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Christopher Columbus: Hero Or Villian?

LetsGoTrippin's Avatar LetsGoTrippin10/12/15 3:01 pm
10/12/2015 10:16 pm
LetsGoTrippin's Avatar LetsGoTrippin
Since today is Columbus Day in America, I wanted to see how us Planet Minecraftians percieve one of the world's most notable explorers. If you want to, you can voice your opinion by posting a response, but please keep it within PMC rules.

So...why are you still reading this? There's a poll above this body of text.
Posted by LetsGoTrippin's Avatar
LetsGoTrippin
Level 37 : Artisan Scribe
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10/12/2015 10:16 pm
Level 37 : Artisan Scribe
LetsGoTrippin
LetsGoTrippin's Avatar
Han SoIo
All Columbus did was bring disease that nearly wiped out the native population. October 12th really shouldn't be a day celebrating him, and it's sad to see people on this day that do celebrate him.


While I do agree that Columbus was a huge jerk and stole/mistreated natives, he really had no control over diseases that he and his other three ships he brought along. And no, I am not saying he did nothing wrong, I'm saying he just had no control over something that some doubted the existence of back in 1492. And if a more benevolent person came to the Americas, he/she too would've brought diseases that the natives had no immunity to.
1
10/12/2015 8:10 pm
Level 30 : Artisan Dragonborn
funny bunny
funny bunny's Avatar
I honestly don't care at all. I do have to say something though, he did technically *discover* the Americas. He discovered them for much of Hellenistic Europe and not for the Germanic Europe.
1
10/12/2015 9:31 pm
Level 1 : New Crafter
Iris_
Iris_'s Avatar
The term discover is 100% the wrong term used to describe Columbus day. It would be like saying if I broke into your car and "discovered your wallet". Discover means finding something for the first time, and the indigenous people of America already knew it was there, so he did not discover it. He stumbled on America, would be more appropriate.

Also on a side note, the way the author butchered the spelling of his name is really starting to get at me now... xD
1
10/12/2015 7:37 pm
Level 34 : Artisan Mlem Mlem Bat
Karrfis
Karrfis's Avatar
its history, it happened its in the past, good or bad there is nothing you can do about it, instead of complaining how bad someone was in the past look to the future, maybe you can right where they went wrong
1
10/12/2015 9:42 pm
Level 62 : High Grandmaster Pixel Puncher
PixelCrash_
PixelCrash_'s Avatar
True, but if we do not acknowledge the mistakes of the past and the flaws in our "heroes" it can have an impact on the present. Unfortunately, many still believe Columbus to be that 'godly' figure who defied convention and "discovered" the Americas. In reality, the vast majority of people at the time believed the earth to be round; Columbus was no brilliant visionary. Even worse, however, is the fact that many history textbooks ignore his brutal treatment of the natives.

You would be surprised by how our views of the past can affect the present and future.

On a related note, I would recommend checking out "Lies My Teacher Told Me"; it's a book about misconceptions in history textbooks and how it ties into the present (it includes a lengthy section on Columbus).
1
10/12/2015 10:00 pm
Level 26 : Expert Pirate
Han Solo
Han Solo's Avatar
Well said, and I agree with you on how the textbooks don't even mention the way Columbus treated the natives. Here's a link on it that tells on how he treated them.
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinncol1.html
All Columbus did was bring disease that nearly wiped out the native population. October 12th really shouldn't be a day celebrating him, and it's sad to see people on this day that do celebrate him.
1
10/12/2015 6:23 pm
Level 19 : Journeyman Nerd
DarkFadeLink
DarkFadeLink's Avatar
"How do you celebrate Columbus day? Easy!!! By walking into a strangers house and telling them you live there now )))"
- I think he's good and bad btw.
1
10/12/2015 5:57 pm
Level 40 : Master Goblin
Dajj
Dajj's Avatar
Well excuse me for talking about how this guy is a really bad person and shouldn't have a day in celebration of him. Nobody even celebrates it as a holiday anyways, so there should be no problem with getting rid of it tbh.
1
10/12/2015 5:26 pm
Level 52 : Grandmaster Imposter
Jewelman
Jewelman's Avatar
Even though he was a pretty terrible person, you can't really blame him. That's probably what most people in that time would have done, with all the wars and what-not.

That's not denying he's a total -snip-.
1
10/12/2015 4:49 pm
Level 26 : Expert Pirate
Han Solo
Han Solo's Avatar
To be simple, there shouldn't be a day for him, he didn't discover America. He didn't really do anything special.
1
10/12/2015 3:42 pm
Level 1 : New Crafter
Iris_
Iris_'s Avatar
To be honest, it really surprises me that just now people are just realizing that Columbus wasn't a good guy. I realized that in 7th grade...

Now I don't really hate the guy as much as the dude above me does, but I do believe there shouldn't be such a holiday for him. As Dajj said, he didn't discover America. Just to put an image in your heads, I have an example. Let's say I was in school, and I walked into a random classroom and said I discovered the classroom, I would be 100% wrong. The people inside the classroom already knew it was there, so I would have only discovered it for myself. In the case for Columbus, he only discovered America for the Europeans, since the indigenous people of America already knew it was there. That's the end of my Columbus rant.
1
10/12/2015 3:34 pm
Level 40 : Master Goblin
Dajj
Dajj's Avatar
That guy's horrible I hate him

He went there, took any previous credit of other explorers that had gone to America, enslaved the natives, subjected them to harsh conditions, brought new diseases to them, and exploited them for money.

The guy didn't even 'discover' America, that was done when the then-newcomers-become-natives crossed a land bridge between Asia and America about 14,000 years before. And if you want to go on about Europeans going to America, the first known European to go there was Leif Ericson.

I abolish the hell out of this 'holiday' and I'd much rather celebrate indigenous people's day. That guy is most certainly not deserving of praise, he had put the friendly people living here through an immense amount of torment and I'd rather not congratulate him for that.
1
10/12/2015 4:52 pm
Level 44 : Master Sweetheart
Dinodaw
Dinodaw's Avatar
-snip-
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