Personal Opinion of Christopher Columbus

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All I remember about Christopher Columbus from Elementary school is that he discovered America and thought he landed in Asia. They almost sugar-coated it and convinced me that he was a hero. Christopher Columbus was, in fact, an amazing seaman, obsessed with finding gold. He was selfish and hostile toward the Native Americans. I do not believe that he was a good person, but we will never be able to forget the effects of his remarkable expedition halfway across the world had on our economy. The whole purpose of Columbus’s expedition was to find a new route to the riches of Asia. He was a great sailor who was determined to make a ton of money. After arriving on the islands of the Caribbean, Columbus was welcomed by the Native Americans. “They wore tiny ornaments in their ears. This was to have enormous consequences: it led Columbus to take some of them aboard ship as prisoners, because he insisted that they guide him to the source of gold.” (Zinn 3) Columbus continued to interrogate and force the Indians to help him find what he was looking for. But despite the fact that Columbus didn’t have the strongest moral about how to treat the Native Americans, he did establish trade between the new and old world. That is something that we will be forever grateful for. We were able to establish an interdependent global economy that allows us to import and export goods. Europe and Spain were able to benefit from the raw materials in America, and America was able to benefit from the technology of the western civilization. I do not doubt that Christopher Columbus was an awful person, but he helped to establish an interdependent global society, and, because of that, I respect
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