Everyone is aware that Christopher Columbus is given credit for discovering America. Of course, people realize that native Americans were already here. Many people also understand that Europeans had visited America before Columbus. Lief Erickson of Greenland is one of the more important of those who very early experienced the American adventure Perhaps other Europeans or Africans came to America. Some people believe the pyramids of Mexico and the mound builders in America are rooted to the ancient Egyptians. There is some supporting evidence that Asians traveled to America, before Columbus. Why then, is Columbus recognized above all these others? The answer is simple. The others did not change the world. Yet, the four voyages of Christopher Columbus would change the world far greater than any other event during the past two thousand years, with the possible exception of the coming of Jesus or the prophesy of Mohammad. With the discovery by Columbus, the world would fully transition from the middle ages in to modern times. Other Europeans would expand their knowledge of America, Balboa would go to the Pacific and Magellan's fleet would sail around the world. Colonies would be established by the Spanish then later by the English, French and Dutch.
Historians like to segment time. They point to different eras in describing the world in history. For instance the ancient world is one era which included the ancient Egyptians, Greeks then Romans. Then came the Middle Ages or Medieval times. This was a period of about 1,000 years. We could say it began about 500 AD as the classical Roman Empire had disappeared and ended about 1500 AD. It is simple to just round off the time since Columbus discovered the new world in 1492. Therefore, my claim is that Columbus and his discovery, began modern time about 500 years ago, give or take a few years.
Columbus would bring sustained contact between the new and the old world. The food people would eat would be forever altered. For instance, Before Columbus made his journey, there were no tomatoes in Italy, no potatoes in Ireland, and sugar and chocolate had not been mixed. New foods would be introduced to the new world such as rice and new animals such as the horse. Both regions would benefit from this exchange of foods and animals. Unfortunately for native Americans, they would be tragically struck by European diseases for which they had no immunity. Disease would annihilate many of their population, while slavery and warfare would also take its toll. As a result, a large number of native Americans view Columbus and arrival of the Europeans as a disaster. In 1992, events which celebrated 500 years of Columbus, were scaled down or canceled completely in respect for the feelings of a large number of people who saw Columbus as a villain rather than a hero. While the spread of disease was pretty much an accident of nature, it is clear that the Europeans purposefully treated native Americans as less than human. During that time, greed ruled the day. European power quickly brought native Americans under control. Europeans had gunpowder, armored protection and the horse which provided better maneuverability. Another benefit they used against the native population was the belief that the Europeans were Gods who came from the sky. The Indians as we came to call the Native Americans quickly learned this was not true.
It may be debatable whether we should consider Columbus a hero or a villain. The lives of people throughout the world were affected. Europeans and Africans would come to the new world and the native Americans would see their world changed forever. There can be no doubt that the progress toward our modern world would begin with his voyages.
Historians like to segment time. They point to different eras in describing the world in history. For instance the ancient world is one era which included the ancient Egyptians, Greeks then Romans. Then came the Middle Ages or Medieval times. This was a period of about 1,000 years. We could say it began about 500 AD as the classical Roman Empire had disappeared and ended about 1500 AD. It is simple to just round off the time since Columbus discovered the new world in 1492. Therefore, my claim is that Columbus and his discovery, began modern time about 500 years ago, give or take a few years.
Columbus would bring sustained contact between the new and the old world. The food people would eat would be forever altered. For instance, Before Columbus made his journey, there were no tomatoes in Italy, no potatoes in Ireland, and sugar and chocolate had not been mixed. New foods would be introduced to the new world such as rice and new animals such as the horse. Both regions would benefit from this exchange of foods and animals. Unfortunately for native Americans, they would be tragically struck by European diseases for which they had no immunity. Disease would annihilate many of their population, while slavery and warfare would also take its toll. As a result, a large number of native Americans view Columbus and arrival of the Europeans as a disaster. In 1992, events which celebrated 500 years of Columbus, were scaled down or canceled completely in respect for the feelings of a large number of people who saw Columbus as a villain rather than a hero. While the spread of disease was pretty much an accident of nature, it is clear that the Europeans purposefully treated native Americans as less than human. During that time, greed ruled the day. European power quickly brought native Americans under control. Europeans had gunpowder, armored protection and the horse which provided better maneuverability. Another benefit they used against the native population was the belief that the Europeans were Gods who came from the sky. The Indians as we came to call the Native Americans quickly learned this was not true.
It may be debatable whether we should consider Columbus a hero or a villain. The lives of people throughout the world were affected. Europeans and Africans would come to the new world and the native Americans would see their world changed forever. There can be no doubt that the progress toward our modern world would begin with his voyages.
2 comments:
Thanks so much for writing this... it was really well written and very informative.
Wow. Awesome article. Please do more articles like this in the future. Very informational and knowledgeable. I will expect more from you in the future. For now i will just bookmark your page and surely I'm gonna come back later to read more. Thank you to the writer!
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