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Christopher Columbus Negative Aspects

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Monika Straková
The positive and negative aspects of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America

The fifteenth century has brought many inventions and discoveries in order to facilitate the then life. One of the most imposing one was a coincidental discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Under the patronage of the Spanish catholic kings, he was determined to find a new journey to India across the Atlantic Ocean; otherwise, instead of this aim he found a new land between Europe and Asia. In the course of centuries, every invention or discovery has always influenced the life globally, and the same happened in this case. The discovery and settlement of America affected the life of the Europeans; furthermore, the life of the American population …show more content…
First of all, he “subjugated and enslaved the indigenous people to satisfy his hunger for gold“, and moreover, his obsession of the overall dominance was entirely overriding. (Desai 2014, 180) The arrival in the new land has totally ruined the indigenous customs and traditions, but primarily their religion. This destruction consisted in prohibition of spiritual practices and building the typical religious temples. All of these counteractions and violent adaptation of Native Americans ruined their native culture. Furthermore, wrecking their religion was not the worst that happened to the indigenous …show more content…
(2014). The Columbus Myth: Power and Ideology in Picturebooks About Christopher Columbus. Children's Literature in Education, 45(3), 179-196
• Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. (1992). Columbus--Hero or villain? History Today, 42(5), 4-9
• Tinker, Tink & Freeland, Mark. (2008). Thief, Slave Trader, Murderer: Christopher Columbus and Caribbean Population Decline. Wicazo Sa Review, 23(1), 25-50
• WatchCut Video. (2015, November 24). Christopher Columbus | Native Americans | One Word [Video file]. Retrieved from

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