Christopher Columbus Hero or Villain?

Christopher Columbus was a villain because he was greedy, disrespectful, and a liar. He enslaved Indians and killed without mercy. He thought only that the Indians would make good slaves and servants.1

Christopher Columbus was a very selfish man. He ordered the Arawak Indians to give him gold. If they gave him the gold they would get a medal if they did not then Columbus would kill them. Columbus tested weapons on the Indians. His crew soon started to kill Indians just for fun. Columbus said nothing in defense of the Indians to make his stop. They killed so many of the Arawak Indians that it soon led to their extinction.2

When Columbus tried to talk to the Indians the Indians were very cooperative. Later when Columbus told his crew, he said, “They ought to make good and skilled servants, for they repeat very quickly whatever we say to them.” The Indians already had their own lifestyle and did not want to change but Columbus persisted that they must become Christian. It might look like they had no religion but if someone had the time to study the Indians then they would see that they had their own system.3

During the second voyage Columbus' dead's led to about 250,000 deaths. Most of them were Taino Indians. The Taino’s were enslaved and murdered. They were ordered to give all their gold to Columbus. They had very little and because Columbus was not happy with what they had Columbus cut the hands of the Indians that didn’t give him gold. The Taino fled but the Spaniards hunted them down. The Taino engaged in mass suicide, even killing their own children to save them from the Spaniards. 4

If these are not acts of villainy I do not know what. Columbus led many tribes of Indians to extinction with his killings and enslavement. Christopher Columbus even went to jail because of how he governed Hispaniola. The king and Queen of Spain gave him money for the fourth voyage but Christopher Columbus's role as governor was over. Many do not celebrate Columbus. And if Columbus didn’t discover America someone else would have. Columbus killed many Indian civilizations that maybe if someone else discovered America it would have been different.5