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Christopher Columbus: Villain or Hero?

Christopher Columbus' legacy is controversial. While his 1492 voyage marked the beginning of widespread European colonization of the Americas, others had reached the continent before. Columbus did not know he had discovered a new continent and believed until his death that he had found a new trade route to Asia. The effects of his arrival forever changed the history of humanity, but it also introduced European diseases and exploitation of the indigenous populations. Over time, Columbus has been regarded as both a heroic explorer and villainous colonizer, and the full story of his life and impact remains complex with ongoing debate.

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64 views4 pages

Christopher Columbus: Villain or Hero?

Christopher Columbus' legacy is controversial. While his 1492 voyage marked the beginning of widespread European colonization of the Americas, others had reached the continent before. Columbus did not know he had discovered a new continent and believed until his death that he had found a new trade route to Asia. The effects of his arrival forever changed the history of humanity, but it also introduced European diseases and exploitation of the indigenous populations. Over time, Columbus has been regarded as both a heroic explorer and villainous colonizer, and the full story of his life and impact remains complex with ongoing debate.

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Angel Eduardo
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© © All Rights Reserved
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“Christopher Columbus: Villain or Hero?

Others may have reached the New World before Columbus, but there was no diffusion and
therefore no transcendence. However, the letters that Columbus sent to the Catholic Monarchs
and other personages of the Court from Lisbon in May 1493 upon his return from his first trip were
printed up to fourteen editions in Latin, Spanish, Italian, Catalan and German and the find was
immediately spread throughout Europe. Until now, there has not been such a rapid and universal
news spread. For Europe, the voyage of Columbus in 1492 was a prodigious event. The European
imagination was disturbed by the euphoria of discovery and scientific and literary curiosity was
overridden by this find. And if for European culture the discovery of America was shocking, what
could we say about the American Indians who suddenly discovered, in their Neolithic mentality,
the existence of other worlds and other civilizations. That is why the invention of America
constitutes one among the foremost important episodes within the History of Humanity, one
among the good milestones that mark its progress. The Columbian discovery had great significance
for Europe and therefore the entire world from the primary moment. Few historical events have
had the maximum amount resonance because the discovery of America.
As is understood, Colón began to possess problems over a number of facts from his second trip.
The Catholic Monarchs begin to understand the exorbitant privileges that they had been granted.
And although the Catholic Monarchs, mainly the queen, rehabilitate Columbus within the fullness
of his rights and honors after the chaining that he was subjected to by Bobadilla, his fame and his
mood began to say no. He's already a broken man who makes him age prematurely, aggravated by
the disease he suffered from gout, osteoarthritis and a significant condition. When the last
expedition was over, the disease sent Columbus's broken body, costing him a triumph to urge
from Sanlúcar to Seville, where he remained bedridden for 6 very long months, which, alongside
the worst time in memory, prevented him from reaching the Court, who was in Valladolid, to
regain prestige and rights. Although he doesn't harbor much hope, as they convey the sad news
that his worthy, the Queen, had died. At last, on the rear of a saddled and braced mule, it had
been possible to satisfy, at the top of May 1505, with the King. The Admiral saw indications that
the King wouldn't attend fulfill the acquired commitments. together with his spirit sunk by
frustration, sapped by disease, Columbus reached the top of his days on May 20, 1506 within the
town of Valladolid. The death of Columbus wasn't news within the Valladolid city, nor among its
inhabitants, nor among the town's chroniclers, so it doesn't appear within the minutes of the
Council. The legal processes that survive him for several years cause his reputation and recognition
to say no. The glory of his discovery declines and his name is not any longer related to the New
World.
After several centuries of oblivion, the figure of Columbus resurfaces with force. In honor of
Columbus in 1858, British Columbia was organized, which is one among the provinces that
constitute the confederation of Canada. In 1790 the capital of the us was founded and it had been
named the District of Columbia in memory of the Discoverer and where the town of Washington
was located in honor of the primary president. And during this city the primary monument to
Columbus was erected in 1792. There are currently quite 500 monuments dedicated to Columbus
scattered round the world, of which the one in Puerto Rico stands out, which is nearly twice the
peak of the Statue of Liberty in New York.
The first great celebration of the invention of America is persisted the fourth centenary,
1892, where Columbus is presented because the audacious explorer. This celebration was
seen as a key opportunity to urge Spain out of the international ostracism during which it
found itself. The US also joins, which uses the planet wide resonance that this anniversary
has got to happen to the world as an emerging power and focuses on the tribute to
Columbus. The newly created Italian nation takes the chance to elucidate to the planet that
Italy played a crucial role within the discovery of America, as an Italian, Américo
Vespucio, gave its name to the New World and another, Columbus, was its discoverer.
At the time when the Catalan bourgeoisie made great fortunes in America, it was thought to raise
a monument to Columbus. The monument to Columbus was inaugurated on June 1, 1888 in an act
presided over by the Queen Regent María Cristina and the presence of the head of the
government Sagasta and with guests such as the King of Italy Humberto I, the mayor of the
illustrious city of Genoa and the president of the USA The symbolic program of the monument
shows the intention of claiming the presence of Catalonia in the discovery and colonization of
America.
The discovery of America has been one of the most important historical events of humanity. From
this moment on, modern European society appears, in which several trips are carried out in order
to explore the new world where a colonial empire would prevail that would last for centuries. The
Catholic Monarchs, Isabel and Fernando, agreed with Columbus to give him the perpetual
Amirantazgo, the Viceroyalty and the Governance of all the lands he discovered, in addition to the
tenth part of the wealth that he himself found.
The figure of Columbus has always generated controversy. Much of his life is still a mystery and
what is known is surrounded by myths. It is not even certain that he was born in Genoa, Italy, as
most historians believe. Some say that he was Portuguese, others that Catalan and a few defend
the thesis that he was born in Galicia. In addition, today there is evidence that before him the
Vikings, Polynesians, some Chinese and other Asian tribes had arrived on the American continent.
And although his arrival, on October 12, 1492, changed the history of humanity forever, he did not
even know that he had reached a new continent. Until his death he thought that he had found a
new way to the Far East, as his obsession as a navigator was to find a new trade route with India.
References:

 WAS CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS A HERO OR VILLAIN? – BIOGRAPHY


En el texto: (Was Christopher Columbus a Hero or Villain? - Biography,
2020)Bibliografía: Biography.com. 2020. Was Christopher Columbus A Hero Or
Villain? - Biography. [online] Available at:
<https://www.biography.com/news/christopher-columbus-day-facts> [Accessed 13
October 2020].
 Christopher Columbus. 4 July 2020,
https://www.biography.com/explorer/christopher-columbus.
 "Christopher Columbus Discovers America, 1492," EyeWitness to History,
www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2004).
 Weiner, E. Coming to America: Who Was First? Sept. 2007,
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15040888.
 Christopher Columbus - The First Voyage.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christopher-Columbus.
 Editors, H. Christopher Columbus. 1 Oct. 2009,
https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/christopher-columbus.

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