Christopher Columbus: The Myth Of The New World

“Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492,” goes the motto nearly every child in America recites to remember Christopher Columbus, the Italian sailor who allegedly discovered the New World. In elementary school history books, Columbus is described as a fantastic gentleman who sailed around the earth and discovered the New World; however, what children are not taught in school is that Columbus not only did not discover America, but was also brash and stubborn, in addition to treating the natives very poorly. In school, we learn about Columbus Day, which commemorates the day Columbus landed in the New World. Columbus’s birthday is estimated to be on the twelfth of October, the day on which we observe, as Dr. Engel states in his lecture. I have never held much praise for Columbus; I was taught that he was looking for India for spices, and discovering a new land was purely accidental, so my thoughts were on how he has been

According to Dr. Engel’s lecture on the famed explorer and the editorial “Columbus Not Worth Honoring” by David Thundershield Queen, Columbus was not the commendable man we thought him to be. Columbus did not in fact discover America; Native Americans have thrived in the New World long before Columbus was even born. Columbus was also not looking for India. Yes, he was looking for spices, mainly pepper, but it was China he was bound for. He was very stubborn as well, refusing to accept he had not found China but a different land, and he died still believing he had reached China. What surprised me most, however, was his treatment of the natives. Dr. Engel states in his lecture that when Columbus first met the native people, he writes in his journal that “no white man will ever have to work