Columbus Massacre Research Paper

In elementary school, we are taught--from textbooks like those written by Joy Hakim--that the courageous Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in search of new land and riches then by pure coincidence happened upon America, a new and exotic land of which he befriended and tamed the wild, stupid, and unsophisticated natives. Much like many of the other things we are taught in elementary school, this is far from the truth. Not only did Columbus massacre these native people and eradicate any trace of their culture for no more than either the pursuit of riches or simply the fun of it, but these people were not stupid or unsophisticated--far from it, in fact. Some may even argue that Native Americans were more sophisticated than the Europeans that “discovered” their homes. …show more content…
Even when speaking in favor of the Native Americans, it is rarely mentioned their advancements. While Europeans had guns, from sources like “Two Monuments” by Charles Mann we can read that Native Americans had such advancements as chemical warfare. “...the Indians threw gourds stuffed with ashes and ground hot peppers at their attackers, unleashing clouds of choking, blinding smoke.” Not only were Native Americans advanced in their war methods, but also in things more close to home, like cooking, medicine, and architecture. We have contributions from them such as syringes, aspirin, jerky, adobe, and aqueducts, as we can learn from M. Margolin’s “The Way We Lived,” not to mention that unlike Europeans, Native Americans bathed