Christopher Columbus Pros And Cons Essay

963 Words4 Pages

On August 3, 1492, Columbus and his crew set sail from a small port in Spain in three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Following their departure, the ships sailed through the traitorous and unexplored Atlantic for 2 months, and on October 12, the ships made landfall. Although, they did not make landfall in Asia, as Columbus assumed, but actually on one of the Bahamian islands which today is considered part of the Caribbean. Columbus claimed this land was his, and without hesitation brutally massacred a whole population of Native Americans. Currently, people in the United States shun the idea of even celebrating a man who did such horrendous acts of aversion. Although, there is still a large population of people who favor the …show more content…

A lot of researchers who protested against the holiday which people in America celebrate, issued statements calling for the holiday to be changed. They support their claims with information in correspondence with the fact that Columbus massacred innocent Natives, enslaved, raped, and tortured them, stripped them of everything they knew and loved, and took over the land only to leave it again and die to try to find what they initially sailed for, a route to Asia. Information about Columbus undeniably supports the three most announced claims concerning his actions; that he undoubtedly massacred millions of Indians and people of all ages should be taught this, instead of false information, that he did not discover modern day America and that people in the United States should be acknowledging those who truly were in America first, and that the holiday's name should be changed to Indigenous People’s Day instead of Columbus Day due to the claims held against …show more content…

Geographically, he actually discovered what some people may consider Central America, although the places located in it, which includes those considered parts of the Caribbean, are not of United States territory. Colombus landed on various Caribbean islands which are now considered the Bahamas as well as the island later called Hispaniola. He also explored parts of the Central and South American coasts, although while he claimed credit for discovering America, he never set foot in North America. Protestors against Columbus mention frequently that they believe Norse explorer Leif Erikson reached Canada perhaps 500 years before Columbus was born, and that he may have migrated down the coast of Canada into the United States. Additionally, some believe that Phoenician sailors crossed the Atlantic much earlier than him and that people in the United States should be acknowledging those who truly were in America