Columbus Hero or Villain?

Columbus was a man who acted as an idealized symbol for America. He was a hero in the sense that he stood for free will and new beginnings. Though he was a key symbol America used in developing a free country, his history, much like America’s is not so clean-cut and well purpose-driven as we often believe. Columbus was a Spaniard in search of wealth and status among his nation and was directed on his expedition to claim land and riches, which was supposed to give the Spanish empire power and status. As a person, sailor, and explorer, Christopher Columbus was responsible for the decimation of the Native Americans. His actions were brutal and resulted in the decentralization and destruction of Indian colonies. He pursued human progress through the unnecessary act of conquest. (Conquest is the subjugation of an enemy.) Columbus’s was in search of a faster route to India from Spain in order to acquire riches, spices, and slaves. When he discovered the Americas, he claimed the land and created war between the Spaniards and Indian’s because of Spanish intentions, which made it impossible for the Spaniards to coexist with the natives. Columbus’ ventures of conquest proved unsuccessful and unnecessary. “For a brief period in history, there was the glory of a Spanish Empire in the Western Hemisphere. As Hans Koning sums it up in his book Columbus: His Enterprise: For all the gold and silver stolen and shipped to Spain did not make the Spanish people richer. It gave their kings an edge in the balance of power for a time, a chance to hire more mercenary soldiers for their wars. They ended up losing those wars anyway, and all that was left was a deadly inflation, a starving population, the rich richer, the poor poorer, and a ruined peasant class.” (Source 1)

After learning about Columbus’ actions of conquest for Spaniard progression, the realization that the person we know as Americans is a completely idealized version of a brutal explorer makes you reconsider the celebration of Columbus Day. His actions were destructive and his purpose was not one that should be celebrated by Americans. Whether or not he was a hero or villain to the Indies, (now known as the Americas) I believe it is completely justified to celebrate Columbus Day. Christopher Columbus was used as a symbol for when the United States was becoming an independent free nation. “Columbus had found the way of escape from Old World tyranny.” (Source 5) Because of Columbus’s accomplishments and quest for new paths toward the goal of status and independent wealth, he became the symbol for America’s new independence. As an undeveloped nation, America was having trouble finding its own identity as a nation. The new state had started fresh and had no significant history except for the recent American Revolution; however, in a democratic nation, it was not right to hold leaders of the Revolutionary War to “mythical transformation” as heroes of America. The need for an origin was satisfied by the image of Christopher Columbus. His idealized image was boosted by early Revolutionary Columbus militants, Irving, (after the book Life of Columbus,) and scholars, who debate to this day the facts of Columbus’ life.  Columbus Day should be celebrated because Columbus was a person who was used purely as a symbol to give our nation history and a sense of independence. "He 'emerged from the shadows, reincarnated not so much as a man and historical figure as he was a myth and symbol. He came to epitomize the explorer and discoverer, the man of vision and audacity, the hero who overcame opposition and adversity to change history.'" (Source 5)
“America’s national memory is filled with icons and symbols, deeply held, yet imperfectly understood, beliefs. The role of history is pervasive, yet the facts behind the memories are somehow lost in an amorphous haze of patriotism and perceived national identity. Christopher Columbus, as a hero and symbol of the first order in America, is an important figure in this pantheon of American myth. His status, not unlike most American icons, is a representative not of his own accomplishments, but the self-perception of the society which raised him to his pedestal in the American gallery of heroes.” (Source 5) While Columbus was a villain to the native population in the Americas and responsible for the deculturalization and decentralization of Indians, his idealized symbol of freedom from Old World oppression and dictatorship was critical in our development to a sole democratic nation. His new national story told that of great exploration, a "symbol of the adventuring human spirit." (Irving, Source 5)