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Essay Subject: Evaluation of the explorer & his discovery of Amer. in light of revisionist views.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Evaluation of the explorer & his discovery of Amer. in light of revisionist views. Paper Introduction: This is the Quincentennial of the first voyage of Columbus to the New World, an event that has been the occasion for celebration in both Europe and the Americas. It has also been the occasion for much bitterness and anger by revisionists who want to downgrade the achievement of Columbus because of a perception that his discovery of America in the long run caused more harm than good. One thing that is wrong with the revisionist view is that it holds Columbus personally responsible for all that followed his exploratory journey. In truth, the "discovery" of America was inevitable, and the subsequent events derived from the character of European culture at the time and from the personalities of the various participants, notably the Conquistadors who saw this as the occasion for looting more than discovery. The achievement of Columbus should be celebrated for Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Thesehistorians and critics note the way the peoples of the New World weredecimated by the Conquistadors and other intruders, how the land waschanged and its resources plundered, and how the invading Europeans treatedthe land and the people as their own private property, with no regard atall for the moral rights of those already there. However, it does explain much of what tookplace even if it does not excuse it. San Antonio, Texas: Mantle Ministries.Collis, John Stewart (1976). Columbus: For Gold, God, and Glory. He did find new lands and people, and he returned to tell of itso that others could follow. New York: Stein and Day.Dunn, Oliver and James E. As Wilford notes: "Columbus may have seemed tocome out of nowhere, but his idea did not. Columbus would have heard the stories ofsailors and would have known of the maps of his time. Ifgreatness is judged by the stature of the individual among hiscontemporaries, the answer is no. Columbus had gained the favor of the king and queen of Spain inorder to secure funding for his voyage and to make certain that commercialrights were involved as well. Some of the criticisms derivefrom the imposition of a contemporary mode of thought on people in the pastwho viewed the world in a very different way. This is a matter of assigning blame for not beingomniscient, and by this criterion most of history could be blamed onsomeone who performed some act without seeing the consequences over thenext several centuries. . In truth, the "discovery" of America wasinevitable, and the subsequent events derived from the character ofEuropean culture at the time and from the personalities of the variousparticipants, notably the Conquistadors who saw this as the occasion forlooting more than discovery. if greatness derives from the audacity of hisundertaking, its surprising revelation, and the magnitude of its impact onsubsequent history, Columbus did cross the uncharted Atlantic Ocean, nomean feat. Columbus: The Great Adventure. The traditionalistview is embodied in the book by J.W. ReferencesBuel, J.W. Wilford says about the idea that sailing West would take the sailorEast: "In all likelihood, the inspiration sprang from no single source,but from all around him" (66). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.----------------------- 6 Our lack of certainty about some of the detailsconcerning Columbus did not prevent the traditionalist view fromcelebrating his achievement, which has always been greater than the man whomade it. The notion was becoming part of the atmosphere of thetime, and the achievement of Columbus was in being the first to see themeaning of these ideas and to convince others to support him so that hecould make this voyage. Ideas do not emerge from avacuum" (67). Columbus discovered not only the land but also the abundance ofthat land, and some of the products he would take back to Europe would havea major impact, notably the potato, which "created a true revolution on theagriculture, economy, gastronomy, and, above all, health of the peoples ofthe Old World by its decisive contribution to the elimination of thegreater part of the scourges of famine and epidemic" (Taviani, 1991: 117).Tobacco was another discovery from the New World that would have profoundimpact in Europe, and indeed tobacco had a more immediate impact than didthe potato. Probably much of the argument that has swirled around Columbus evenbefore the revisionists began their attack has derived from the fact thatwe knew little of Columbus for certain until as late as 1931. Collis says that Columbus at best lacked tact, and thisseems clear from his actions once he had returned to the Old World. Since Columbus was theone to discover America and thus to allow all this to take place, he isblamed. In a way, Columbus has been no more than a symbol of thediscovery, and we need to consider more specifically the role he played andthe courage and dedication it took to make this voyage. The Mysterious History of Columbus. New York: Orion Books.Wilford, John Noble (1991). LeifEriksson led the Norse voyages to this new world, but as Wilford (1991)notes, this does not mean that he discovered it any more than those who mayhave gone before or some who came after: "These previous encounters,assuming the veracity of at least some of the storytellers, might as wellnot have occurred for the lack of practical effect they had on subsequenthistory. It was known to be a sphere,but it was thought that it was a much smaller sphere than it actually is.A map of the world at the time would show that the people understood theshape of the Mediterranean and the shore of the Atlantic in Europe wellenough but were less certain about Africa, while the whole of Eurasiadisappeared into uncertainty toward the East, which was known only from theaccounts of Marco Polo. The revisionist view of Columbus and his achievement, however, haslittle to do with the nature of the man himself and much to do with ideasabout what happened after the New World was truly discovered. the king and queen had offered a rewardfor the first man who would see land, and Columbus secured this reward forhimself, though he was not the first man to see land--"an act as impoliticas it was mean" (112). What this shows isagain that this voyage was inevitable, if not undertaken by Columbus thenby someone else. Inherent in the revisionist view is the idea thatit would have been better had the New World never been discovered at all.Since it was inevitable that it would be discovered sooner or later,Columbus cannot be blamed for this fact in itself, either. The achievement of Columbus was stillto face an unknown journey, to make his idea known to those who couldsupport it, to make the journey, and to return to tell of the wonders hehad seen. . Theimportance of this patronage is seen in the introduction to Columbus'sdiary as abstracted by de las Casas as Columbus addresses what he writes to"Most Christian and Very Noble and Very Excellent and Very PowerfulPrinces, King and Queen of the Spains and of the Islands of the Sea" (Dunnand Kelley, 1989). In addition, Columbus and his men