The villains of Cristobal Colón
Introduction
Almost six centuries ago an event occurred that would change the history of civilizations around the world, since Cristóbal Colón would discover America in 1492. Throughout generations, Columbus has been idolized by many, especially Europeans, and has been characterized as a historical hero by him “discovery of America,” however, there are many who have considered him a terrorist and genocidal.
To get to a conclusion on whether Columbus was a hero or a villain depends on the criteria and many times the ethnic group of the individual, but the evidence and stories point out that, in effect, Columbus was not the hero that history books tell. Christopher Columbus was an opportunistic tyrant captain who took advantage of his crew and took terror to the New World, squeezing indigenous people and taking their natural resources.
Developing
According to the story, Christopher Columbus left on August 3, 1492 from the port of Palos, in Spain in his three caravels, the girl, the painting and the Holy Mary, with an estimate of one hundred men after the Catholic Monarchs signed “The Capitulations of Santa Fe.”The plan was to look.
However, in the search for these new routes, it was reached in America, until then unknown to everyone. After navigating for seventy -two days, on October 12, 1492, Rodrigo de Triana shouted “Earth!”Christopher Columbus and his men arrived in Guanahani where Columbus became the first European man to step on the New World, which later led to the Spanish conquest that marked the indigenous people forever.
In 1493, believing that it was the Indies, Columbus writes a letter addressed to Luis de Santángel, who was in charge of the finances of the investors of the trip, to tell him the wealth he has found in the new lands. Columbus describes new lands as a true paradise where they could easily expand their empire. Trying to persuade the Catholic Monarchs to continue supporting it monetarily, Columbus writes to them, “Spanish is wonderful.
The beautiful and thick lands to plant and sow, to raise cattle of all luck, for villas and places buildings. There are many specieries, large gold mines and other metals ". Columbus also tells them that there is no danger, since the Indians are fearful and voluntarily give their lands or belonging,
Because of this, the Spanish authorities provided Columbus with 17 ships and miles of men. In his book “The other history of the United States from 1492 to the present”, Howard Zinn describes Columbus’s atrocities and as he brought the first forms of slavery to the New World. In 1495 Colón ordered a raid to capture men, women, and Arawak children, first Indians to have contact with the Spaniards, and took them to Spain to submit them to slavery.
But, since Columbus failed to satisfy the goals of filling gold ships, ordered that slaves carry a certain amount of gold from time to time, and those who did not fulfill this, mutilated their arms or murdered them. According to Zinn, the greed of Columbus for gold caused the death of 250, 000 indigenous. “In 1515, perhaps fifty thousand indigenous people were left. In 1550, there were five hundred. A report of the year 1650 reveals that on the island there was not one of the native Arawak, or their descendants ”. The complete extermination of native peoples is not a memorable act worthy of a hero, but of villain.
conclusion
Hero for some, villain for others, but what cannot be denied is that the crossing of Columbus altered the course of the history of civilizations as they are known today. Like every historical fact, the "discovery of America" had its positive sides as negative. Many cultures and history experts argue that if Columbus had not "discovered".
America, perhaps the American continent would not have developed economically or technologically, since the advances had not arrived, but, on the other hand, others argue that some other explorer would have done it sooner or later and that perhaps the great empires, asThe Aztecs and Maya, were already on their way to technological advance because they already had mathematical systems, astrology, the knowledge of agriculture and commerce, as well as hierarchies and governments.
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