Essay on Christopher Columbus Villain or Hero - 1521 Words

For more than five centuries Americans have lifted Christopher Columbus to heights of greatness and god-like. We celebrate his life as though he was a man that had done us a great favor. In resent years Christopher Columbus has come under scrutiny, his life and works being questioned more than celebrated. There have be many great men and women that contributed to the building of our great nation but they do not receive anywhere as much recognition as Columbus. When a person begins to study the actual accounts of the finding of the New World they begin to wonder if Columbus should adored or hated for his actions. As a child I was taught that Columbus was a great man that had accomplished great things for the sake of humanity, but in†¦show more content†¦Gold became his journeys fleece and grail. A few days before departure he was still tracking rumors about an exceedingly great quantity of gold in Hispaniola, where he could get it for nothing. That search continued on all fou r of his voyages, but the Indies never yielded him much treasure (William Howarth). Columbus journey didnt start out to be a bad idea, he even gave examples of how he tried to reason and befriend the indigenous people of the Americas. I, he says, in order that they would be friendly to us--because I recognized that they were people who would be better freed [from error] and converted to our Holy Faith by love than by force--to some of them I gave red caps, and glass beads which they put on their chests, and many other things of small value in which they took so much pleasure and became so much our friends that it was a marvel (Columbus Quote from Christian History). Columbus did do the world a great service when he made his exploration and some people would argue that to their own graves. The greatest event since the creation of the world, excluding the Incarnation and death of Him who created it; Francisco Lopez de Gomara (1552). After 500 years the Columbian legacy has created a civilization that we ought not, in all humble piety and cultural relativism, declare t o be no better or worse than that of the Incas.Show MoreRelatedChristopher Columbus : Hero Or Villain?884 Words   |  4 PagesRian White Crawford 3rd Christopher Columbus: Hero or Villain? In elementary school students are taught that Christopher Columbus is some godly hero who discovered that the earth was round and a shorter route to â€Å"Asia†. They even have a day dedicated to him. Typically, children are gullible and just believe what they are taught, rather than actually researching and learning the history on their own. As a child one’s brain is not developed enough to possess a sense of moral discernment. Also, childrenRead MoreChristopher Columbus Hero Or Villain1658 Words   |  7 PagesChristopher Columbus is an internationally celebrated explorer, due to his voyages to Central America during the Age of Discovery, a period between 15th and 16th centuries where explorers would be supported by countries to claim land. Columbus was an Italian explorer, on a conquest for gold and riches, who was sponsored by the monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, to travel to Southern Asia. Columbus proposed the idea of traveling from East to West, rather than travelingRead MoreChristopher Columbus: Villain or Hero? Essay458 Words   |  2 PagesIn 1492, Christopher Columbus unintentionally discovered America, when he landed in the Caribbean Islands, while looking for a direct sea route to Asia. Despite the fact that Columbus believed he had found a direct sea route to India, he has been called the discoverer of America and hailed as a hero. More recently, however, he has been called a villain, with accusations saying that not only did he not discover America, but also that he was the cause of slavery and oppression in the Americas. TheseRead MoreResearch Paper - Is Christopher Columbus a Hero or Villain2022 Words   |  9 PagesChristopher Columbus found a new world and jumpstarted an age of exploration like no other. After he found the Americas there was massive colonization, giant trade increases and more resources such as gold and silver were being surfaced. Europeans learned new agricultural technique s from the indigenous people, the Europeans also acquired a large number of new crops to farm such as potatoes, tomatoes, corn and cocoa. With all of the pros that the age of exploration brought to Europeans it is hardRead MoreChristopher Columbus: Hero or Villain? Essay1788 Words   |  8 Pages School taught us about the infamous Christopher Columbus who was known as the hero who found the Americas in 1492, but is that the truth? Is Columbus really the hero that grade school portrayed him to be? Columbus was not. Columbus was a greedy man who destroyed an entire race of people with genocide just so only he could benefit and become a man of money and power. Columbus was a very good speaker and very persuasive. He convinced the King and Queen of Spain to fund his expedition to â€Å"Asia†Read MoreEssay about Christopher Columbus: Hero or Villain?781 Words   |  4 Pagesbelieve that Columbus was one of the greatest explorers of all time. In my mind there is no question about whether Christopher Columbus discovered America; of course he did, its Columbus! However, this is a highly debated issue and through writings by authors Jeffery Hart and James W. Loewen we will investigate the true importance of Columbus. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In the essay written by Jeffrey Hart entitled, â€Å"Discovering Columbus†, he argues strongly that, in fact, Columbus did discoverRead MoreChristopher Columbus was not the First to Discover America Essay652 Words   |  3 PagesPeople argue that Christopher Columbus was the first to find America, but other people argue that the Native Americans were the first ones in America. In 1492 Christopher Columbus voyages from spain to the Americas not knowing what was there. So was Christopher Columbus the first one to find out about America? Would he be a hero or a villain for saying he did, or saying he did but actually didn’t and just wants to get the credit for it. Why people believed that he would be a hero is because, theyRead MoreThe Difference between Myth and Reality about Christopher Columbus606 Words   |  3 Pages Christopher Columbus is a name known to nearly every American that has ever had an elementary education. He is imagined as the brave explorer that against all odds prevailed in his belief of a round earth. Credited with the discovery of America, Columbus has a holiday and even the Nation’s capitol and a powerful Catholic service organization are named after him. What isn’t as well known is the dark side of his arrival to the New World. Though he did make the first steps in founding modern AmericaRead MoreAnother Side of Christopher Columbus Essay755 Words   |  4 Pagesmainland-America. These people could rightly be called Native Americans/Indians. However primitive these people were, they were very organized. In a much busier world (Spain), lived a very adventurous, religious, and loyal man named Christopher Columbus. Born in Genoa, Italy, Christopher Columbus was the son of a very skilled weaver. He was an expert sailor, thus earning the title of â€Å"Admiral of the Ocean Sea† for himself after his successful expeditions. He had a favorite ship, Santa Maria although he had twoRead MoreChristopher Columbus As A Hero1211 Words   |  5 Pagescelebrate Columbus Day; whether Christopher Columbus, the man with a holiday named after him, the man who â€Å"discovered† America, was really hero. There are people who claim that Columbus was, in fact, someone to be celebrated. This is false. Christopher Columbus was, most blatantly put, a villain. He deserves this status because he did not discover the land now known as America, he forced his beliefs onto others, and he utterly destroyed the lives of unknowing, innocent people. Christopher Columbus is mainly

