Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer born in Genova, Italy around 1451, although being born into a poor family his father was able to send him to the University of Pavia where he studied navigation, Latin, geometry, geography and astronomy. Columbus spent much of his life in Portugal and Spain, after seeking funds for an expedition to locate the Land he believed to be Asia, it was here he met with Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand who obliged him. He was highly revered because of his religiosity, ideals, commitment and achievements, which were all traits of a hero. To support this hero image that he was associated with Columbus made many significant discoveries throughout his life and is accredited for his “discovery” of the Americas.
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Felipe Armesto believes that it was not Columbus intention to harm the Indian population through slavery and that “their conservation was an inescapable part of any rational policy for their exploitation” as they provided the labour necessary to establish many of the Spanish colonies. (Fernandez-Armesto, F. 1992, History today; Columbus-Hero or Villain). Armesto goes on to say that Columbus is responsible for the “genocide of the Native Americans is unhelpful hype and that he acknowledged the Indians to be the “wealth of the land”. During the same year as this whilst addressing the members of the Italian cultural society of Washington Donald J Senese described the massive amount of new documentation as making Columbus a “victim of an ideological movement”. Referring to this as a political correctness movement, he describes it as “a pervasive approach which views history through a very narrow lens and, in its enthusiasm toward revisionism, distorts historical causation, diminishes accomplishments, and threatens with ostracism those who disagree with this new approach”. (Senese, D.J. 1992, Columbus: Hero or Villain? Volume 59 issue 4). To this day Columbus is still largely celebrated in North America as well as Europe. A similar organization self-titled “the knights of Columbus” founded in 1882 were largely responsible for establishing Columbus Day as a national holiday, this holiday is celebrated in America on October 12th, the date of his first landing in South America and he is still considered as a pioneer of the new world. Columbus’s hero status was also pushed by Catholics in America and Europe to become sainthood as they called for his canonization. This is considered somewhat controversial as people argue that what is being
Felipe Armesto believes that it was not Columbus intention to harm the Indian population through slavery and that “their conservation was an inescapable part of any rational policy for their exploitation” as they provided the labour necessary to establish many of the Spanish colonies. (Fernandez-Armesto, F. 1992, History today; Columbus-Hero or Villain). Armesto goes on to say that Columbus is responsible for the “genocide of the Native Americans is unhelpful hype and that he acknowledged the Indians to be the “wealth of the land”. During the same year as this whilst addressing the members of the Italian cultural society of Washington Donald J Senese described the massive amount of new documentation as making Columbus a “victim of an ideological movement”. Referring to this as a political correctness movement, he describes it as “a pervasive approach which views history through a very narrow lens and, in its enthusiasm toward revisionism, distorts historical causation, diminishes accomplishments, and threatens with ostracism those who disagree with this new approach”. (Senese, D.J. 1992, Columbus: Hero or Villain? Volume 59 issue 4). To this day Columbus is still largely celebrated in North America as well as Europe. A similar organization self-titled “the knights of Columbus” founded in 1882 were largely responsible for establishing Columbus Day as a national holiday, this holiday is celebrated in America on October 12th, the date of his first landing in South America and he is still considered as a pioneer of the new world. Columbus’s hero status was also pushed by Catholics in America and Europe to become sainthood as they called for his canonization. This is considered somewhat controversial as people argue that what is being