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LAD/Blog #9: Was Columbus a hero or villian?

Was Christopher Columbus a Hero or a Villain?

He was neither--what he actually was is incredibly, breathtakingly, extremely lucky...do you get what I'm trying to say? He was really just lucky, as he intended to go the . But in the context of your assignment, he was both a hero and a villain, but the discovery of a continent pales in comparison to any evil feat he could manage to counteract it.

Christopher Columbus was a hero because:

  • He was the first European to discover the Americas (no offense Leif Erikson, but yours really doesn't count) 
  • Introduced Christianity to the New World
  • Enabled European control and colonization of the Americas
  • Opened trade between worlds new and old (and Africa), eventually leading to the Columbian Exchange, which ruled the era's commerce
  • Since I'm writing this from Washington D.C. , it seems wrong not to add that he indirectly lead to the formation of our great nation, the U.S.A. 
  • He made an innumerable profit for Spain, but also many other European nations. 
Christopher Columbus was a villain because: 
  • He killed horrific amounts of Native Americans
  • He brought disease to the Americas, which indirectly killed nearly any Native his group didn't. 
  • If not killed by violence or disease, many Natives were enslaved. 
While many more points were made in favor of him being a hero, many have a side that is less savory. For example, his introduction of Christianity was mostly by force. Despite this, it is honestly baseless to argue against his actions. Would it have been different with any explorer? Probably not. Would the Americas been settled at the same time? Possibly not. Without Columbus' mistake of finding the Americas, life would be unimaginably different than it is today--think about how life would be if development of the Americas would be 100 years behind (1776 to 1876, etc.)?

Image result for christopher columbus
Christopher Columbus

Image result for moon landing
The only other discovery of uncharted territory to the scale of Columbus' was the moon landing. 

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