Christopher Columbus is well known for his legendary voyages. His actions unleashed changes on the native societies he encountered. Moreover, his expeditions initiated years of transatlantic colonialization. Although he did not entirely discover the Americas, his journey opened up the American continent to exploitation and exploration.
If Columbus had not discovered the land of the Indies, the history of America would have differed significantly. The European colonialization would not have taken place. Columbus had opened up the New World to other transatlantic countries such as Spain and Portugal (Bickford & Wilton, 2012). Afterward, other major powers such as Britain and France employed explorers to the Americas after Columbus’ first voyage. Portugal or England would have controlled the Americas since they had already begun explorations to the west.
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Columbus enslaved native people during his explorations. His primary mission was to find a shorter route across the Atlantic. Moreover, his agreement with the King and Queen of Spain was to spread Catholicism. The contact also stipulated the percentage of riches and lands that he would get along his path. Enslaving people was, therefore, against the mission he proposed to the monarchs. The King and Queen did not know of the atrocities committed by Columbus until many years later. They knew of his actions, for instance, when he sent some slaves to the Queen as a gift. She was horrified since she believed that any people discovered were Spanish citizens –they could, therefore, not be enslaved (Desai, 2014). The actions angered the King and Queen, nevertheless, years later, he was arrested for his torturous methods of leadership in Hispaniola.
Although the idea of gold was intriguing, the monarchs were not pleased to learn that Columbus did not spread Catholicism as agreed. Columbus's explorations opened up the regions across the Atlantic Ocean. After his arrest, Columbus sailed across the Atlantic, but he discovered nothing more. It was his last voyage across the ocean. He returned to Spain, where he died in 1506.
References
Bickford, J., & Wilton, M. (2012). Historicizing Christopher Columbus for elementary and secondary students. World History Connected .
Desai, C. M. (2014). The Columbus myth: Power and ideology in picture books about Christopher Columbus. Children’sChildren’s Literature in Education , 45 (3), 179-196.
