Christopher Clombus Is Not A Hero Essay - 1976 Words

Introduction In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Thats the one date everyone remembers, the date in virtually every school childs history textbook. But, they leave out pretty much everything about Columbus and his exploration of the New World. Its the part many people have yet to learn about. For years, Columbus has been presented to us as a hero. In 1934, President Roosevelt even gave Columbus his own holiday. To this day, we celebrate his discovery of America. What is found in history textbooks now, have seemed to show another side of Christopher Columbus, a side that they wouldnt dare teach in elementary school. Its the rest of Columbus tale of discovery. This paper will show you that Christopher Columbus†¦show more content†¦The Indians taught them how to grow food and use the land to survive. Columbus and his men would trade a lot with the Indians and they all lived happily ever after. Thats pretty much where our textbook stopped. I have never learned anything else about Columbus until now. There is so much that my third grade teacher left out and didnt explain. REASONS FOR HIM NOT BEEN A HERO Columbus gets a lot of credit for discovering land that already had people living on it, a land that has already been encountered by other people way before Columbus was even born. In 70,000 to 12,000 B.C. Siberia explorers sailed to Alaska. In 10,000-600 B.C., Siberians also went to Canada and the state we now call New Mexico. A little more recently the Vikings in 1000-1350 came from Greenland and Iceland. They traveled to Labrado, Baffin Land, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Cape Cod and further south. Around 1311 and 1460 explorers from West Africa came across to Haiti, Panama, and Brazil (Loewen 48). These were only a few of the many encounters of the Americas. A result of these explorations was the establishment of Indian villages and the life they began to lead. The fact that Columbus didnt actually discover America isnt the idea that is most disturbing when considering misleading history that children are taught. It is the information that was kept from us while younger that now should be revealed, since we are at the age that we can comprehend and