Shannon Nauta
History DBQ
Period 1
September 18, 2014
There is no doubt that Christopher Columbus was a tremendously skilled navigator, but is there another side to the story? Weather the article was bias against him or for him,
Columbus was thought of as an explorer and an exploiter. As we know today, Columbus found the Americas in pursuit of India. Endorsed by the King & Queen of Spain, Columbus and his crew were searching for India with trade routes and raw materials like spices and silk in mind. The brutality of the Spaniards towards the Indians was gruesome and morally wrong. But was it clarified that Columbus didn’t that part in that?
Every kid learns about Christopher Columbus and how he discovered America. Most children think of him as a hero because he found this land that we now call our home. But is he really a hero? He was on a voyage to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he accidently found America.
Though he did not really
“discover” the New World, millions of people already lived there. Have you even thought about the way Columbus treated the people who were her before him? DId he just come in and take over or did he become friends with them and treat them equally? We have no proof how Columbus treated the native people.
In
A Spanish Missionary in Hispaniola it states that “It was a general rule among
Spaniards to be cruel; no just cruel, but extraordinarily cruel so that harsh and bitter treatment would prevent Indians from daring to think of themselves as human beings.” The
Spaniards would bet of the cutting off of heads and cutting of bodies, they would also burn and hang captured chiefs. How do we know that Columbus wasn’t involved in the abuse of the Indians? Columbus may or may not have been involved in this but we have know way of knowing. Columbus is known as a good person because of the log that was kept about his journey. In this log it talked about the Indians were nice to him and he was