Note: “ Columbus deserves the credit or blame only for what he actually did: which was to discover a route that permanently linked the shores of the Atlantic and to contribute – more signally, perhaps, than any other individual – to the long process by which once sundered peoples of the world were brought together in a single network of communications, which exposed them to the perils and benefits of mutual contagion and exchange. Whether or not one regards this as meritorious achievement, there was a genuine touch of heroism in it – both in the scale of its effects and in the boldness which inspired it. There had been many attempts to cross the Atlantic in central latitudes, but all – as far as we know – failed because the explorers clung to the zone of westerly winds in an attempt to secure a passage home. Columbus was the first to succeed precisely because he had the courage to sail with the wind at his back.”
Abstract: It is important to realize that without him doing what he did, he would not have reached to that many countries or places if he had not had workers or slaves. This source talks about how maybe looking at the bigger picture requires understanding Columbus’s position.
Citation:
Fernández-Armesto, Felipe. “Columbus—Hero or Villain?.” History Today, vol. 42, May 1992, pp. 4-9. EBSCOhost,
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