...Columbus and America Where did Christopher Columbus first land in America? On his feet. In truth, no one actually knows for sure where Columbus actually landed in America. There are several theories about where he first discovered, but no one can quite be one hundred percent sure. Learning about Columbus can be quite a captivating event because of his significant accomplishments, impact on natives, and intriguing facts. Columbus is fun to learn about because of his significant accomplishments. First, he attempted to prove that the earth was round. “While no one literate at the time still thought the Earth was flat, no one, until Columbus, was prepared to actually test the theory that it was round to, in effect, stake his life on it” (The first immigrant). Second,...
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...Everyone has heard it before: Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue in 1492, but is it factual? Columbus’s discovery of the new world led to victory and havoc, even though these two words appropriately describe Columbus’s expedition, they still oppose one another. In history and life, there are always two sides to a story, two different perspectives of the same story. Therefore, there are two perspectives of Columbus’s voyage, one told by the American Pageant and one told by Howard Zinn in A People’s History of the United States , both of which in retrospect are entirely different on the way they betray Christopher Columbus. Howard Zinn’s ideology of Columbus as a villain is contradictory in nature to the American Pageant’s view of Columbus as a hero....
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...“Columbus is a good man and was the first to discover America…” is what we have learned throughout the previous years from our textbooks; however Zinn looks at Columbus from a different perspective and portrays him in a rather negative way. Chapter one, “Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress”, starts off with Columbus arriving in America and the naive Arawak Indians full of wonder looking curiously upon him. They were quick to bring him food, water and gifts which Columbus wrote about and mentioned that they “willing traded everything they owned…they do not bear arms and do not know them”. Clearly the Indians were nothing but kind to him; however he treated them so poorly. Zinn explains how all Columbus wanted was gold and money and didn’t have a care for the natives....
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...What do you know about Christopher Columbus? Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, there is a much greater understanding of what Columbus actually did. History needs to be through different viewpoints or the true history of life isn’t told; learners can’t perish to one view on history. Nations and communities have different viewpoints for example. Nations view history as Columbus viewed it while communities view history as the oppressed viewed it. While the views are associated with two different history writing styles in the chapter that Zinn provides, different views are essential when it comes to learning history. National collective memory is associated massively to the leader’s perspective, for example Columbus’s viewpoint; communal collective memory is linked heavily to the oppressed perspective such as the experiences of the Arawaks. The first chapter titled Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress Zinn analyzed the untold history of what Columbus actually did back in 1492. Zinn provides us two different types of history writing. One type is the history of Columbus in Columbus’s own point of view. This is the type that students briefly learned about in high school modern history courses and of historians. Some historians basically sympathize with Columbus’s perspective. He was a hero for finding new land and supposedly bringing gold back to the King and Queen. Many students didn’t know there were other viewpoints so they believed in that one view. Zinn...
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...Furthermore, the concept of race was given more emphasis on its input into the global revolution. Europe saw a positive transition to modernity with the enlightenment. The period was marked by social and political transformation. At the core of this transformation was increased wisdom and civilization. To fully achieve this transformation, humans needed to learn how to live harmoniously with nature rather than in opposition to it, an idea known as ‘noble savage’. Eventually, humankind experienced notable progress from an uncivilized stage to a contemporary stage of refinement, political liberty, religious freedom and economic prosperity. During this period, racial discrimination and oppression were gradually decreasing as civilization and freedom...
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...Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus born in Genoa Italy was the son of a skilled weaver. Columbus earned his chance when the king and queen of Spain agreed to finance his voyage to discover a new trade route connecting Spain with Asia. In 1492 He sailed across the Atlantic arriving instead in the Caribbean where he raped, killed, and enslaved innocent Natives. America’s memories are filled with symbols of adventure and bravery associated with Columbus, yet the facts behind the fiction have somehow been lost in a haze of patriotism. Columbus set out with three ships; the Pinta, the Nina and the Santa Maria in search of Asia to find precious items such as gold and spices. Not realising that the Americas existed, Columbus first appeared in the Bahama Islands. When he first came in contact with the Arawak men and women, he entered into is log, “they would make fine servants… we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever they want” (pg 1). Columbus and his men coming from Spain had weapons that the Natives simply could not fight against, leaving them helpless and unable to fight they were mistreated and abused. Another example of Columbus abusing the natives is when he entered into his log, “as soon as I arrived… I took some of the natives by force” (pg 1). Columbus took some of the natives so that they might show him the land and where he might find gold, but instead of trying to communicate with these people he forcibly took them as slaves. “In...
