Christopher Carlson
CMP 230 8/2/2008
Was Christopher Columbus a Hero?
Outline
I. Introduction
a. What I learned from text books in school that made him a hero
b. What I found about some of his acts on later voyages
c. He also get arrested?
II. Classic text book voyage
a. Columbus packed 90 crewmen in three small ships and set off in search for India.
b. The crew grew restless after passing their expected time to reach their destination,
i. They agreed to press on a little further before turning around and they found the
Caribbean’s short after.
c. Tainos a peaceful tribe greeted Columbus, he was convinced he found Asia he called
them Indians which he described as having gentle heart.
i. He brought six Tainos back with pineapples, tobacco, turkeys, and hammocks to
Spain
1. Those Tainos that he brought got baptized and were given Christian
names.
ii. The king and queen claimed him a hero and made him an admiral.
III. The stylish voyages
a. This time around Columbus came with 17 ships with about 1,300 of solders, farmers,
craftsmen, and clergy. He didn’t pack any women so rape was common during this
voyage.
b. Columbus gave a special task for natives 14 years and older a quota of gold to find per
day and those who failed lost their hands.
i. He couldn’t find that much gold as he explored the islands so he kidnapped
several natives to work as slaves, about a half of them died on the way back.
c. Unforeseen consequences for the natives were European illness that the natives never
encountered
IV. Arrested!
a. Accused of mismanaging the colonies, he was escorted back and put to jail
b. 23 Witnesses explained that Columbus used torture to scare natives and settlers as a
governing tactic.
i. After 6 weeks he was released
c. Columbus persuaded the king and queen to fund one last voyage.
i. He was accompanied with Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres which was to be the new
governor.
V. Conclusion
a. At first his intension were good until he discovered the natives
b. When he came back colonized, explore, and bring back goods
i. His ideas on doing so were bad
c. After governing those colonies that were set up over there he had his own ideas to control
them.
i. He was blinded with power