Chistopher Columbus

I am writing this report about the life of Columbus, the first european of his time to travel to the OAmericasO. He is regarded by some to be a hero for what he achieved but by others he is considered a criminal for what he did to the Native Americans.

Columbus was born in genoa, Italy in 1451. He began sailing at the age of 14 and after many voyages he established himself as a reputable sailor. Initially Columbus approached the Portuguese king and the Spanish monarchs to obtain a grant to explore possible trade routes to the west. but after being turned down many times he went to king ferdinand and queen isabella and after several trys they agreed to fund his voyage.

I believe that Columbus was a good leader for several reasons. One being that he believed in himself because when he set out he knew what he was doing and was pretty sure he knew what he was going to find. The second being that he kept control of his crew throughout his journey. He had a rowdy group of criminalz that werenOt too happy to be there but he lied to them about their distance traveled to keep them from panicking which shows that he knows how to handle situations. And third he kept everyones confidence up, he always spoke positively about what they had done and what he had planned for them.

Though many of the things he did showed his characteristics as a good leader there were also some things that he did that contradict those. The main one being the way that he treated the OIndiansO. They were peaceful and welcomed him but instead of returning that kindness and attempting to build a relationship he forced them into slavery and went after their land and recources. Also he got selfish when it came to the gold that he thought was there, he was forcing the natives to bring it to him which kind of goes back to his first fault.

I donOt regard Columbus as some people might. I think it is a great accomplishment to find a continent that people from your land hadnOt known about it. But when you consider that he really wasnOt the first person to discover it and he found it on accident. And the things that he did when got here donOt show the qualities of a hero as far as im concerned.

So that is what Christopher Columbus is known for but as you can see his discovery isnOt all that itOs cracked up to be. And many would say we should give up Columbus day because that isnOt what our country should stand for.