Essay about Christopher Columbus

The story of Christopher Columbus is told all over the world, however is the truth really told? A legend, hero and idol is what he is known as. Only 2 in 10 people know the full extent of his actions which is why I am speaking on this situation today. Many people and places were negatively affected due to his careless and heartless greed. Light needs to be shone for this situation to be served.

Christopher Columbus was thought to be born between August to October in the year 1451. Little is known about his early life but he was the son of a wool merchant and is believed to have been born in a city located in Italy. He earned money from selling maps and working on ships since the age of 14. With a small amount of income and no education, could Columbus’s poverty stricken early start tonight what ignited his thirst for wealth later on?

Degrading, Demeaning and devious. Voyage after voyage Christopher would travel with his men and terrorize civilizations for his personal gain. Livelihoods and settlements torn to pieces, yet he is still known as an individual to admire. For beneficial purposes he enslaved close to 550 peaceful indigionous people to sell when he returned home. This was only the amount recorded on a single voyage. Lots of slaves died due to the horrendous conditions Christopher kept them in. The list goes on for the amount of belittling and abuse he handed out to innocent people including; chopping the hands off people who could not provide enough gold for his gold tribute system, bringing measles and other deadly diseases to that land he visited, intimidating Indians by cutting off their ears to make others surrender and is responsible for 3 million deaths which is known of. Some stories are too vile for anyone to share. Fortunately, his actions were noticed and dealt with by people in higher power. Arrested, chained up and sent back to Spain.

A mastermind of menacing manipulation. In 1504 on his fourth voyage Christopher ended up in some part of Jamaica. By befriending the locals he persuaded them to feed and provide essentials for him and his crew. As the natives became more and more aggravated by Christophers presence they began to realise how much time and necessities they were freely giving away. In an effort to convince the natives to continue provisioning them he successfully predicted a total lunar eclipse. This was only possible because of a compendium of astronomical information passed down to explorers. It contained data recording movements of the sun, moon, and planets. This event worked well as the natives believed he was powerful, all-knowing and should have his orders followed. Once again only considering himself.

In conclusion, I hope this has opened your eyes to the reality of what egotistical life he used to live. I believe he should not be praised or shown gratitude by anyone due to how he behaved towards people. Now you to some extent of the truth, was he a good guy? Thankyou for listening, have you got any questions?