Is Christopher Columbus a hero?

Question

President Trump had erected a statue of Italian Explorer Christopher Columbus. The statue is a replica of one that was destroyed by protesters and thrown into the harbor in Baltimore. Divers retrieved pieces of the statue that were scanned and used to create a replica that had been place outside the White House.

"As we celebrate our nation's 250th anniversary of independence, the White House is proud to honour Christopher Columbus’s legendary life and legacy with a well-deserved statue on the White House grounds In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero, and President Trump will ensure he's honoured as such for generations to come.”

nolabels · Accepted Answer

Columbus' main claim to fame is his being recognized for taking back to 15th century Europe the knowledge of lands then unknown to the inhabitants of the 'Old World'.
That's it.
How he came to do so and the other criticisms of him are completely irrelevant to that one claim to fame.
He was human, and a product of his times.

Other earlier Europeans had certainly visited the 'New World' before Columbus, but they didn't have the same impact on future world events as did Columbus.

There are those who'd argue about Columbus' role in history.
I choose not to engage in those arguments.
He was on Earth over 500 years ago, and history has records of some of his activities.
That being said, who can completely accurately recall events of a week ago, much less 500 years ago?
I can't, can anyone else do so?

Is Columbus a hero?
Not in my book.
Nor is he a villain.

He seemed to have ambition in exploring and in accumulating wealth.
What occurred back then and what has occurred as a result of his activities has brought us to present times as they are.

I recognize Columbus as being an important, influential historical figure.

Period.

loveslongnails · Accepted Answer

As usual, you don't know what the fuck you're talking about. No surprise here. Did you do any research on Columbus and who what he was and did?

Here's a quick quote from his journal:

"…These people are very simple as regards the use of arms, as your Highnesses will see from the seven that I caused to be taken, to bring home and learn our language and return; unless your Highnesses should order them all to be brought to Castile, or to be kept as captives on the same island; for with fifty men they can all be subjugated and made to do what is required of them…"

This is from the 2nd day he landed. He went on to terrorize, behead, rape and kidnap natives. Your favorite kind of guy, it seems. He brought several back to Europe where they died from disease they had no immunity from.

Columbus is not a hero in any sense; he was a brutal conqueror and actually, quite the failure of an explorer. I doubt the Rapist in Chief knows much about him at all, just like you.

Ez-Bri-Z_v2 · Accepted Answer

Um, no, not in the typical sense, but I suppose to some he could be. It'd weird our fascination with a guy who didn't even "discover" America and thought he was in Asia. We celebrate a man who enslaved, diseased and killed the local natives all on the premise of a fairy tale we've passed along in history books and carried on the back of a rhyme about 1492.

Anything to further dumb down this nation I guess.

emeraldsaphire · Accepted Answer

"Hero" Hardly, funny story about old Columbus, he was a relatively unknown character in the American myth until the 1940s. For most of American History Catholics were hated, we had an entire holiday dedicated to hating on then on the 5th of November. Well the knights of Columbus wanted to change that. So they proposed we create a Catholic American hero, and they chose Christopher Columbus, for obvious reasons.

Tarifa · Answer

1. Columbus was looking for a route to the Far East, circumnavigating the globe in the other direction. He had no clue where he was when he 'discovered' the American continent.

2. The only aim was to bring back gold and precious goods to the kingdom of Spain. The 'colonization' of the native population through christian beliefs was a means to an end, not a purpose in itself.

3. European invasion of South America - as it turned out to be in all practical terms - tried to kill native culture, language and beliefs. Side effects were epidemics that wiped out part of the native population.

The only positive thing I can say about Columbus is that he had the courage to set out on an uncharterd voyage. Even so, there are claims of the existence of Chinese maps of the era in a time span immediately preceding his.

RavVid · Answer

Of cause Columbus is a hero. Same as Captain Cook. Some assholes cut off a statue of Captain Cook at the ankles. I liked that statue at the end of my street.

The people who did it have to be cut off at the ankles just as they did to the statue. With and angle grinder.

