Columbus Blog #8

Christopher Columbus should be considered as a villain rather than a hero for several reasons. Although he is praised for discovering America, his flaws override this. As he arrived in the new world, his treatment to natives was extremely unreasonable. He demonstrated brutal qualities by torturing and wiping out the population of Arawak Indians. His greed and selfishness exemplified along the hunt for gold caused him to threaten Indians if they did not bring him gold. He completely transformed the lives of Indians by forcing them to participate in the encomienda system and mining for gold in harsh conditions. He did discover a vast continent, but he handled the encounter with Indians incorrectly, and thus he should be considered a villain.