Christopher Columbus was an Italian mariner and navigator who was believed to be the first European to successfully land on the American continent. He was a brave explorer who "opened the way for European exploration, exploitation, and colonization, (2002, Britannica.com Inc.)", who's courageous determination, and navigational skills led to the 'discovery' of America. To some people he became known as a brutal person and an incompetent navigator who played a part in centuries of death and oppression for those who lived on this continent before he arrived. It is a questionable debate, whether or not Columbus as a discoverer, villain, or victim of circumstance?
             For some Columbus Day is a celebration, while for others it is a day of lamentation. The correct view is that Columbus did not 'discover' America, because millions of people lived there long before Columbus wandered lost into the Caribbean. Discovery is a debatable choice of words because people were already living on the land he found, although Europeans and Indians were equally uninformed the other existed. The Indians "are believed to be the earliest ancestors of the Native North Americans who developed complex cultures and inhabited the continent at the time when Europeans first arrived", (2002 Encarta.com). Columbus' arrival was a disaster right from the start. Although his own diaries revealed that he was greeted by the Tainos with the kind hospitality, he immediately began the enslavement and slaughter of the Indian people of the Caribbean. Today, we honor Christopher Columbus, who opened the first chapter of the Atlantic slave trade and opened one of the greatest waves of genocide known in history. Like other explorers, Columbus had many reasons for his exploration. However, it is made obvious by studying the history of Columbus' exploration that his main motives were that he yearned for gold, he wanted to land, and he wanted power. Columbus and his people murdered...