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...Christopher Columbus once said, “By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination” (Christopher Columbus Quote). Columbus was an Italian man living in Spain to pursue his dream of navigation. He wished to travel the world. Columbus explored the globe and exchanged many different things. Christopher Columbus significantly influenced naval exploration, world trade, and cultural exchange. Christopher Columbus was able to explore because he was financially supported. The reason he had to pay was because of travel fees, crew employment, navigation tools, and supplies. Since Columbus was an adventurer, he had the natural curiosity to understand the world around him. Most scholars believe...
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...Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress When Columbus first completed the journey across the Atlantic Ocean, he landed in what is now the Bahama Islands, being met be Arawak men in women who marveled by the sight of a white man. The Arawak ha an unrivaled sense of hospitality compared to the Europeans. They believed in sharing everything among the people of the tribe. Columbus, however, only cared about the small amount of gold that he saw on their ears, as that was why he was sent to what he thought was India. After seeing the gold he took some of the Indians aboard his ship to attempt to find more gold. Columbus guilt a fort for some of his crew to stay behind in, while he returned to Europe with the good news. Columbus exaggerated in his report to the King and Queen so he was met with seventeen ships and over twelve hundred men. When he returned to the Arawak he captured fifteen hundred Indians and brought back five hundred to Spain. Those who were not captured were required to mine massive quantities of gold or they would be killed. The amount of gold required was impossible for them to acquire so in two years, half of the original 250,000 were dead. Similar stories could be told about the Aztecs, Incas, and Indians of the eastern coast of North America, as they were all conquered in the same way. Indians were, at first, treated with respect, but then settlers took advantage of them to steal their resources and land. As a result wars occurred between the settlers and the...
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...controversial stories told about Columbus’ journey. He chastises other historians for excluding and burying truths and lesser point of views. He exposes the cruelties the Indians went through, as well as the sailors crazed ambition for gold. The total control over the Indians brought complete cruelty and caused the Indian population to decrease immensely. Zinn includes the good and the bad of all the parties involves, allowing the reader to see clearly the actions of everyone involved. Chapter Two The desperate need for labor was one of the many factors that brought slavery to America. Zinn exposes the hardships the settlers went through as they failed to keep themselves fed and well. Zinn introduces the reader to the horrible treatments the slaves went through on the way to America and once there. The relationships between white servants and black slaves had a less violent presence within it, but racism materialized even more when “a law was passed requiring masters to provide white servants” more rights. This created an even more prominent color line. Chapter Three Zinn analyses the Bacon Rebellion and introduces the reader to Nathaniel Bacon, the leader. In that...
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...Christopher Columbus: The Original American Hero? Was Columbus a hero or a villain? Maybe it’s neither. Columbus was brave and daring, and did things that were important to world history. But he wasn’t heroic in the sense of displaying great moral qualities. Courage, while generally a good character trait, isn’t necessarily heroic or even highly honorable and praiseworthy unless it’s deployed in certain kinds of actions or causes. But he also wasn’t especially villainous in the sense of displaying particular evil qualities. His arrival in the Americas caused a great deal of death to American Indians, chiefly from disease. And it caused the subjugation and literal or virtual enslavement of the Indians. But this didn’t stem from Columbus’s being an unusually evil person. It stemmed from the brutality of the time, coupled with the contact between one culture that was much more powerful than another (and that carried many communicable diseases to which members of the other culture lacked resistance). I’m inclined to say that we shouldn’t celebrate Columbus Day, precisely because such national celebrations should be focused on honoring people who did things that were both especially important and especially honorable (such as veterans, President Washington, or Martin Luther King, Jr.) and not just on people who did things that were especially important. This might conceivably include not-necessarily-good people who did things that were unambiguously good. But European expansion...
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...Christopher Columbus, was he a hero or villain? For many years people have heard of this man and even have a certain day where we celebrate of his life and what he did. Schools teach students that Columbus was one of the greatest man who found America and found luxury, wealth, treasures, and new land. These children/ students did not grow up knowing the truth behind Columbus. How did he really accomplish his tasks? I think schools should actually share both sides of Christopher Columbus on what he really did to show some facts behind his discovery of America. In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. When Columbus left Spain he had no intention in finding America or the New World. He was actually looking in search of India and Asia. He unintentionally...
