Christopher Columbus is easily one of the most famous and most well known men in the world. Although people learn about Columbus in school, they don't learn enough about him to realize that he wasn't such a hero. He wasn't that great, brave, kind man that people picture when they hear his name; he was a slave driver and a murderer. In this paper, I am going to talk about why Columbus killed so many innocent people, and why he acted the way he did towards the people who could have helped him.
All Columbus was looking for was power. Wherever he went, and who ever he saw, he would picture them as slaves, and try to imagine how they could make his life better. In Columbus's journey to the Bahamas he wrote:.
"They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. The have no iron. Their spears are made of cane .They would make fine servants .With fifty men, we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.".
Columbus wrote this when he first met the Arawak Indians. Later, he wrote:.
"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 some information of whatever there is in these parts.".
Columbus's journals have told us many things about him. They have told us that he believes in slavery, and that he is a very hostile man. However, his journals make you wonder one thing; what was Columbus looking for? Columbus was looking for gold. He was sent on a mission by the king and queen of Spain. His mission was to find gold. Columbus didn't know how to do this, so he used his great power, against little, harmless tribes, in an attempt to get information. When the tribes wouldn't help him either because they didn't speak the right language, or because they didn't know, Columbus would kill them. .
When Columbus sailed to Cuba, friendly Arawak Indians greeted him.