Columbus Blog #8

Christopher Columbus is seen by many as a hero because of his discovery of the new world. Sent out on a mission to find a faster route to India he stumbled upon America and brought back many new things to Europe. Because of this he has been widely praised for what he contributed to society, but what many people do not realize is that Columbus’s discovery does not make him as heroic as he may seem.

            Christopher Columbus did discover America, but he actually thought that it was India at the time which caused him to wrongly call the natives there “Indians”. Though this discovery did benefit the Native Americans by supplying them with horses and wheat, sugar and rice, it more greatly benefited the Europeans because it supplied them with much more produce along with gold and silver. Also Columbus’s encounter with the Native Americans caused a lot of devastation from diseases such as smallpox, measles and influenza which killed many natives. The Native American population decreased rapidly and on top of that the Spanish began enslaving the Native Americans. This of course diminished the Native American’s culture and because of Columbus landing in the Americas up to ninety percent of the Native Americans had died or been killed. Columbus ended up setting the way for entire civilization’s to be wiped out for the greedy desires of the European’s.

            Columbus’ discovery of the New World was a huge milestone in the development of the European and American countries. It brought many new items to Europe and also contributed to the Native Americans and because of this accomplishment he is celebrated on Columbus Day. Although Columbus found America unintentionally and was wrongly credited for this discovery when he did not even realize what he had discovered. On top of this Columbus treated the Natives with disrespect, taking away their culture and believes and enslaving them into labor. He also brought many diseases to the America’s which killed so many of the Natives that some civilizations were wiped out. Columbus did greatly enhance the Europeans way of life and in some ways the Native Americans as well, but because of his greedy and cruel ways Columbus can be seen more as a villain than a hero.