Christopher Columbus was the man that sailed the Atlantic ocean, but was not the man that most people think he was.   Most people believe that Christopher Columbus discovered America.  However, others say he was a murderer, he kept slaves, and that he was not as successful as everyone thought he was.  Christopher Columbus was not who historians say he is.  In fact, he is much worse.

Christopher Columbus is not the man historians thought he was because he would capture people and keep them as slaves.  Or worse.  For example, from the article “Examining the Reputation of Christopher Columbus” by Jack Weatherford is explained on the second page that Columbus did imprison people and keep them as slaves.  “Columbus tore children from their parents, husbands from wives.  On board Columbus’ slave ships, hundreds die; the sailors tossed the Indian bodies into the Atlantic,” page 2.  The text states that Columbus did capture other people and used them.  If not, let them die.  Another example is from another article called “Colonial Pirate Christopher Columbus” by another author named Thomas Ivan Dahlheimer.  In this article, he also states that Christopher Columbus kept people as slaves.  “In the year 1495, they went on a slave raid, rounded up fifteen hundred Arawak men, women, and children, put them in pens guarded by Spaniards and dogs, then picked the five hundred best specimens to load onto ships.  Of the five hundred, two hundred died en route,” page 1.  Spaniards: natives of Spain, Arawak: a name for the peoples who first lived where society now call Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  Nevertheless, Christopher Columbus was not who  historians thought that he was and that he ruined other people's lives. 

Another reason why Christopher Columbus was not the man that researchers thought that he was is because he was a perpetrator.  Others may say that he did not hurt or execute anyone and that he just discovered a new part of the world.  But he did.  For example, In the article “Colonial Pirate Christopher Columbus the author mentions how the slaves that Christopher held, died.  ”In two years, through murder, mutilation, or suicide, half of the 250,000 “Indians” on Haiti were dead,” page 2.  Mutilation: serious damage on anything.  The quote clearly has the word murder in it, so that means that the slaves that he kept were killed.  Which proves that he was a murderer.  Another example of Columbus being a murderer is in the article “Examining the reputation of Christopher Columbus” exclaims that he did kill people.  “His marauding band hunted   Indians for sport and profit- beating, raping, torturing, killing, and then using the Indian bodies as food for their hunting dogs,” page 2.  This proves that he did murder people and do other bad things to the Indians.  Therefore, Columbus was a bad man involving many things that people consider cruel.

Finally, Christopher Columbus was not who historians thought that he was because he had a false reputation.  For example, in the article “Christopher Columbus” by Patsy Stevens, she says that Columbus was not the first person to know that the Earth was round.  “Some people thought he was trying to prove the world was round, but this is not true.  Most people already knew the Earth was round,” page 1.  This shows that Columbus did not discover and inform everyone that the world was round.  Most people back then already knew.  Another example of why Christopher Columbus’ reputation is false is from the article “Christopher Columbus Timeline” by Linda Alchin.  “Columbus again appeals to King Ferdinand of Spain for patronage, but he was again refused,” page 2.  Christopher Columbus asked for his voyage to be paid for by the King of Spain several times because in the quote it says that he was, “again refused.” This shows that Columbus needed to beg multiple times just to be able to sail across the sea.  He still needed food, a crew, and other supplies to actually last and make the trip worth it.  
Yes, Columbus was a rewarding man.  He did fight for what he really wanted to do in his life.  An example is, “He helped his father with the weaving, but he always wanted to sail the seas,” states the author Patsy Stevens of the article “Christopher Columbus” on page 2.  So yes, Columbus was the kind of person who would do anything to achieve his/her goal.  He was also the first person to be impulsive enough to sail the ocean knowing nothing about what could happen.  That takes guts and determination.

Christopher Columbus is known for discovering America, but is only known by some for who he truly is.  Yes, Columbus did sail the Atlantic and discover what people today call now North America.  He also had a couple more journeys after that.  But what he really did: murdering people, keeping slaves, and not being that successful is what really matters.  This matters because it is just like judging a book by its cover.  The cover of Columbus is that he discovered America and all, but what is on the inside is all of the murdering, keeping people as slaves, and having a false reputation.  That has happened to me before where I judged a book called Daniel X because it looked like the book would be action packed.  Turns out it was not that great.  Would you want to read a book like that? A book with an interesting cover, but gets worse and worse as you keep reading.