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...Nichole Oliver Professor Scott ENG-ENF 3/III April 23, 2016 We Should Abolish Columbus Day Only two federal holidays in the United States bear the name of two specific men, ironically one of them fought racism -- Martin Luther King Jr., and the other was a genocidal racist – Chistopher Columbus. Opposition to Columbus Day (observed on the second Monday of October) has intensified in recent decades, while the former passes each year with relatively little controversy. The issue of if we should still celebrate Columbus Day is widely discussed. The topic remains important because it concerns fundamental moral and economic questions related to the origin of how Christopher Columbus got his recognition. In my essay I will touch on the ongoing debate of if we should erase Columbus Day as one of our federal holidays. As our young minds are still developing and processing information of our history, which hopefully holds an importance to the American citizens of this great nation, there is a poem taught to children about our history. How does the saying go? Ah, yes! In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue… We are taught that Columbus is viewed a valiant adventurer that opened up the worlds eyes by discovering the Americas; on the contrary, he is perceived a symbol of slavery and genocide. His trip to America is often claimed as a voyage of bravery in his attempts to discover new lands and did however lead to the permanent colonization, settlement, political...
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...Course Work Essay An Assignment Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Course Hist 104- 01 West Indian History Instructor Tshana Thomas- Francique By Dwight Bowen 20th October, 2015 Approval …………………. The Columbian Neo-Indian Exchange What have been is what will be, and what has been done, is what will be done and there is nothing that will reverse it. The incipient world as we know it has been undergoing a drastic era for biological globalization since the landing of the Europeans between the fifteen and the eighteen century. This era is known as the Columbian exchange and commenced in the year 1492 when Christopher Columbus and his crew sailed the Atlantic, exploring more advantages. Beckles & Shepherd suggest in his book Liberties lost, “that the European’s instinct was to reach Asia by sailing deep into the Western Atlantic. His quest was to find Asia, craving for the riches of Asia. Lost in the Caribbean Sea, he found indigenous people of Bahamas whose posture of welcome ushered into a global era.” (2004, p.35) Columbus’ first voyage was one of revelation in which he took the prospect to explore much places as he can. As history tells us, he made a series of voyages scooping new discoveries and engagements with the people who he encountered with on his journey. He first landed in the Bahamas. Columbus took with him soldiers, conquistador, murders, farmers and people of all classes who were moved by greed, and thirst...
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...Chapter 1: Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress The beginning chapter covers early Native American civilization in North America and the Bahamas, the genocide and enslavement committed by the crew of Christopher Columbus (to the West Indies), and incidents of violent colonization by early settlers. The native inhabitants, Arawak Indians, swam out to greet the European boats the first time they landed. Zinn cites Columbus' journal entries throughout the chapters, which included his reaction to the initial encounter with the Arawaks: 'They would make fine servants...With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.' This attitude ultimately led to enslavement, highjacking, murder and rape. Why did they murder thousands to millions of innocent Native Americans? The Spaniard's main aim was to prove to the royalty back home that the islands were wealthy and loaded with great resources, mainly gold. Columbus took some natives back to show the Queen of Spain (they died on route), and when he came back with numbers of men and ships, they started a regimented system of slavery and punishment on the natives of the West Indies. When looking at historical documents of this event, they all had one thing in common. They only speak of the friendliness of the Arawaks, of their genuine kindness and great hospitality. They saw the Spaniards as divine beings, meaning they would never do harm or, let alone, murder them. On his second voyage back, Columbus took 500...
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...In fact, in school classrooms throughout the United States, where most of us received our initial understanding of American history, we often witness a romanticized narrative of Americans striving forward towards progress with limited or partial understanding of race, the complex story of Native Americans and their removal from conquered lands, and the enslavement of African-Americans. The purpose of this essay is to rethink prior understandings of American history and what race means, as well as how it has determined and limited citizenship and opportunity for some Americans, by exploring the voices in author Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove’s book Voices of a People’s History of the United States and other literary sources, and what American citizenship means to those not designated white, rich or male. The definition and concept of race, a human classification system used to group human beings into large and distinct categories, is a relatively recent modern concept, with roots in the breeding of animal stock that only became a commonly employed concept as a physical category by the end of the 18th century (Ferber 28). However, centuries earlier, emphasis on differences among human beings was used as a means for conquest and domination. Christopher Columbus, as taught in school history books, was known...
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