Why Is Christopher Columbus Important

Most Americans today know very little about Christopher Columbus as well as incorrect information. People see Columbus as a heroic figure in American history who discovered The New World. Readings such as, “ Columbus outfitted three pitifully small ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, and set forth from Spain. The journey was difficult. The ships sailed west into the unknown Atlantic for more than two months,” only state minimal information about Columbus’ adventure. This in return leads many Americans to believe and follow other vague statements such as, “In fourteen hundred and ninety-two Christopher Columbus sailed in from the Blue to discover the New World,” when in actuality the “New World” had already been discovered before. I, as well as many other Americans, did not know this about Columbus until reading the excerpt, The True

I never knew the reason why Columbus was exploring the New World or what he was looking for. Like many, I always just assumed he was looking for new land. However, after reading this excerpt I learned that some of the main reasons for Columbus’ exploration was actually for his own benefit of glory and other religious purposes. I also learned that Europe wanted to rule the Americas for very specific reasons such as immunity to disease, military technology buildup, and religion. Another thing I did not realize was the depth of harm that Christopher’s exploration did to the Americas. I always knew there were probably disagreements between the natives and Europeans but I didn’t think about all the disease that the Europeans brought. Many diseases that were spread among the Native Americans and Europeans caused hundreds of people to die. Even though all of this new information was a lot to grasp at first, I thought it was very interesting and changed my opinion of Christopher