Christopher Columbus: The Positive And Negative Effects Of Colonization

Many people living in modern America take for granted the many opportunities they have living in the country. Amazing innovations and freedoms have developed in the few hundred years since the colonization of America, and all this made possible because of Christopher Columbus. It is a common belief that Columbus should not have started the colonization, because of negative side affects that naturally occurred. The voyages of Christopher Columbus in the late 15th century had a positive effect on world history, especially for Europeans both in Europe and in the Americas because of opportunities to colonize in the Americas and goods exported to Europe such as gold and potatoes, though there’s no denying there were negative outcomes for the Natives who lived there; it all depends on the perspective being analyzed. The voyages came to have …show more content…
Though these things are important, it is necessary to examine the situation from the point of view of the Natives. There were thousands of Natives killed and pushed out of their homes and beliefs, though not always by force. Robert Royal, in an article discussing the voyages of Columbus, said, “One can only imagine the astonishment of the hundreds and thousands of Indians who asked for baptism as they came to realize that they were being asked to adore a god who sacrificed himself for men instead of asking men to sacrifice themselves to gods, as the aztec religion demanded.” (page 251) The Natives believed that the conquistadors were gods themselves, and therefore listened to what they taught and must have believed them enough to convert willingly. Though the thousands of deaths could have been avoided, the America we know today would be much different because of influence of Native American culture and influence of the way the country