Blog #9: Columbus
Was Columbus a Hero or a Villain?
For a day in the year to be dedicated to him, he must've left quite an impact on Earth. That, he did, and though students bask in the glory of not attending school, others may have feelings of anger and sadness ignited. Those who view Columbus as a hero, often recognize his inhumane actions but justify it through all the events that have followed his arrival. A common mindset is that if Columbus never came to the Americas, then life would be drastically different and all the opportunities we know today may cease to exist. However, the "American dream" that many seek, of improving social status and providing a better future for their kids, is on land where families were torn apart and murdered. Columbus is a villain and his greediness overcomes any sense of empathy or compassion. A yearly pension of 10,000 maravedis would be awarded to the first person to see land and one of Columbus's sailors spotted the Bahamas. Of course, the award wasn't given to the sailor, for Columbus falsely claimed he saw it beforehand. Deceit and lies, that's only the beginning of how far he's willing to go to satisfy his lust for money. In 1445, he wanted to return to Spain with ships full of slaves, so the gathered up 1,500 Awarak people and put them in pens as if they were farm animals, to judge and choose physically appealing ones. He boarded 500 captives onto the ships and almost half of them died, but he still nevertheless capitalized on the survivors by selling them. In Haiti, he would force anybody over the age of 14 to fulfill a quota of gold and those who failed to do so, would have their limbs severed.
I included this picture of two Mexicans looking over the border to America because many of their families are being separated by ICE, just like how the colonizers separated the natives.
For a day in the year to be dedicated to him, he must've left quite an impact on Earth. That, he did, and though students bask in the glory of not attending school, others may have feelings of anger and sadness ignited. Those who view Columbus as a hero, often recognize his inhumane actions but justify it through all the events that have followed his arrival. A common mindset is that if Columbus never came to the Americas, then life would be drastically different and all the opportunities we know today may cease to exist. However, the "American dream" that many seek, of improving social status and providing a better future for their kids, is on land where families were torn apart and murdered. Columbus is a villain and his greediness overcomes any sense of empathy or compassion. A yearly pension of 10,000 maravedis would be awarded to the first person to see land and one of Columbus's sailors spotted the Bahamas. Of course, the award wasn't given to the sailor, for Columbus falsely claimed he saw it beforehand. Deceit and lies, that's only the beginning of how far he's willing to go to satisfy his lust for money. In 1445, he wanted to return to Spain with ships full of slaves, so the gathered up 1,500 Awarak people and put them in pens as if they were farm animals, to judge and choose physically appealing ones. He boarded 500 captives onto the ships and almost half of them died, but he still nevertheless capitalized on the survivors by selling them. In Haiti, he would force anybody over the age of 14 to fulfill a quota of gold and those who failed to do so, would have their limbs severed.
I included this picture of two Mexicans looking over the border to America because many of their families are being separated by ICE, just like how the colonizers separated the natives.
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