Blog #9: Columbus

Chloe Smith

Mr. DeCarlo

APUSH- 2nd period

8 October 2018

                                                   Was Columbus a Hero or a Villain?

Many people argue that Columbus was a murderer and far from a hero. However, people often change the truth about Columbus, and leave out the many positive things that he did and the heroic traits that he possessed.

Given that Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States is a very biased opinion of Christopher Columbus, using such a resource is difficult to explain the reason why Columbus is a good man. It argues that Columbus is not a hero because he kidnapped, enslaved, and killed countless of the generous Indians without reason. However, many people had slaves in that day, and most of these people didn't quite comprehend the misery that the slaves actually faced. In addition to this, it was a critic of Columbus's (Bartolome de las Casas) that said Indian slaves should be replaced with black slaves because they were stronger and could survive. He too didn't realize the dehumanizing effects of slavery until after his idea was put into action. 

As for the killing and kidnapping, relations actually started out well. Columbus even specifically instructed his crew not to take advantage of the Indians. The Indians he originally met (the Tainos) told Columbus of other violently savage Indian tribes that lived on the Isla de Carib. When the settlers entered some Carib huts, they found cotton rugs and cuts of human flesh. Natives also destroyed the first settlement Columbus created, and they killed some of the Spanish and burned their buildings to the ground. Of course, when Columbus killed Indians it was horrible as well, but certain tribes were extremely savage and cruel to begin with, and Columbus was actually defending himself by fighting back. In fact, in Zinn's book it is mentioned that the Aztecs were only generous to Hernando Cortez because they thought he was a god, and that they killed thousands of people not in defense, but because they believed they were making sacrifices to their god. This is an example of the lives Indians sacrificed every day, so when people say Columbus was a murderer, they should examine the Indian's practices as well.

Finally, let's not forget that Columbus discovered this wonderful country we live in. If it weren't for him, our country would not be what it is today, and the whole course of our history could be different or even non-existant! I would have liked to reference Zinn's book more, but it is extremely biased on the topic of Christopher Columbus and does not fully describe his success of landing upon America or give any support for his many accomplishments. 

Christopher Columbus (dressed as a friar so he would not be killed and eaten by the Carib tribe)

Vaso Nunez de Balboa can be compared to Columbus in a similar way, because both were Spanish conquistadors and discovered something new. Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean, and became the first European to lead an expedition to have reached the Pacific from the new world. He discovered a new route, similar to how Columbus discovered new land.