modern times.