The question of whether or not Christopher Columbus is a hero or villain is up to each of us and our own beliefs. On the one hand, he raped, killed, stole, and conquered all in the name of wealth, power, and religion. On the other hand, he did bring the two worlds together and was paramount in creating what we know now as globalization.
I am in no way defending his heinous acts, and I in no way believe that he should be revered as a hero, but again that is just my opinion. Do you think that the ends justify the means? I'm an American, I may not be here today if it was not for Columbus, but is that worth 9 million plus lives of Native Americans. The question needs to be put into the perspective of do we revere conquerors? Do we appreciate those people who kill others in benefit of us?
Though Christopher Columbus has generally been regarded as a hero who discovered the New World (from the European perspective), some historians such as Howard Zinn have painted a more villainous picture of Columbus (see the link below). Using evidence from Columbus's writings, Zinn characterized Columbus as a rapacious villain rather than a conquering hero.
For example, when Columbus first arrived on the Bahamas, his first thought was to find gold. Zinn cites the following excerpt from Columbus's own writings:
"As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts."
Columbus was intent on using the Arawaks, the Native Americans he encountered, to find gold. When he could not find gold, he and his crew turned to enslaving the Native Americans.
Zinn believes that far from being a hero who brought civilization and Christianity to the New World, Columbus perpetrated a form of genocide on the locals he encountered. Zinn and other historians have questioned the idea that conquest of a local people amounts to progress. Instead of being regarded as a hero worthy of celebration, Columbus can be regarded as a genocidal villain who began the wholesale extermination of many Native American tribes in the New World.
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinncol1.html
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