Columbus and the New World Discovery Essay - 4487 Words

Columbus and the New World Discovery October 12, 1992, marks the five-hundredth anniversary of the most crucial of all encounters between Europe and the Americas. In the contemporary global mood, however, the quincentennial of Christopher Columbuss landing in the New World - new, anyway, to the European intruders; old and familiar to its inhabitants - seems an occasion less for celebration than for mediation. Indeed, in some quarters the call is for penitence and remorse. Christopher Columbus has always been as much a myth as a man, a myth incorporating a succession of triumphs and guilts over what is now five long centuries. The myth has found particular lodgment in the mightiest of the nations to arise in the Western†¦show more content†¦A movement to honor the day of landfall culminated in 1934, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed October 12 a national holiday. The holiday is observed in most Latin American countries as well. The United States also staged the most memorable celebration of the quadricentennial of what it was then widely acceptable to call the discovery of America. The Worlds Columbus Exposition took place in bustling, thrusting, Midwestern Chicago, the very heart of the republic. Reconfiguring the great explorer in images of technology and modernity, the Chicago Worlds Fair saluted the man then regarded, in the words of President Benjamin Harrison, as the pioneer of progress and enlightenment. In a book especially produced for the fair, the historian Meyer Kayserling summed up the prevailing assessment of Columbus: In the just appreciation of his great services to mankind, all political, religious and social differences have vanished. How things changed in a century! Political, religious, and social differences, far from vanishing, place Columbus today in the center of a world-wide cultural civil war. The great hero of the nineteenth century seems well on the way to becoming the great villain of the twenty-first. Columbus, it is now charged, far from being the pioneer of progress and enlightenment, was in fact the pioneer of oppression, racism, slavery, rape, theft, vandalism, extermination, and ecological desolation. TheShow MoreRelated1.A) Columbus discovery on this new world impacted the natives who lived there and also the old700 Words   |  3 Pages1.A) Columbus discovery on this new world impacted the natives who lived there and also the old world in which all of Europe was affected. The discovery of the New World had effected the old worlds fundamental change in Europeans economy. The consequences for the old world were the introduction to a new trade through the Ottoman Empire in new foods and massive amounts of gold and silver. Food exports in east declined were controlled by the Ottoman. The Atlantic states became Europe’s economic andRead MorePositive Impact Of Christopher Columbus Discoveries1249 Words   |  5 PagesChristopher Columbus’ Discoveries The world is a better place because of Christopher Columbus’ important discoveries in the New World. His explorations resulted in the vast expansion of property for Europe, the exchange of goods and cultures between countries and a change in the worldview of geography. Columbus’s explorations were the catalyst for unprecedented trade known as the Columbian Exchange, which started the exchange of goods and ideas that would last for centuries and change the world foreverRead MorePositive Impact Of Christopher Columbus s Discoveries1247 Words   |  5 PagesColumbus’s Discoveries The world is a better place because of Christopher Columbus’ important discoveries in the New World. His explorations resulted in the vast expansion of property for Europe, the exchange of goods and cultures between countries and a change in the worldview of geography. Columbus’s explorations were the catalyst for unprecedented trade known as the Columbian Exchange, which started the exchange of goods and ideas that would last for centuries and change the world forever. HisRead MoreExploration Narrative Essay713 Words   |  3 Pagesviewed the new land of America. Each of these writings had their own deception about the significance of America, both as a physical place and also as an ideal. Christopher Columbus wrote several exploration narratives during his journeys to and from the new land. He offered his own personal definitions and arguments about what he saw and thought about his new discoveries. In the text Letter to Luis de Santangel, Columbus writes about his crowning achievement, the discovery of new world. I believeRead MoreEssay on Christopher Columbus1614 Words   |  7 PagesChristopher Columbus Although nearly every phase of any exploration had its good and bad outcomes the benefits of Columbus discovery of the New World far outweigh the negative results of that enterprise; because his discovery stimulated further development of both Europe and the New World. His voyage was an epochal and magnificent discovery in that it confirmed the roundness of the earth and gave new validity to science, expanded trade and opened new markets and led to the industrializationRead More Columbus Day Debate Essay695 Words   |  3 Pagesnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The spirit and values of a nation are reflected in the nation’s heroes. Christopher Columbus has been regarded as an American hero since 1792. Every year Columbus Day is held on the second Monday in October to honor the man and his legacy. However, many people debate whether or not Columbus Day should be celebrated. I believe that Columbus Day should be celebrated in the United States because he opened up the New World to Euro pe, inspired a spirit of exploration and adventure that still lasts todayRead MoreChristopher Columbus and the Definition of America as Booty by Beatriz Bodmer1165 Words   |  5 Pagessaid that Christopher Columbus was responsible for the discovery of what he thought the new lands could provide rather than the discovery of the ‘New World’. Since most of his ventures landed him and his followers to lands that were inhabited by people, who were favorable to trade, where culture, politics, and religion had been established, his discoveries were really a way of supporting his model for self-good. I will analyze the paper by Beatriz Bodmer â€Å"Christopher Columbus and the DefinitionRead MoreThe Discovery Of The New World903 Words   |  4 PagesAfter the discovery of the New World in 1492 many issues and uproars took place. Particularly, Christopher Columbus viewed America as an opportunity for mankind to begin again. While Bartolomeo de las Cases considered the N ew World a place of abuse for the Native Americans and took the initiative to save the Native people. In general, the Europeans felt that the America had benefits and major setbacks of coming to the new lands. The following documents â€Å"The Meaning of America†, â€Å"Utilizing the NativeRead MoreChristopher Columbus and His Legacy: Positive vs. Negative Essay1435 Words   |  6 Pageswill have learned about the famous maritime explorer and navigator, Christopher Columbus. Born in 1451, Columbus was a Genoese captain commissioned by the king and queen of Spain to find a route to the Indies. However, he sailed the opposite direction of his intended goal by crossing the Atlantic and landing in the Americas, resulting in the discovery of the New World for Spain. Like all major figures in history, Columbus has left behind a legacy that people will always remember him for. The natureRead MoreColumbus - Hero or Condemned? Essay example697 Words   |  3 Pagesand his people in mind? Many people believe that he was a hero whose discoveries lead to the possibilities we have in America today, while many other condemn him for the deaths of many Native Americans that occurred to make it possible to live in America today. What would someone like me see in Columbus’ discoveries and enslavements? He introduced the Europeans to new products and ways of financial expansion. Even though Columbus gave us a head start to a better life here in America, what lengths