Christopher Columbus: A Man of Contrast Most textbooks that students read praise Columbus. They call him a man of bravery and the one who discovered new land. Columbus is viewed as the greatest hero history ever told of. They glorify him and honor what he did. But should Columbus’s actions be celebrated? The textbooks hide the terrible actions Columbus engaged in. They keep his trickeries, stupidity, and violence in the dark. The appreciation toward Columbus should stop. It is time to shed light on the real Columbus: a greedy, foolish villain. His own words prove that Columbus was a truly acquisitive person at heart. “Gold, Glory, and God,” was his motto and one of his famous quotes is, “Gold is most excellent. He who possesses gold may do …show more content…
He was a Christian, but broke many laws of the Christian way. He lied to the king and queen so he could get more help and time. He was ruthless and cruel, all which Christianity frowns upon. Columbus ran his sword through Indians who wouldn’t trade gold with him and took many natives prisoners to find gold. In 1495, he created a slave raid and rounded up fifteen hundred Arawak men, women, and children to force them to work or to sell them. He chopped off the hands of the Arawak that could not find gold and hanged or burned anyone who resisted his rule. He guarded his captives with dogs and when the Indians fled, he hunted them down with the dogs and killed them. Columbus also allowed his men to check the sharpness of their blades by cutting off the natives’ body parts and behead the Indians for fun. Additionally, he let his men violate the Arawak women. All of these awful deeds Columbus did lead the Indians to suicide themselves with cassava poison. The Arawak population drastically decreased until there was none of the original Arawaks or their descendants left on the island. Columbus was not only cruel to the Indians, but also to his crewmen. He ignored their cries of hunger and sickness and pushed them to work. He hanged the colonists even for petty crimes such as stealing a fruit. Columbus does not deserve to be called a hero. He was malicious to both the Indians and colonists. Lies and trickery were part of his life. He only cared for himself and was very rapacious. History should remember him as a