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You've heard of the infamous Christopher Columbus, right? How he
'discovered' the Americas? Notice how I put discovered in quotes.
I
recently started learning the truth about this man in my history class
in school. When I heard what the real story was, I was
speechless. I, myself being part Native American, was shocked. I had
always
thought that Christopher Columbus was a nice, curious person. Not a
cruel,
selfish, stubborn one.
Let me tell you what I've learned about Columbus.
Editor's
Note: Columbus is a controversial figure among historians, so
keep in mind that we just don't know for sure about some of these
things.
(1400s) Columbus was one of the
few people who sincerely believed the world was
round. During this period in time, the Europeans (Spain and Portugal)
were
exploring and claiming new land for themselves. It started because of
the Holy Wars in the Holy Land (Jerusalem, etc.). The Europeans found
tea and
spices, silk and cocoa, which was all very valuable to them.
At this point, the people of Europe were looking for a direct
water route to Asia (India, China, Spice Islands). While everyone was
looking at the east route, Columbus believed that you could get to Asia
by going west from Europe. Little did he know two huge continents were
in the way!
In 1492, after getting Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand (of Spain) to
help him with financial support, Columbus was off on his first of four
voyages. He 'discovered' America (more like the Caribbean Islands) on
October 12, 1492. But he believed he was in Asia (that's why Native
Americans are called Indians).
His second voyage was in 1493, his third in 1498, and his fourth in
1502. On his second voyage, he wasn't there to explore. He was there
for the gold.
At that time, Columbus encountered the Tiano Indians, who treated as
slaves. Every day, if the Indians were 14 or older, they were required
to
bring a certain amount of gold. If they didn't -- this is pretty
gruesome!!! --
Columbus would cut off their hands, and let them bleed to death. He
killed many Indians. Part of it was not his fault; there was a disease
among his crew members that killed many of the Indians, but he did have
a lot to do with the dramatic
decrease in population.
Today, Columbus is taught to most Americans as being a hero! For
discovering
America, right? But is that really what he did? In my opinion, no, he
didn't.
He encountered it, yes, but he did not discover it. People were here.
But, I
agree with what Queen Isabella did, though. When she heard that this
was
going on, she sent a ship to the Americas and had Columbus arrested. He
went back to Spain in chains.
I was really disappointed when I learned about what Columbus did, and
he was not the only explorer to do it. There were many more, including
Cortes and Pizarro.
Thanks for listening to what I have to say!
This is Hottie412, signing off!
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