Katie Roberson
Social Studies 8
D Block
Mr. Klopp
January 20, 2015
Should Columbus Day be celebrated?
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer that tried to discover a new route to Asia. He asked many great leaders to sponsor his exploration, but King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain were the only ones who agreed to do so. He sailed three boats to what he thought was Asia. Instead of finding Asia, Columbus landed in the Caribbean. Columbus still believed that he had gone to India the day he died. Columbus committed many reprehensible crimes, and for this reason he should not have a holiday named after him. Columbus, to some people, is seen as a brave and skilled captain that accomplished many great things. For example, Columbus
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He is also faulted for the fact that he thought that he was in the Indies the whole time he was in the Americas. First of all, Columbus wasn't sent to the Americas to conquer new lands and diminish groups of people, he was sent for spices and other goods. To add on, when he landed in the area he called San Salvador, Columbus saw the Natives as items for trade and good slaves. Additionally, he forced the natives into Christianity and turned them into slaves. Not only were the natives taken advantage of and tortured, the rebellious were also were killed and their bodies were paraded through the streets. As a matter of fact, Columbus caused the deaths of many Taino people by bringing unfamiliar diseases from Europe, slave trading, and using advanced weaponry. Nearly 1,000 Taino people died being transported to Spain as slaves. Columbus was also a deceiving and greedy person. He told the sailors on his boats that the first person to see land would be given gold. He did this to keep them from wanting to turn around. When land was in sight he didn't give any gold, and took the credit for himself. Consequently, Columbus was taken back to Spain due to the laws that he broke. Unsurprisingly, he was put in jail and kept there until Queen Isabella freed him so he could travel back to what he thought was