October 17, 2016
Abstract:
This purpose of this essay is to use my research to identify whether Christopher Columbus was a bad man or the courageous hero that people thought him to be for years. Historians and scholars have debated for a long time about the good and bad qualities of Columbus and his accomplishments, and I used what I have learned to clarify the reasons why I believe that Columbus’ accomplishments are outweighed by his brutality as a leader.
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Clever but deceitful, skilled but greedy, Columbus had a complex character that left historians and scholars trying to determine whether Columbus was a good or bad man. It is believed that Columbus is thought of so highly because Americans needed a non-English leader to idolize after the American Revolution, but there are many debatable points about Columbus’ character. After much study, this researcher concludes that Columbus was more bad than good.
This conclusion was reached after examining lecture notes, classroom discussions, historical documents, and credible websites.
Even though Columbus was more bad than good, he did possess some good qualities, including his navigational skills and his courage to sail across the ocean into the unknown. He initiated colonization in the Americas by inspiring others to follow in his footsteps, which led to the America we know today. However, Columbus’ bravery and dedication are outweighed by his less admirable actions and characteristics.
Christopher Columbus was not a symbol of courage but one of invasion and genocide. For instance, Columbus was known to mistreat and dehumanize the natives of the continent he ‘discovered.’ When Columbus and his men first arrived in the Carribeans, the natives were peaceful and helpful to his people. He immediately saw this as an opportunity to take advantage of them rather than to start a fair and healthy alliance. Knowing the Indians were kind and ignorant about iron weapons, he recognized that they would make good slaves. Only a few months later, Columbus began calling them savages and cannibals in order to justify treating them as less than human. After his first trip back to Spain, he returned to the New World to find chaos. He took this opportunity to kill many of the Indians. It is believed that his men had raped and killed natives while he was absent, but if they were hesitant about their actions at all, they certainly had Columbus’ consent to mistreat the natives when he came back and was openly violent instead of attempting to recreate any semblance of peace. Columbus’ men were barbaric towards not only the male Indians they began enslaving but also the women, children and infants. Though most Native American deaths are attributed to the accidental spread of disease, Columbus’ violent ruling and mistreatment contributed greatly to their genocide. Due to common execution of natives without trial, the Spanish monarchs requested that Columbus be investigated. He was eventually brought back to Spain, and although it was one of his political rivals that brought charges upon Columbus, he blatantly admitted that many of the accusations. Along with this, his own early records, such as diaries and letters, prove that he never even set sail for science but to gain personal wealth by seizing it from others. Whether he found the trade route he desired or not, it was designed that wherever he landed he would steal wealth by any means necessary. Although the diseases brought from Europe were believed to have originated in Asia, the blame for the barbaric conquering of indigenous people rests solely on Columbus’ shoulders. Even after he was stripped of his title as governor, the policies he set endorsing slavery and extermination remained. The entire population of Taino Indians [1] were reduced from about 8 million to 3 million during Columbus’ regime, but in the years following his absence, the last 3 million natives were pronounced extinct, and not all of these deaths can be attributed to disease.
Columbus was not a brave leader but a greedy and stubborn man. During his first voyage, he told his crew that whoever spotted land first would be provided with a sizable amount of money as a reward from the Spanish monarchs. When a man pointed out the land from the ship he was on, everyone gathered and agreed that the cliffs in the distance were indeed land. Columbus was notified and he congratulated the crew, but he then claimed he had already seen lights from that direction the night before and only told a few people. This of course meant that he would get the reward instead of the man who pointed out the cliffs. This was one of the first signs of his greediness, aside from his intent behind his voyage of finding gold and stealing riches. He also knew that the people he conquered were undeserving. In fact, in one of his letters to Santangel, Columbus said, “they are artless and generous with what they have, to such a degree as no one would believe but him who had seen it. Of anything they have, if it be asked for, they never say no, but do rather invite the person to accept it, and show as much lovingness as though they would give their hearts.” Columbus to far too greedy to pass up an opportunity to conquer a naive group of people. Actually, this writing from Columbus was recorded after the Santa Maria wrecked and the Arawak natives came to the rescue [2]. He also described Indians as “so naive and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it.” Still, in a separate letter to King Ferdinand, he reported that he took possession of a large town and made friends with a nearby king who was no match for his men if the king ever became hostile. Despite his description of an amicable people, he eventually began allowing his men to rape, kill and enslave Indians. Of course, he could have been lying about the generous nature of the natives like he lied about the amount of gold and spices he found [4]. Regardless, he was an invader of their land and he lied about many things in attempt to save his reputation and his mission.
