When Columbus first arrived in the new world, he was approached by the natives with gifts of food, water, and other goods of great value. Even though he was greeted with such acceptance, Columbus took some of their people forcefully, in order to gain information about where the treasures (gold) of the land were. From the moment he met them, the man had plans for how to control them and take advantage of them by using them for his own purposes. Since he had managed to secure ships for his journey through promising the king and queen of Spain treasure, Columbus knew that he needed to find the gold that was said to be hidden within the land. If he brought back what he promised, they would give him 10% of the wealth in return. This was Columbus' motivation. This certainly reflected the villain inside of him. Additionally, he stole the reward (a high yearly pension) from the man who first spotted land by claiming that he saw it hours beforehand. Since the Arawak Indians were fairly poor and had no gold with them, this led Columbus to take them in as his prisoners until they gave him information about where to find the gold. A hero would never hurt others to get what he wants. Beyond that, Columbus even resulted to killing a few of his prisoners, and then left others of them to die when winter came. Further, he exaggerated his findings and discoveries to the people back home, gaining him a second expedition with even more men and ships. His aim for gold was increased with a desire for slaves, using women and children for sex and labor. Columbus may have brought wealth to his country, but the price he paid was terrible. His desire for gold made him mad, as he grew desperate for the fame and wealth he thought he deserved. Columbus, when he realized that too many of his slaves were dying while held captive, decided to get his wealth in another way. If a slave failed to provide him with the gold he sought, its hands would be cut off and the slave would be left to bleed to death. Columbus' thirst for wealth left him without any moral values. On the other hand, historians and other accounts from people who knew him may say that Columbus was indeed a hero, because of his faith in God and how much he achieved for Spain. Given all of the things that Columbus did, good and bad, he was a villain to a greater extent.
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| The British policy and belief in mercantilism was similar to Columbus' belief that the native peoples in America existed to benefit his own country (Spain). For example, Columbus used the Arawak Indians to provide him with information, labor, and gold. Similarly, Great Britain used the American colonies for more power, natural resources, more people, etc. In both situations, people were taken advantage of for the good of others. |
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