Cheng Zhiwen(Colin)
English 1110.01, MWF 10:20–—11:15
Professor: Cathy Ryan
Assignment: Christopher Columbus Research
March 22th, 2017
1.William, F. Keegan. “Columbus, Hero or Spanish Colonization?” UFL. EDU. Web. 10 March 2017. < https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/caribarch/columbus.htm>.
Notes: “A century ago Columbus was a hero who was feted in the Columbian world expositions as a man whose single-minded pursuit of his goals was to be emulated. Today he is being reviled as a symbol of European expansionism, the forbearer of institutionalized racism and genocide who bears ultimate responsibility for everything from the destruction of rainforests to the depletion of the ozone layer. Impressive accomplishments for someone who died five centuries ago.”
Abstract: This passage illustrates that Columbus was regarded as a hero at the times when he discovered the new world; however, he is considered as a negative leader who lead to the start of Spanish colonization and racism.
- Joyce, Appleby. “Christopher Columbus Unleashed Curiosity.” UCLA Newsroom. Web. 10 March 2017.
<http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/columbus-unleashed-curiosity-248979>
Notes: “The day in 1492 when Columbus ran into a cluster of islands blocking his way to India is celebrated throughout Latin America and in Spain. It is now fixed in the United States as the second Monday in October, and Americans too have long commemorated the event, both embracing and vilifying the explorer.”
Abstract: This article illustrates about the Columbian exchange that diseases were exchange from old world to the new, and new world to the old. There it discuss the curiosity of Columbus and what his action has caused to.
3.
William, F. Keegan. “One small step for a man.” UFL. EDU. Web. 10 March 2017
<https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/caribarch/columbus.htm>
Notes: “To read Columbus’s daily log (diario de a bordo) you would think that his small fleet was never very far from land. For 32 days after leaving Gomera in the Canary Islands on September 9th, the diario makes repeated reference to signs of land. Sailing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, more than 1,000 miles from the nearest land, Columbus observed “river weed” (sargassum seaweed), a live crab “not found more than 80 leagues (240 miles) from land,” a booby or gannet, birds that “do not depart more than 20 leagues from land,” and “a large cloud mass, which is a sign of being near land.” But it was not until two hours after midnight, the 12th of October, that land finally did appear.”
- Eric Kasum. “Columbus Day? True Legacy: Cruelty and Slavery.” The Huffington Post.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com>
Notes: “Once again, it’s time to celebrate Columbus Day. Yet, the stunning truth is: If Christopher Columbus were alive today, he would be put on trial for crimes against humanity. Columbus’ reign of terror, as documented by noted historians, was so bloody, his legacy so unspeakably cruel, that Columbus makes a modern villain like Saddam Hussein look like a pale codfish.”
Abstracts: This passage exclaims that Columbus is the forebear for numerous negative things happened in today like racism and slavery. The author writes againsts Columbus that he is neither the first in Europe to discover America nor a hero as people would regard.
- Sweet, Leonard I. “Christopher Columbus and the millennial vision of the New World.” The Catholic historical review 72.3 (1986): 369-382.
Notes: “Christopher Columbus is one of history’s more elusive figures. In spite of recent scholarship which depicts Columbus as a figure of transition, with one foot planted firmly in the medieval world and the other in the modern world, a stubborn aura of mystery surrounds his personality and psychology. “
Abstract: The fragment of the book points out that Columbus had great reward on letting people to dream about world outside and take medieval journey into mysticism, dreams, visions, poetry, monasticism, crusading ideology, prophecies, messianic illusions, apocalypticism, and millennialism. However, some scholars ignore Columbus.