A2 RIHLA #19

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1. In the article "Columbus Controversy", it talks about how historians dig deeper into the real life of Christopher Columbus. For years, we have been honoring and celebrating Columbus. His goals were the same as any other explorer of his time, and those goals were to find riches and conquer new land. When Columbus sailed to the new world, he thought he was in India. He encountered the peaceful Taino, who he called Indians, and he forced them all to the religion of Christianity. Columbus also treated them like slaves and were treated brutally along with extreme violence, and Columbus even sent some of them from the island all the way to Spain. There were some Taino who did not make the voyage, but the Taino that did were forced to search for gold. Within 60 years, the Taino population decreased to a few hundred as suppose to the 250,000 that were originally on the island. However, Columbus's cruelty was not the only factor to the many deaths of the Taino. He and his team also brought with them new diseases that the Taino were not immune to. Columbus's actions eventually caught up to him and he was accused of mismanagement. He was therefore sent back home. He did come to the island for his fourth and final time discovering that he no longer had his governorship or his prestige.

2. It was not too long ago that I learned about how Columbus treated the Native Americans. Before I read this article, I already had a strong dislike to Columbus. This article was able to provide more detail on what Columbus did to the Native Americans. This article increased my dislike for Columbus and once I finished the article I wanted to know why we still celebrate Christopher Columbus day. Even though the article said that Christopher Columbus day is a day where people are able to learn about the Age of Exploration that is not the only way you can learn about the Age of Exploration. People do not need to get a day off just to learn about the Age of Exploration, especially for Christopher Columbus. People can always learn it at school instead of wasting a day off not actually learning about the Age of Exploration.

3. This article was able to connect to class because in class we are learning about exploration. The article does not exactly talk about Columbus's journey to the Americas, but it goes into more depth on what he accomplished on his journey. The article obviously provided the key term of Christopher Columbus. The article was able to give me more information on Columbus that I was unclear about before I read the article.

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