The Meeting of Two Worlds
So this weeks articles and videos were about the discovery of the Americas by the great “explorer” Christopher Columbus. I put “explorer” in quotes because, despite my preconceived notions of Columbus, he didn’t seem to be as much of an explorer as most of us think. In school, he was portrayed as this heroic, savior of the worlds type guy, with statues and monuments erected in his name across America. I learned his true, not so heroic intentions for discovering America. Wealth, popularity and religion. A money driven Columbus backed by the Spanish Crown set out to sea in search of a new land that would ultimately bring wealth back to Spain. Some would even call Columba’s discovery luck. Also what I found quite interesting was the fact that Christopher never got a chance to appreciate or take in the magnitude of his discovery. He went to his grave not knowing the immense implications his work had on future endeavors. The articles also shed light on his narcissistic ways. On the outside he seemed amazingly kind and giving, sharing openly with the natives and “building” relationships. Only to have his true intentions revealed in his reading.
Im so very curios as to why Christopher Columbus was awarded majority of the credit for founding America and why he’s so praised for it. And with much disagreement in the states currently over controversial monuments, why now are people realizing the faults of the explorer.
I agree with you. Columbus was not the great explorer I was taught he was. He was simply had the resources necessary (provided by the Spanish crown) to make the long journey. In a way, I also think you could consider his discovery luck since it is very likely that if another “explorer” was given the chance, the result would have been the same.