As if cruelty and greed were not enough, Columbus also participated in both slave trade and the destruction of culture. Between not actually discovering a trade route to India, the wreck of the Santa Maria [3], and not finding enough gold, Columbus knew he had to compensate for his failures if he was to come out of the situation wealthier and successful. His relationship with the Indians was peaceful once, but at some point his bravery shifted to brutality. Columbus took his harsh rule a step further, rounding up over five hundred Indians [5] and entering the market of slave trading. He knew that selling Indian slaves would provide him and his sponsors with a large sum of riches, so he went ahead with it even though the Indians were undeserving of such treatment. After selling the Indians as slaves, Columbus required the remaining natives to pay tribute in gold and punished them if they couldn’t find enough [6]. Although Columbus might not have invented slave trade, he certainly contributed and encouraged it by initiating African slave trade. About two hundred of the Tainos slaves died at sea, and when there weren’t enough Indians to meet demands of labor in Europe and the Caribbean, Africans became the cheapest and easiest to transport for slavery. Along with this, Columbus had had no religious tolerance, seeing as how he assumed Indians were heathens. He initially said “I believe that they would become Christians very easily, for it seemed to me that they had no religion.” Eventually, the Pope gave America to the Spanish, and Spain soon gave Indians an ultimatum, which was partially enforced by Columbus. This declaration warned that if Indians did not convert to Christianity, they would “take you and your wives and your children, and shall make slaves of them, and as such shall sell and dispose of them as their Highnesses may command; and we shall take away your goods, and shall do all the harm and damage that we can.” Columbus participated in both religious intolerance and slave trade, which both contrast the freedoms that Americans are proud of today.
Columbus is only one of many historical figures who have been scrutinized for their major role in the development of our nation and the New World. His accomplishments include the advancement of European knowledge of the world, which led to colonization, and the advancement of his navigational skills and bravery, which encouraged others to follow in his footsteps. However, his brutality and greediness led him to do unspeakable things in order to reach his goals. Columbus mistreated and dehumanized Native Americans, revealed himself to be a greedy and stubborn governor, and took part in slave trade and the destruction of Native American culture.
Footnotes:
- Tainos Indians were a subgroup of the Arawakan Indians.
- Arawaks lived in Hispaniola, which is presently divided into the Republic of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
- The ship hasn’t been found yet, but it was recorded that the Santa Maria wrecked off the coast of present-day Haiti, and the Arawak Indians living nearby assisted in the recovery of many crew members.
- When Columbus reported the findings to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, he usually exaggerated about the lack of Indian resistance and the amount of gold found.
- The number of Arawaks that Columbus sent to Spain varies by source. Some sources claim that Columbus sent at least one thousand Tainos Indians as slaves while others say it was five hundred.
- Records state that many of the Indians that could not turn in enough gold were punished by removal of hands, arms, or legs.
Bibliography:
Churchill, Ward. “Columbus’ History of Genocide.” Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Indians Are Us, 1994. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
Columbus, Christopher. “Letter to King Ferdinand of Spain.” University of Virginia, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
McCormack, Owen. “Columbus Was a Mass Killer and Father of the Slave Trade.” IrishCentral. IrishCentral LLC, 10 Oct. 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2016.
Morgan, Edmund S. “Columbus’ Confusion About the New World.” Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian, Oct. 2009. Web. 7 Oct. 2016.
Ojibwa. “Native American Netroots.” Native American Netroots. WordPress, May-June 2011. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.
Olson, Julius E., and Edward Gaylord Bourne. The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985-1503: The Voyages of the Northmen. New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1906. Print.
Plous. “Christopher Columbus: The Untold Story.” Understanding Prejudice. Social Psychology Network, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
“Slavery and Spanish Colonization.” Digital History. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Oct. 2016.