Was Christopher Columbus Selfish

When I was in elementary school, Christopher Columbus was taught to be an adventurous hero who found America. His idea for his pilgrimage was to find a trade route to Asia. He first asked the King John of Portugal and he was quickly denied. When Columbus went to Queen Isabella to ask, he demanded too much if he succeeded in the future and she denied him, until six years later. Columbus was not actually the one to discover America. In fact, Leif Ericson discovered America 500 years before Columbus. Columbus discovered the Caribbean Islands, Central America, and South America and named the lands he found. In his travels, he captured and enslaved many natives and did whatever he could to get what he wanted, gold. I now believe Christopher Columbus was manipulative, greedy, selfish, and prideful. His actions were so violent and destructive that he actually got chained up and sent back to Spain for his punishment (Kasum). …show more content…
In his "Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage," he says he "[took] possession for their highnesses, by proclamation made and with royal standard unfurled, and no opposition was offered to [him]." This shows he discovered the land and took over their power with no mercy. He did not care about the natives who had lived there for a while and treated them terribly. In the "Letter Ferdinand and Isabella Regarding the Fourth Voyage," Columbus seemed very sympathetic by saying "I pray Your Highnesses pardon me" and "hithertho I have wept for others; now Heaven have mercy on me." Columbus tries to seem sincere in hopes that Isabella and Ferdinand will forgive him so that he could pilgrimage to other