Olivia's Blog

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was a explorer for Spain who had a dream to sail to Asia but
instead he ended up in North America by accident. Although Columbus accomplished some
things, He also made many mistakes there fore he should not be remembered as a great
historical figure.

Christopher Columbus did do some things that he should be honoured for. He was a very determined man, giving up on his dreams was not a option (Doc #2). He convinced the King and Queen of Spain to fund his trips to the new world (Doc #2). Columbus was a very talented sailer. He could tell which way he was going by just a look at the sky (Doc #2). He also brought sugar cane back from his trip which quickly became very popular (Doc #3). Many different geographical locations are named in his honour. He is also a national symbol in the U.S.A.
(Doc #1). These are some of the few reasons Columbus should be remembered as a great historical figure.

There are many reasons why Christopher Columbus should not be honoured as a great historical figure. Lots of the stories told about Christopher Columbus’s accomplishments are false (Doc #1). He has been credited for Knowledge that was already widely known, for example the world is circular (Doc #1). Christopher Columbus also spread Christianity to the new world, even if the people were already following another faith (Doc #2). Columbus also toke credit for discovering a new continent even though other people had travelled there before him (Doc #2). Columbus was a very greedy man. He asked for ten percent of all the wealth returned to Spain from the new colony. He stole a award from Juan Rodriguez Bermejo who was the first sailer to sight the land (Doc #3,5). When Columbus became the governor of the new colony of Espanola, he was mean and a unfair leader (Doc #3). He toke many people and made them his slaves (Doc #3). Columbus would make people bring him back a thimbleful of gold every three months (Doc #3,4). Columbus quickly diminished the population(Doc #3). Another reason why Columbus does not deserve to be recognized as a historical figure is that he kid napped Arawak Indians to use as navigators and when the Indians would not trade bows and arrows he would order men to stab them and then would leave them to die. He would lie to king Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, he would say he reached the far east and found many mines of gold even though he did not (Doc #5). Another thing that Columbus did is he put Arawak People in pens and picked the strongest. Then the rest were left to slave and eventually die (Doc #5). Columbus forced the Arawak people to dig for gold if they resisted they would be beaten and once all the gold was gone he would use the Indians as slaves and they would soon die
(Doc #5). These are the reasons Columbus should not be recognized.

Christopher Columbus was an explorer that is recognized for his accomplishments. Although Columbus accomplished some things he also made a lot of mistakes there fore he should not be remembered as a great historical figure. Honouring a man that was a bad influence does not seem right to me.