Columbus Blog #8

Christopher Columbus receives a holiday in his honor in America. Columbus was known as the European Explorer who found North America, but others seem to tell a different story. Columbus originally set out to find a new water route to Asia and happened upon America instead. He was supported by Spain in his efforts to sail west to encounter the East Indies islands as well. Although Columbus's voyage to America was the first one that successfully linked America to Europe (the first people to really find America were the Norse, led by Leif Ericson), Columbus was very greedy and there is a whole side of him that people may not know or they choose to overlook; Christopher Columbus was definitely more of a villain than he was a hero.
 Columbus actually thought that America was India when he first arrived, and he incorrectly named the Native Americans "Indians." He waltzed into North America and claimed that the land belonged to Europe even though there were already Natives and Vikings living there. He caused a genocide of the Native Americans, killing hundreds. He forced slavery upon the Caribbean too. Multiple Americans have protested and said that Columbus day should not be a real holiday. One of the men on the Pinta was named Rodrigo de Triana, and he was rumored to have seen land first. He shouted to the other ships that there was land ahead, but Columbus knew that the first man to spot land would receive a hefty sum of money. Columbus lied and said that he had seen the land the night before, making him the first person to spot it and therefore eligible to obtain the money. Columbus was very deceitful and was later jailed for his crimes against humanity.