introduced diseases into the NewWorld which killed thousands of Indians who were not immune to organismsthat had long since ceased to have any adverse effects on the Europeans.This as well is blamed on Columbus, though clearly he could not have knownthat this would be the result of his visit, even if he had known that hewas arriving in a completely new world and not in India as he thought hewas. The two captains of the other two ships onthe voyage were the Pinzon brothers, and once they had all returned toSpain, Columbus refused to share any credit or spoil with them. The question of whether Columbus discovered America has long beensettled--he discovered it in the sense of making it known to his world andto history, but this does not mean he was the first to reach the Americasfrom what was then the known world. Christopher Columbus. The achievement of Columbus should becelebrated for what it was, the dedication and courage of this one man whoconnected the Old World and the New. Columbus and the New World. Columbus has been much honored for his discovery, as Dyson (1991)notes when he writes: "After Jesus Christ, no individual has made a biggerimpact on the Western world than Christopher Columbus" (14). This is the Quincentennial of the first voyage of Columbus to the NewWorld, an event that has been the occasion for celebration in both Europeand the Americas. (1989). ." (264-265). Obviously, this does notmake their way of thinking right--they did indeed see the Indians as asavage people who were less valuable in God's eyes than they themselves,and this cannot be defended. Eriksson and the others may have reached America, but they failedto discover it" (6). Wilford makesan interesting observation: "Columbus's place in history can only bejudged in relation to the place accorded America in history over the lastfive centuries" (265). There were even attempts to colonize this new territory,notably Vinland, which we now believe to have been Newfoundland. It was inthat year that an exhaustive collection of documents was republished inGenoa in 1931, and this collection contained many papers and proofs thatsettled a number of old issues about Columbus's birth and character(Collis, 1976: 27). He was not the first discoverer ofthe Americas, but he was the discoverer who made his discovery known sothat thereafter the movement from the one to the other was inevitable. Kelley Jr. Much of the argument over Columbus today has to do with his properplace in history, and the problem with the revisionists is not that theysee later history as damaging to the people of the Americas (which it was)but that they want to ascribe blame to Columbus for all that followed(which is foolish). Wilford considers the issue from adifferent angle: ". While others would have donethe same thing within a few years, Columbus was the first. A true Genoese, he was already scheming how to ensuremaximum profit, status and power for himself and his family" (67). Geographers did not even suspect that there weretwo great continents between Europe and Asia, but it seemed evident thatsome sort of direct sea route should exist between the west of Europe andthe far east of Asia: "But there is a difference between untested theoryand action, and what Columbus brought to the question was a determinationto act" (Dyson: 63). Buel first published in 1892 and whichbegins: "The story of Columbus is at once an epic and an elegy; a narrationof bold conception, persistent courage, heroic attainment, mingled with thegall of national ingratitude, and the malevolence of personal jealousies"(1992: 5). He says that the answer depends on what criteria are used. When oneof them was dying, Columbus refused to sent a message of good will:"Incurably vindictive, he did nothing of the sort; nor did any word passfrom his lips in recognition of what all the Pinzon family had done in thisgreat enterprise" (Collis: 111). New York: Simon & Schuster.Tavianai, Paolo Emilio (1991). Again, the one thing that no one proposed wasthat there was another continent blocking the way, further evidence thatthe earlier visits to the New World by Europeans had made no impact andcannot be considered discoveries such as Columbus would make. Columbus was in effect his own worstenemy in this regard, and it has been asked whether we would have receiveda more favorable impression of Columbus from his contemporaries if he hadbeen a kinder and more generous man. One thing that is wrong with the revisionistview is that it holds Columbus personally responsible for all that followedhis exploratory journey. It has also been the occasion for much bitterness andanger by revisionists who want to downgrade the achievement of Columbusbecause of a perception that his discovery of America in the long runcaused more harm than good. Indeed, as new revelations are madeall the time, it may seem as if the Americas were "discovered" by justabout everyone, from the Romans to the Vikings, from the Chinese to thePhoenicians. These discoveries were to have a profound impact on Europe, andcertainly they had a profound impact on the peoples living in the New Worldas well. As withso many historical figures, Columbus shows ambiguities in his character,but this does not set him apart from most of humanity. (1992). Wilford considers whether or not Columbus can be considered a greatman. At the sametime, scholarship has raged over a number of issues related to Columbus.The records that survive show Columbus as a person to have been acompulsive social climber and a snob, a religious zealot and a man with atouchy disposition. It is not necessary to find that Columbus was a wonderful human beingto honor him for his achievement, and there is ample evidence that he wasnot a wonderful human being. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.Dyson, John (1991). Indeed, even if Columbus could be blamed for this, that would notreduce the magnitude of his achievement. Other products brought back by Columbus included corn,tomatoes, beans, and bell peppers, all of which revolutionized the diets ofEuropeans and Asians. The various writers on Columbus show how he derived ideasfrom different theorists and explorers of his time, including ideas aboutdistance, the direction in which to sail, probable geographic features tobe encountered, and so on. He was also a loyal father and a good friend. The "Diario" of Christopher Columbus's First Voyage to America 1492-1493. There is little doubt that actions of this sortcontributed to Columbus's bad reputation and that would contribute to hislater problems. Many peoplemay still believe that the educated world of the time thought that theearth was flat, but this was not the case. Columbus also discovered cotton in the New World,and Columbus's predictions for great economic gains from this material werecorrect (117-119). Dyson says that if Columbus had only wantedto satisfy his curiosity, he could have raised the money privately withlittle difficulty, "but if he intended to control and exploit the trade andcolonization of the lands he found, the sponsorship of a sovereign statewas essential. . Dyson notes that Columbus's achievement began with his conceptionthat it was possible to reach the East by sailing to the West. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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