The Effect Of Obedience During The Holocaust - 1599 Words

The Effects of Obedience Often, researchers wonder why obedience has such a strong effect. Some researchers say that obedience is a conscious thing; however, some researchers also say that obedience comes from the fear of authority figures. What exactly does obedience and authority mean? Obedience is â€Å"compliance with that which is required by authority; subjection to rightful restraint or control.† (Obedience, 2003) Authority is â€Å"a legal or rightful power; a right to command or to act; power exercised buy a person in virtue of his office or trust; dominion; jurisdiction; authorization.† (Authority, 2003) Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University, and other members of the community also questioned the nature of obedience. Milgram reflected back to the 1933 events of the Holocaust. Milgram began to question the intentions of the soldiers serving under Eichmann. Why would all those German soldiers go along with kill millions of innocent Jews, slaves, homosexuals, children, and gypsies? Were the soldiers just following the orders of Adolf Eichmann, leader of the German Army? Milgram was interested in doing the obedience to authority figures study because he questioned if Adolf’s men were just following his orders, and this lead to killing of eleven million innocent victims during the time period of the Holocaust. Milgram became enthusiastic in researching the limit that the average person would go to obey orders from their authority figures, even if that meantShow MoreRelatedComparative Analysis Of Stanley Milgrams The Perils Of Obedience1461 Words   |  6 PagesComp arative Analysis The purpose of Stanley Milgram writing his â€Å"The Perils of Obedience,† is to show to what extent an individual would contradict his/her moral convictions because of the orders of an authority figure (Milgram 78). He constructed an experiment wherein an experimenter instructs a naà ¯ve subject to inflict a series of shocks of increasing voltage on a protesting actor. Contrary to Milgram’s expectations, about sixty percent of the subjects administered the highest voltage shock. (MilgramRead MoreMilgram Experiment : What Was The Intent?1571 Words   |  7 Pagespunishment on people’s ability to learn. The Milgram experiment helps psychologists and sociologists explain the reasoning behind knowingly conflicting pain for a certain outcome. Milgram contributed path-breaking experiments towards the research between obedience to authority. He furthered knowledge in social networks and urban psychology. Stanley Milgram was born and raised in New York City, where he graduated high school and then later graduating from Queens College. He advanced his education at HarvardRead MoreMilgram Experiment : What Was The Intent?1573 Words   |  7 Pagespunishment on people’s ability to learn. The Milgram experiment helps psychologists and sociologists explain the reasoning behind knowingly conflicting pain for a certain outcome. Milgram contributed path-breaking experiments towards the research between obedience to authority. He furthered knowledge in social networks and urban psychology. Stanley Milgram was born and raised in New York City, where he graduated high school and then later graduating from Queens College. He advanced his education at HarvardRead MoreAnalysis Of Stanley Milgram s Perils Of Obedience Essay1709 Words   |  7 Pagesmanipulated the minds of masses for their own personal and political agenda. Still, many questions still remain prevalent as to how an individual reaches his or her decision on obedience in a distressing environment. Inspired by Nazi trials, Stanley Milgram, an American psychologist, questions the social norm in â€Å"Perils of Obedience† (1964), where he conducted a study to test how far the average American was willing to for under the pressures of an authority figure. Milgram s study showed that under theRead MoreThe Levels Of Obedience1224 Words   |  5 PagesDuring the Holocaust, millions of Jews were murdered. One specific person did not cause these deaths, because there was a division of labor. Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi organizer of these mass murders, never saw the direct effects of the genocide he was orchestrating. After the Holo-caust, Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment to study the levels of obedience to authority; he used his experiment to find where evil resided in people and to discover the cause of the Holo-caust. Some people found his findingsRead MoreThe Holocaust During World War II901 Words   |  4 PagesExperiment of Obedience As we grow up our parents teach us how to be respectful and very well-mannered. They enforce the importance of saying, â€Å"Please, thank you, and excuse me,† when needed. Parents also insist we listen and respect our elders, because they have authority over the world since they have been here the longest. We were raised to comply with the demand of someone who had authority over us. According to Patricia Werhane (1), â€Å"In the early1960’s Stanley Milgram undertook his noteworthyRead MoreThe Milgram Study On Obedience1731 Words   |  7 PagesThe Milgram study was considered to be one of the most famous studies, on obedience in the history of psychology. The Milgram study was done by Stanley Milgram a Yale University psychologist, whose study was to focus on two things one being obedience to authority, and a persons personal conscience. The results of the study were remarkable, as according to (McLeod, 2007) 65 percent of two-thirds of the participants or teachers continued administering shocks to the highest voltage level of 450 voltsRead MoreBirds of a Feather Flock Together1558 Words   |  7 Pageshomogeneity, and illusory correlation. The in-group discussed here is the Germans and the out-group, the Jews. This ethnocentric view of us the good ones and them the bad. How conformity, obedience, and compliance to authority within a group specifically during WW II parallels Stanley Milgram’s obedience study. Irving Janis’ term groupthink allowed Hitler’s leadership style, group cohesion and crisis combine to suppress dissent within his in-groups to such a degree that group members end upRead MoreSocial Influences on Behavior1114 Words   |  5 PagesSocial Influences on Behavior There are many social influences which have an effect or lasting effect on the behavior of an individual. Within many group scenarios, conformity and obedience play a large role in how people tend to think and behave, especially if they get carried away. Obedience refers to compliance to an authority figure or with others in a group. On the other hand, conformity refers to an individual changing their thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors to accommodate with the standardsRead MoreWill You Practice What You Preach? Essay example1493 Words   |  6 Pageswidely known trend called the bystander effect. As authors and psychological researchers Jason Marsh and Dacher Keltner describe in their article â€Å"We Are All Bystanders,† â€Å"When study participants thought there were other witnesses to the emergency, they felt less personal responsibility to intervene.† The article featured in Changing Minds, an online center focused on educating people on every side of controversial topics, called â€Å"The Bystander Effect† describes the occurrence as, â€Å"[witnesses]

I Do Not Believe in Ghosts Free Essays

I do not believe in ghosts When I was little I lived in a house that was haunted. Wait don’t go! I know, I know, this subject is tired. The thing is I don’t even believe in ghosts. We will write a custom essay sample on I Do Not Believe in Ghosts or any similar topic only for you Order Now At least that is what I tell myself now, but back then I’m telling you that house was haunted. We moved there when I was in first grade and the first time I saw it, I started crying. Something about the house just seemed wrong. It was â€Å"pretty†, but it gave me a really ugly feeling. All sorts of weird, creepy, and inexplicable things would happen there. We had three dogs when we lived there, two of them ran away, and one went crazy and couldn’t live with us anymore. We had rabbits and they all died. We stopped getting pets. The toilet would flush itself. Once, I was talking back to my mom and she told me to stop or God would punish me and I said something along the lines of â€Å"yeah, right† and then the ground shook. I kid you not there was an earthquake, but no one except my mother and I felt it. Apparently, only our house shook. Another time, my brother who was an infant at the time was in his bassinet under a lamp that was hanging from the ceiling. I looked at my mother and told her she shouldn’t put him there because that lamp was going to fall on him. I walked over and moved the bassinet and as soon as I moved him the lamp fell. Crazy! It makes no sense to me that I have such clear memories of this house that was seemingly possessed and yet, I do not believe in ghosts. Do you? How to cite I Do Not Believe in Ghosts, Essay examples