Do you consider Christopher Columbus a Murderer or a Hero?

Question

If you have studied the history of this man you know that he invaded many territories in America where he invaded the peace of Indian tribes, Made them their slaves, Stole their gold and their precious possessions, and killed them when He and the other Spaniards realized that the Indians were an obstacle for their mission since Indians were smart enough to know that they were invading their Peace and attacked back. When Columbus & Company ran out of slaves, they decided to bring African to make them their slaves. Again He repeated the same thing: Invaded the Peace of Another Country. Forced their Language, Customs, Religion, Traditions on them.

If it wasnt for Him America wouldn't be the way it is, and we wouldn't be here, but don't you see this man as a murderer, a person who had bad intentions and abused of others of a different race.

Answer 1

I don't really think of him in terms of murderer or hero, even though both may apply to different sets of people. To me, he was a lucky idiot.

Columbus was actually a fairly good navigator, knowing how to pilot a ship. His problem was that he thought the earth was smaller than it actually is. It wasn't that would-be sponsors of his first voyage thought that he would fall of the edge of the earth. They more or less knew that a ship wouldn't carry enough supplies to reach China and Japan if the America's weren't in the way. I suspect that Castille and Aragon finally sponsored his voyage just to get him out of their hair!

Columbus' flotilla would have been doomed if they hadn't run into the Caribbean Islands on their first voyage. That two of the three ships returned to Iberia several months later made him a hero to the Spanish. Later on, he would lose that hero status has he returned from the Americas on his third voyage as a prisoner. So, I suppose that he is hero, murderer, and lucky idiot.

Answer 2

Christopher Columbus Hero Or Murderer

Answer 3

I think he was a murderer. I think he possessed a certain amount of bravery for coming across the ocean in search of a new trade route. At least his fears were outpaced by his ambitions to be rich. But there is no bravery in what he did with the native tribes of the lands he discovered. What Columbus and others did after, directly led to the abolition of entire ways of lives and in the Arawak's case an entire tribe. That shows that he was a coward. I am sorry that we celebrate a holiday in his honor.

As far as the slaves go.....I have never heard that he had any thing to do with the slave trade of Africa. I believe that was a bit after his time.

Answer 4

Hmmmmm... I think Christopher Columbus was not only a murderer but also a thief...more like a habitual thief...if you think about it, he wasn't the one that "found" "America"...Indians were here first, he just had enough pull from the Queen and Ferdinand (even though he and the Queen had a fling) ...even Cortez to manipulate and murder the Indians and then named the land "The New World"... and you see how American History practically glorify this guy and put him up on such a high pedestal? Such deceptance! You don't really start learning about true History until college.

Answer 5

I think that there are many other factors that contribute to why America is the way it is. I wouldn't put all the blame on Columbus. But I wouldn't consider him a hero. I cringe when history books talk about the discovery of America being all thanks to Columbus. In reality he was one of the very last of many explorers to find America and he had no intentions of even going to America to begin with. Not to mention that he was a greedy, ruthless man and a liar!!

Answer 6

First a definition: discover (verb) 1. Find (something or someone) unexpectedly or in the course of a search. 2. Become aware of (a fact or situation). 1. Columbus unexpectedly came across the Americas in the course of searching for a quicker route to Asia; and 2. He made Europe aware of the fact that there was a new land to the West. We "celebrate" the fact that Columbus was the first to "bring back the news" to Europe. Although previous explorations are evidenced, they didn't make their "discovery" generally known.

Answer 7

I see him as neither. Christopher Columbus was a man who wanted to see the unseen, to explore the unexplored, and most importantly, to get rich and famous doing it.
His actions brought many things, good and bad, but such is the way with many things. He was not driven by good or ruled by evil, he simply did what he thought would be best.
An ordinary man who made an extraordinary difference.

Answer 8

He was not Spanish we was Italian. He did not get slaves from Africa. The Spanish did after Columbus death in 1506. And for the record he was both a hero and murderer just like many people who are considered heros.

Answer 9

I have to say you've defined this man pretty well. To many he is a hero because he discovered America and blah,blah,blah. Yet there is this theory that argues that in fact maybe the chinese discovered america . People say oh he is the great one but yet they don't see how many tribes he destroyed or how many lives his men took just to keep the land for themselves. He exploited the natives in Hispaniola (Dominican Republic) because he like many others believed there was gold.Then he also did many things that most likely were never mentiioned. To me this man is not a hero or a murderer just an intruder demanding rights don't you think?

Answer 10

Just who do you think Christopher Columbus murdered? And what evidence do you have that Columbus had anything to do with the African slave trade?

Don't blame an explorer for the sins of the conquistadors and of the Catholic church.