Columbus: Greed and Racial Intolerance

Paper Summary:

The paper examines Jan Carew's videotaped presentation, "From Columbus to Castro - 500 Years of Race, Class and Culture Conflict in Our Americas" where he argues that Columbus' relentless drive for riches created a situation where innocent people were brutally exploited. The paper agrees with Carew that the legacy of European discovery was one of human greed, racial intolerance and bigotry. The paper concludes that the ancestors of American whites who sought to diminish others left behind the seeds for racial convolution and unrest today.

From the Paper:

"To begin with, Mr. Carew rightly notes that Columbus did everything he did to aggrandize himself and the country of Spain - partly, it may be presumed, out of patriotism, but surely mostly out of a desire to satiate his own ambitions and to validate the support of powerful individuals in the upper reaches of Spanish society who had reposed their trust - and treasure - in him. In any case, it is known that Columbus was under great pressure to "deliver the goods" by returning to Spain with riches; to wit, his patrons - Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand - eagerly sought to spread Christianity to distant parts of the world, and the royal couple also were very much interested in finding a means by which Spain could compete with its bitter rival, Portugal, for spoils ("Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Empire," para.2)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Christopher Columbus Discovers America, 1492." EyeWitness_to_History.com: History through the Eyes of Those Who Lived It. N.d. Ibis Communications. 21 Sept. 2006 <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/columbus.htm>
• "Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Empire." The European Voyages of Exploration. 1997. University of Calgary. 21 Sept. 2006 <http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/columbus.html>
• From Columbus to Castro: 500 Years of Race, Class, and Culture Conflict in Our Americas. Dir. Jan Carew. N.d. Videocassette.
• "Racism and the Slave Trade." Garstang Fair Trade: Racism. N.d. 21 Sept. 2006 <http://www.garstangfairtrade.org.uk/racism.htm>

More papers on Columbus: Greed and Racial Intolerance:

• Analytical Essay # 123818 : "Christopher Columbus' Voyage and Moral Implications"
• Analytical Essay # 57785 : "Greed and Glory on Wall Street"
• Essay # 84207 : "Poverty, Drugs and Racial Profiling"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: