It seems that history as we knew it growing up is being 'changed'. The books are being rewritten with the 'truth'. For social studies, Bethany chose to do a research paper on Christopher Columbus as her project. I thought I would share it with you:
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Friend or Foe?
Were the voyages of Christopher Columbus a mixed blessing? His venture to the New World gained him lasting fame, but as some have come to realize, he’s less of a friend than a foe. Some still argue he is a hero to us who discovered new lands for us, but others say he is a villain, who took the Americas from the natives, yet we still praise him as the one who “discovered” the Americas, when technically, the original inhabitants were already there and discovered the land themselves. We continue to celebrate the second Monday in October on October 21 as “Columbus Day”.
Were the voyages of Christopher Columbus a mixed blessing? His venture to the New World gained him lasting fame, but as some have come to realize, he’s less of a friend than a foe. Some still argue he is a hero to us who discovered new lands for us, but others say he is a villain, who took the Americas from the natives, yet we still praise him as the one who “discovered” the Americas, when technically, the original inhabitants were already there and discovered the land themselves. We continue to celebrate the second Monday in October on October 21 as “Columbus Day”.
Columbus began the idea of hoping to find a westward route to Asia after his wife died. He started into finding plans and theories. When he started his route, he aimed to create a trade route for Spain. He also aimed to Christianize the natives he expected to find non-Christians, which some may argue is a great point of why he is a friend, but he’s not completely innocent. He was very ambitious and was actually in the lands looking for fame and fortune. He wanted to become a knight, admiral of the Ocean Sea, vicery and general of all the lands he found, and one-tenth of valuable items that were discovered on the lands. When he returned after his first trip where he landed somewhere in the Bahamas, he returned to Spain to spread the word and was noted as “Admiral of the Ocean Seas”. He expected to become rich, but by the end of the journey, he returned to Spain after four trips, and still no wealth. Columbus only received a fixed amount for reaching the New World first.
Have you noticed he doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer? To finance his trip in 1484, he went to King John of Portugal who refused. He then went to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. After a year, they also refused. Columbus went back 2 years later and asked once again, yet after a month, they still said ‘no’. Finally, Father Perez, a Spanish monk, continued to negotiate with the rulers on behalf of Christopher Columbus. He talked to the king and queen for Columbus and successfully persuaded them to finance Columbus’s journey.
Christopher Columbus wasn’t very smart in realizing where he was. Earlier before starting off on his venture, he overestimated the circumference of the Earth. When he realized the Earth was spherical, he accepted his mistaken beliefs and found the journey he hoped to complete was accomplishable. When he and his crew first sighted land, he thought they were in the Indies, so he named the natives Indians. When he reached Cuba, he thought it was China. He thought the world was much smaller than what it actually is. Also, to add to the fact that he was greedy, when the Santa Maria wrecked near Haiti, he built a fort and left 40 men to hunt for gold in what he thought was China.
Christopher Columbus wasn’t very smart in realizing where he was. Earlier before starting off on his venture, he overestimated the circumference of the Earth. When he realized the Earth was spherical, he accepted his mistaken beliefs and found the journey he hoped to complete was accomplishable. When he and his crew first sighted land, he thought they were in the Indies, so he named the natives Indians. When he reached Cuba, he thought it was China. He thought the world was much smaller than what it actually is. Also, to add to the fact that he was greedy, when the Santa Maria wrecked near Haiti, he built a fort and left 40 men to hunt for gold in what he thought was China.
It seemed that the villainous reputation ran in the family. The Admiral partially quieted a revolt by comprising with Francisco Roldán, an office holder. So many letters of complaints had gone to the Castile, all of the letters regarding Columbus’s brothers, so the rulers sent a royal commissioner by the name of Francisco de Bobadilla and told him to act as he saw was best. Bobadilla meant well, but he already had in his head a bad opinion of the Columbus family. He put the Admiral and his brothers in chains and sent them to Spain. Andrés Martin who commanded the ship where to sail offered to remove the shackles, but the Admiral refused. He wanted to look restricted by the sovereigns. In November 1500, Columbus went to court. He received a kind welcome from the monarchs and reassurance that the imprisonment and chains had not been by their orders. No one knew that 20 years later, he would be on his deathbed. He suffered from arthritis and malaria at only 53. Though, he finally brought back gold from the Americas as he had hoped for in all his greediness. He also owned most of Hispaniola, so he died with a sense of accomplishment. Many grieved for him, thinking he was such a great man. He later died in Valladolid on May 20, 1506 after spending his last few months in bed, suffering.
As you can see, Christopher Columbus was a foe, unexpectedly so. Still, people choose to believe he is the hero and Admiral for the Crown of Castile we’ve all read about who “discovered” the New World.
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