When contemplating the account of Christopher Columbus it is difficult to distinguish an opinion of whether he is a hero or a villain, but there is definite evidence that Christopher Columbus is a villain. Through out the aging of America Columbus came to be known as the man that discovered this country, which is partly true, he was not the first to come here but he did discover that there was other land west of Africa. He did learn some valuable things that modern society, Africans, Europeans, and Asians, formally did not know. He did prove that the world was the shape of a ball, not the shape of a breast or just flat. These are the few things that Columbus deserves praise for, but the bad doings certainly out way the good. I would like to start off talking about the Indians or indigenous people to what is now America. When Columbus first landed on what he called San Salvador, what is now known as the Bahamas, the natives lined the shores to see the inconceivable sight of the godly dressed white man on the horizon in three, ninety foot boats. The Indians were said to be very hospitable, so they welcomed Columbus with everything that they had to offer. They were also quite ignorant in the ways of finance and personal property, because in their culture that was not what all actions were based on. Columbus immediately took advantage of this ignorance, “They willingly traded everything they owned... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” This shows the mindset that he set out on his voyage with: take all that is valuable and claim the land in the name of the king.
This raises the question, why was Columbus so eager to please the monarchial system he so thankfully claimed to? Was it because he knew that the man who found the new route to India would be forever known and documented in the historical fibers of humanity? As Howard Zinn puts it, “He concluded his report by asking for a little help from their Majesties, and in return he would bring them from his next voyage “as much gold as they need... and as many slaves as they ask.” (Page 4)
There are many anecdotes about Columbus being a selfish man driven by personal gain. When he set out on his first voyage King Ferdinand said whoever first spotted land would receive a life long pension, one of the crew members spotted land and Columbus claimed it was he that spotted white sands first. Columbus took the pension even though he was much better off than the majority of his crew; it was miniscule acts like these that translated into the biggest atrocities committed by the Spaniards. They would travel island to island combing through villages and taking whatever they saw fit. The natives would flee to the forest and cower in fear when they spotted ships. Bartolome De Las Casas expands on the topic, “The Spaniards came along and behaved like ravening wild beasts, wolves, tiger, or lion that had been starved for many days... killing, terrorizing, afflicting, torturing, and destroying the native people... the strangest and most varied new methods of cruelty, never seen or heard before, and to such a degree that this island of Hispaniola once so populous, now has a population of barely two hundred people.” As you can see, Columbus's voyage was not so much exploration and noble deeds, it was full of pillage, social abusing, and quest for personal gain.
We now have a day every year to commemorate Columbus, and it is quite the controversy, For obvious reasons it is hard to see the validity in celebrating the life of a man who almost exterminated a race. Is Columbus worth dedicating a day to? I would have to say no. If you would have asked me that question a year ago I would have said yes, but I only knew what had been fed to me as a child going through school. I grew up thinking of Columbus being on the same level as the founding fathers. Now I see that he was a lot like Hitler, in that they both were astonishing men brilliant and talented in their craft, both men used their opportunities to exile others. Both committed acts of genocide, even though nobody remembers Columbus as being an engineer of terror. I do not believe that Columbus should have a day or a city or a street in his name let alone our respect beyond the fact that he was a fool with good luck.
There is one thing that Columbus did do well, and that was find a place for society to flourish. It is hard to doubt that with out him society would not be were it is now. It is hard to say if anyone would have ever discovered the Americas let alone go there. Where would America, a modern super power, be if it was not settled by imperialistic leaders? If there is anything that I credit to Columbus, it is that he indirectly developed a base for society to build on. If this nation was not discovered by a technologically advanced culture would we still be savages? Would we be living in simplicity much like animals, or would some other man have stumbled upon our country simply to get the same credit Columbus did? It is hard to say because there is no way to know for certain; if there was one thing that he did that actually deserves praise was finding a place for a much needed westward expansion. With out it what would have happened to Europe, a place of intolerance and Kings. There was no place for minorities to be free and that is what America was founded upon. Columbus was an undoubtedly smart man who did do some good things, but he should be remembered as a villain.
No comments:
Post a Comment