Through The Eyes Of The King: Was Christopher Columbus A Hero?

In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. This is a childhood rhyme which is meant to portray Columbus as a hero. However, it fails to mention the negative impact he caused on the native population in the New World. His trip was originally dedicated to discovering trade routes to the far east, however, his ships ended up on the shores of the Bahamas. This voyage symbolized the discovery of the New World in the eyes of the King and Queen. This explains how Columbus was seen by the King and Queen because of them letting him take on this endeavor. Christopher Columbus who was seen as a hero was actually a historical villain because of his brutal treatment of natives, his contribution to the population decline, and the systems

This included brutally murdering the Native Americans. He also caused a mass suicide by requiring the natives to become his slaves. Loewen states, “Occasionally a hundred have committed mass suicide. Trie women, exhausted by labor, have shunned conception and childbirth . . . Many, when pregnant, have taken something to abort and have aborted. Others after delivery have killed their children with their own hands, so as not to leave them in such oppressive slavery” (53). Columbus required the natives to become his slaves in order to do things for him which resulted in mass suicide. In addition, as a form of punishment towards the natives for not following the rules that Columbus had set their ears or noses were severed. Loewen states, “To ensure cooperation, Columbus used punishment by example. When an Indian committed even a minor offense, the Spanish cut off his ears or nose. Disfigured, the person was sent back to his village as living evidence of the brutality the Spaniards were capable of” (54). Columbus made these specific things required and if they were not followed the natives would be punished in the way that Columbus believed, cutting off their ears and noses. Columbus cutting off the ears and noses of the natives was one of many things he was responsible for. He also helped with the decline of their entire

He contributed to the population decline by causing a mass suicide while he was forcing the natives to become his slaves. Columbus was also guilty of genocide as he systematically set out to destroy large populations of people native to the New World. When Columbus went back to Spain, he left Bartholomew in charge and he completed a census of the Indian population. Loewen states,”Estimates of Haiti's pre-Columbian population range as high as 8,000,000 people. When Christopher Columbus returned to Spain, he left his brother Bartholomew in charge of the island. Bartholomew took a census of Indian adults in 1496 and came up with 1,100,000” (54). By observing the numbers of the Indians at the time before and after Columbus, it is shown how he had a contribution to the decline of the population. The ecosystem was also destroyed by Columbus arriving in the New World. Many things had to change and respond in order to adapt to the things Columbus brought with him from the Old World. Loewen states,”Beyond acts of individual cruelty, the Spanish disrupted the Indian ecosystem and culture. … The intrusion of rabbits and livestock caused further ecological disaster. Diseases new to the Indians played a role...” (54). The decimation of the ecosystem was caused by the things that Columbus brought from the Old World such as livestock, rabbits, and diseases that were new to the natives. This caused death for many of