I f we don't, they will go after explorer Mathew Flinder's faithful cat Trim next. There are almost as many Trim statues as there are Captain Cook statues.

I thank Trump for restoring Columbus because it also makes Captain Cook and Trim safer.

Chazmatazz269 · Answer

No. Columbus was a spoiled brat and a moron. Everyone seems to forget that he was looking for India when he “discovered” the Americas. He was only permitted to lead the expedition because his wealthy family contributed the ships. In fact, there is a skool of thought on the matter that suggests that Columbus’s crews had mutinied. People were dying and they only landed on North America in an attempt to survive the complete sh*t show that Columbus had gotten them into. There’s absolutely nothing heroic about the story.
He is a historical figure, but not one that any reasonable person would hero worship.

OlderAndWiser · Answer

I suspect that you will receive many responses from "enlightened" users who want to judge Columbus's actions in 1492 and the prevailing standards of "enlightened" people in 2026.

For those people, I would offer this explanation of why that is wrong. In 2126, it is likely that the prevailing standards of "enlightened" people will be that all animals deserve freedom and no animal, including dogs and cats, should be held as prisoners in our homes. Anyone holding an animal captive is barbaric and inhumane and deserves to spend time in prison. . . and those 2126 standards can be applied retroactively to people who lived in 2026.

strateguy632 · Answer

Hero doesn't only mean war hero!. "hero is a person admired for courage, and outstanding achievements" this Italian explorer had courage in dangerous sea and risks! So trump is right again.

C. C. had a great achievement DISCOVERED FOR EUROPEANs the islands of the new world. He wasn't the FIRST as a bunch of anons here stated the obvious. JUST MOCKING nobody said he was first! But he did discover for Spain.

SeekerOfTruth007 · Answer

I dont know whether the term "hero" applies to him, but he was definitely both braver and much smarter than most other explorers from his era. Without his voyages, none of us would even exist.

AviatorTom · Answer

I wouldn't call Columbus (his native name is Cristobal Colon) a hero, but his role in making Europeans aware of the New World is important in history, in both good and bad ways.

RandomGirl42 · Answer

Ty for inviting me to share , however, I was raised that if u can't say anything nice , don't say anything at all and since I don't believe Colombus discovered anything but syphillis , I won't say anything at all.

purplepoppy · Answer

Why's he anymore a hero than the crew of his ship, all of who risked their lives? Even if he never discovered America someone else would have, it's huge and there were lots if ships bobbing about.

FreyaRed · Answer

His biggest achievement was to convince Queen of Spain to give him money for 3 ships, provisions and crew because of a daring idea. Today we would call this high risk startup.
Is such person stuff heroes are made off? I doubt.

Cubus · Answer

Yes. He sailed to a new world. Not everyone could do it

BonzoInBitburg · Answer

Not a hero but he played an important role in history. It seems odd to have a statue of someone who never stepped foot on mainland North America.

jshm2 · Answer

Lol, I doubt Trump can even spell his name.  He just feels he was a more successful racist than him...

Xawyx-2 · Answer

He was an explorer, but a hero? I don't think so.

Anonymous · Answer

First Portuguese guy captaining a Spanish ship to land on an island in the Bahamas? No, you can't exactly "discover" somewhere when millions already live there.

Hispanic-Cool-Guy · Answer

Records of him show he was a despicable person, so no.

Twalli · Answer

He committed genocide, and if you want to honor the person who discovered America, that's Leif Erikkson.

Anonymous · Answer

He didn’t really discover the USA since he wasn’t the first person on the land.

Anonymous · Answer

Not a hero, he set out to discover things, and he discovered them. He didn't find what he was trying to discover, but what he did was important.

LC75LC71 · Answer

I look at heroes as existing in my time.

Mike_Hum · Answer

He did a lot of bad, he did a lot of good.

888theGreat · Answer

I have no clue. I didn't know the man

beefcakebradybatson · Answer

Sure... to white supremacist a**holes !!!

Anonymous · Answer

No but Tony Soprano disagrees with that

robocop666 · Answer

Gave us America

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