Christopher Columbus Selfish

Although Christopher Columbus made new exploits and made it possible for more discoveries, his methods were violent and harmful to the native people who showed him kindness. Columbus was trying to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead he accidentally discovered the Americas which is part of the reason why he is mostly known as a hero. Finding the Americas started the beginning of transatlantic conquest and colonization. Unfortunately, he went about his exploring of the new land in the wrong way by forcing the natives to perform his difficult work which is why he should be known as a villain. The way Columbus achieved his exploits is the reason he is a villain rather than a hero. An example of his selfishness is thinking, “They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want” (Document 2). Columbus already starts thinking about taking advantage of the natives when he first meets them. After a while he “… took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts” (Document 3). He starts to carry out his devious plan by torturing some of the natives to gain the information he wants. Columbus could have approached the …show more content…
The Indians were clueless about what Columbus had in mind, “They willingly traded everything they owned… They do not bear arms, and do not know them…” (Document 2). Columbus had much stronger weapons, and he took complete advantage of this not sharing the technology with them. He took the alternative option of using his weapons to control them, “… while those who wash gold stay in the water all the time with their backs bent so constantly it breaks them…” (Document 9). The Spaniards used their superior knowledge of weapons against the indigenous people making them do the back-breaking