Christopher Columbus

             Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage across the Atlantic impacted the world forever. His endeavor was incredible; the first man to reach what he thought was Asia from the east. A feat that seemed impossible, but he achieved it with great success for himself and his country of Spain. But the people of the Americas that he so inadvertently exposed to the European's were left in ruins. Christopher Columbus was a plague brought upon innocent people that changed their lives forever. Christopher Columbus falls short of a heroic man in terms of his maltreatment to the Indians, and achieves the state of a treasure seeker who had a great deal of luck.
             The people of the "new world" brought no hostility towards Columbus and his men. They greeted Columbus and his men with open arms. The Indian peoples welcomed Europeans warmly, provided them with food, and taught them important new survival skills. In some cases, they perceived them as being divine, or at least spiritually powerful. Native peoples were quickly disillusioned by treachery or mistreatment at European hands. Columbus, knowing of their cynicism, used this to his advantage. Columbus wrote in his log "They...brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned...They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance...They would make fine servants...With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want. As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts." By doing so Columbus lost his virtue, and became a villain.
             Prior to his voyage, he had promised to return with a substantial qua...

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Christopher Columbus. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 04:09, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/75777.html