Discussion of Why Christopher Columbus is a Hero

Would someone who kills thousand, rapes many young girls, makes innocent people their slaves and takes others out of the own home be a hero? Christopher Columbus is most definitely a villain, would a hero really do all the terrible things he has done? He changed people out of their own religion and beliefs to worship his God, he killed thousands of people with weapons they did not have, he travels around taking gold making people get it for him, he had a greed for gold, wealth and power, he brought disease to natives but also to Spain and destroyed homes of millions. Should a man who has done these things really be referred to as a hero?

The religious beliefs of the indigenous people and the Spanish were very different, the indigenous people of South America and the Mesoamerica had many different beliefs that had since then died out. When Christopher Columbus came to these places he forced these people into Christianity the religion that everyone in Spain was following at the time. When Christopher Columbus come to these he converted them to Christianity by request of the King and Queen, he was praised by many in Spain for as they said “bring the truth to the natives” many in Spain looked at this as a good thing but the ways he did this were very violent and harmful to the indigenous people. The natives did not want to change their own religion but they were not given a choice. He also used weapons on these people they did not yet have. Christopher Columbus used violence to not only force the natives into Christianity but to make them his slave and get gold for him. When Christopher Columbus first came to America he said that when they saw the sword they went to it and cut themselves on it. If they did not even have these swords they definitely did not yet have guns. This was an unfair advantage of them not even really having a chance to protect their own land.

Christopher Columbus was very greedy, he wanted all the land, power, gold and money. When Christopher Columbus first came to Ayti he forced the Taino people to bring him gold, they had to bring a certain amount of gold for each person. If they were unable to supply him what he wanted they either had to bring twelve kilograms of cotton for each adult or they made slaves, at the very worst than were mutilated. This was all because of his greed of the gold, he has even said how much he worships gold and how it is the most precious thing on earth. Christopher Columbus had a greed for gold and money through the slave trade grew over time, it as the real reasons he wanted to sail in the first place after hearing about it. He keeping taking people as slaves and young girls as sex slaves to make more money for himself so he could keep getting more and more money. The population of of the Taino people went down to six hundred people. He thought only about himself not how theses native people of these lands would feel or what he did to them, he just wanted the gold and money for himself.

Christopher Columbus bought germs to not only the native people of the Americas but when he went back home he bought some back with him. When Christopher Columbus traveled to the Americas the natives there had very weak immune systems and had never had bad disease. After the diseases reached the native Americans it killed a terrifying 236,000 natives which was 95% of the population. He brought smallpox, measles, influenza, bubonic plague , cholera and 25 other deadly disease. After he brought disease to the natives he wanted back to Europe eventually, he came back with syphilis which is still quite common today. Syphilis is a STD that Europeans today are still fighting against, it cause meningitis, brain damage and vision or hearing loss and that is how this huge issue came to many today. Another massive issue Christopher Columbus bought not only to Europe but to the rest of the world is tobacco. Tobacco is the most common legal drug to be smoked that has killed eight million people each year to this day. People to this day still die and are in harm of the things that Christopher Columbus did, is someone who killed people with guns and disease hundreds of years ago and kill millions today a hero?

Christopher Columbus is unable to be a hero for finding land that was already owned by the natives after intruding their land he killed them, made tham slaves, made them get his gold, gave them deadly diseases and gave the people of today other deadly diseases. A man who has done such disgusting and horrible things to innocent people does definitely not deserve to be celebrated, he did not want to help people he wanted the gold for himself. Why do we celebrated such an awful man? Christopher Columbus is a horrid man who may have found the americas but he did it in a ghastly and selfish way for himself, he does not deserve any kindness for the world. 

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