Christopher Columbus is known for discovering America, and that is why we celebrate Columbus Day on October 13. Most of America recognizes him for bringing European foods and cultures to America, while the rest of America sees him as the downfall of the native Americans and their culture. Personally, I believe that Christopher Columbus did a lot more harm than good.
One thing I want to address before I begin, I want you to note that this is an opinion piece. Meaning, that this is my opinion and you don’t have to agree with it.
Who was Christopher Columbus?
Christopher Columbus was born in 1451, and his father was a small-time merchant. He was prompted to explore westward by the “Three G’s”: gold, god, and glory; this was a common reason to explore around that time period. So, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella l, hired him to find a western route to India. Although now we know that west of Europe is North America and South America, the people in 1492 had no clue that the Americas existed. Most people also believed that the earth was flat and you would fall off the earth if you went too far. Although a select few, like Christopher Columbus, believed that the earth was in fact a sphere.
So he set off on his adventure. When he reached land, he believed that he had reached the West Indies, but in reality, he had reached the Americas. He found the natives and called them “Indians” even though they were Native Americans.
After that, many other European countries ventured over to the Americas and brought much of their food and culture with them. But it wasn’t all good; they also brought many diseases and enslaved many of the natives. As a result, many of the natives died, and many tribes went extinct due to the Europeans.
What is my opinion on Christopher Columbus?
This leads me to say that I personally believe that Christopher Columbus did a lot more harm to the Americans than good. Christopher Columbus had a greed for gold and wealth, and when he and his men went on a hunt for gold and were unable to find any, he thought that the natives would make “good servants,” so he enslaved most of the Taíno tribe to do hard labor, like more mining for gold and working on plantations. He also had ordered many of his men to torture the natives to give them all of their gold and valuables. This results in 80% to 90% of them perishing.
Also, because he discovered America, he brought many other European countries there, too. They too treated the natives poorly by enslaving them or just killing mass groups of them. Because so many of the natives died due to disease, murder, and as a result of the hard labor, there were only an estimated 6 million natives left as opposed to 100 million estimated people before Christopher Columbus discovered America.
On top of all of that, when Europeans came, they brought much of their culture and food with them, which you might think is a good thing, but because of that, many Native American traditions were lost, and most are forgotten or not celebrated at all. And since so many of them died, there are only an estimated 5 million Native Americans or people who are part Native Americans alive today.
In a nutshell, Christopher Columbus may have “discovered America”, but he also caused many problems later on for all of the people surrounding him.
