Christopher Columbus and Controversy Christopher Columbus, widely celebrated for his “discovery” of the Americas, became a controversial figure whose actions had significant and lasting consequences on both the Indigenous communities and the European colonization of the New World. The debate surrounding Columbus comes from his negative actions toward Native Americans on encounters with them on his voyages. Additionally, his impact on the push for European colonization had detrimental effects on these communities. The controversy around Christopher Columbus has tested many people's opinions of him over time because of his actions on his voyages and attitude. Columbus loved the sea from a very young age and went on many voyages where he discovered …show more content…
Mentioned in an article from Britannica, “(Columbus) was obsessed with the ocean from a young age and began his sailing career in his teens,” leading him to become an expert navigator and ambitious explorer. In every part of his voyages, good or bad, Columbus introduced Europe to new land where they could expand and build new settlements. He encouraged many other explorers to sail west and introduced what is known today as The Columbian Exchange. This is where he began swapping and trading New World and Old World technologies, plants, cultures, and ideas. He brought together the Eastern and Western hemispheres of the world while also opening a new international economy and helping Europe colonize new lands. However, with all this good comes a lot of bad. At the same time he was connecting hundreds of people, he failed to think about the impact on the Native Americans and how this would affect and change the way they live forever. They were being enslaved, killed, and kicked out of their own land that they called home since the 12th century. Throughout the time of The Columbian Exchange an estimated 90% (55 million) of the indigenous population in the Caribbean were killed through disease caused by the foreigners. They had never come across these different diseases such as smallpox, the flu, and measles and did not know how to treat