es as a hero, the Spanish explorer who "discovered" the New World, starting the Americas as we know them today. From the time one enters grade school to the time one graduates from high school in the United States, Americans are taught that Columbus was a courageous, determined man who sailed to the Americas because of his love for adventure. However, behind this glorious tale of Columbus's great adventure is a horrific reality. Columbus was more a villain than a hero, responsible for stealing both the land that we live on today and caused the deaths and disruption many indigenous people. The destruction that he caused harmed many, and is still evident today.

The most obvious of Columbus' spoilage is the killing and enslavement of the Native North Americans. Columbus is one of history's worst mass murderers (StraightTalkers.com). One Spanish adventurer, who accompanied Columbus on his journey, wrote in his journal that there was neither "paper nor time enough to tell all that the [conquistadors] did to ruin the Indians and rob them and destroy the land" (American Holocaust qtd. by aigenom.com). Christopher Columbus and his men conquered, exploited, enslaved, and committed genocide against the Native Americans. The Native Americans were very gracious to the Spanish, yet still the Spanish did not return the same kindness, or even decency. One excerpt from Columbus' Journal of the voyage on December 25, 1492, read "They love their neighbors as themselves; at the same time they exhibit the most gentle, cheerful manner, always accompanying their courteous speeches with a smile" (qtd. by Iten). When describing his first arrival to the New World, Columbus wrote in his log, "They... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks bells... They were well built, with good bodies and handsome features... they do not bear arms... they would make fine servants ... with fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want... they offer to share with everyone. (qtd. by Iten)" Another example of Columbus' thoughts of the peaceful natives was in this excerpt of his journal on December 16, 1492, "They own no weapons, are unwar-like, harmless, naked, and so cowardly that thousands of them would not let three of my men come up to them. On the other hand, they are ready to share, to work, and to carry out everything necessary" (qtd. by Iten). The next day, Columbus' journal entry was about this same tribe, known as the Arawaks. "As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force" (qtd. by StraightTalkers.com). This shows Columbus' selfishness that lead to the eventual destruction of these kind people. They were very open and peaceful, willing to share. In return, though, Columbus and his men only thought of what they could force the natives to do in their service. Columbus made it clear in his writing that he was expecting to encounter the wealth of the indigenous people on his journey, and seize it by whatever means necessary (Churchill).

After arriving in the West Indies, the Spaniards went from island to island in the Caribbean, enslaving Indians.  The Indians were forced to mine gold, and if they didn't produce their quota, they were killed. Once the gold mines were exhausted, the Indians became slaves on large estates, subjected to burning at the stake, hanging, mutilations, kidnapping, and stealing (Straighttalkers.com). Before his return to Spain, Columbus raided 1500 men, women, and children, penned them up, and took 500 back to Spain with him. Once reaching Spain, the Native Americans went up for sale. This was the start of the infamous Atlantic slave trade (Straighttalkers.com). Columbus treated the natives in this newly found land in an inhumane and cruel manner, completely disrupting their entire lifestyle.

Christopher Columbus and his men viewed the Native Americans as inferior, and killed them in massive numbers (Straighttalkers.com). One Spanish Missionary, Baltolome de las Casas wrote, "One day, [Columbus and his men] dismembered, beheaded, or raped 3,000 people. Such inhumanities and barbarism were committed in my sight" (qtd. by ManticEye.com). This eyewitness account verifys the destruction of the Native Americans. The Spanish cut the legs off of children who ran from them. They made bets as to who could cut a person in half with one sweep of the sword. Columbus and his men took nursing infants from their mothers to be used as dog food (ManticEye.com). This "systematic, prolonged campaign of brutality and sadism" (ManticEye.com); a policy of torture, mass murder, slavery, and forced labor continued for centuries (ManticEye.com). As one can see, Columbus devastated those that welcomed him as a guest in their land.

Along with murdering countless people, Columbus and his men subjected the Native Americans to many diseases for which the Natives had no immunity. One of these was smallpox. Columbus and his successors gave the Native Americans blankets infected with smallpox, killing many, as did the variety of other diseases brought over from Europe. Disease and genocide "were interdependent forces acting dynamically... each feeding upon the other" (American Holocaust qtd. by aigenom.com) to cause the overall destruction of Native Americans. As far as numbers go, the disease brought by Europeans to natives caused more deaths than any single force of destruction in the world, ever (American Holocaust qtd. by aigenom.com). The Europeans found many ways to destroy the Native American people, and their societies.

Columbus can be blamed for the deaths of 100's of millions of native people. For every 20 natives alive before European contact, only one survived (American Holocaust qtd. by aigenom.com). Just 21 years after Columbus first landed in the Caribbean, the highly populated island Columbus renamed Hispaniola was desolate. Nearly 8 million residents of Hispaniola had been killed by violence and disease (American Holocaust qtd. by aigenom.com). During the span of one generation, the deaths that occurred on Hispaniola were the equivalent of over 50 Hiroshima atom bombs (when the most people died from a single explosion) (American Holocaust qtd. by aigenom.com). In 1508, 60,000 Indians were left surviving on Cuba, compared to the 3 million that lived there just a few years before. By 1650, the original Haitian Arawaks had been completely exterminated. The decrease in population would be comparable to the deaths of every black and white person living in the United States today (American Holocaust qtd. by aigenom.com). Columbus nearly exterminated all people he came in contact with. He was hardly a heroic and constructive explorer, bringing death and destruction everywhere he traveled.

Columbus and his men caused the devastation that is still evident today. As Kirkpatrick Sale, author of The Conquest of Paradise puts it, "Columbus began a pattern of destruction that was to inflict untold misery on millions of non-Europeans. He killed Indians, ushered in the slave trade, and denuded the islands he landed on" (qtd by ManticEye.com). Columbus' legend includes an immoral and heartless way of dealing with those of a different background.

Along with affecting Native Americans, Christopher Columbus also played a negative role in the lives of many Africans. As a substitute for the perishing enslaved Indians, the Spaniards began as early as 1509 to import slaves from Africa (Iten). These Africans and their descendants were in bondage up until the practice was abolished in the United States in 1865, for over 300 years. Although they were no longer enslaved, African-Americans were left in an impoverished, uneducated, and segregated state after they were "freed." Eventually, African-Americans were treated humanely by law, but still today racism, discrimination, and oppression are largely evident. This racism is deeply rooted from the Columbus-spurred slave trade.

In conclusion, the heritage provided by Christopher Columbus is not one to be celebrated. As Hans Koning puts it, "There was no real ending to the conquest of Latin America. It is still going on in our day when miners and ranchers invade land belonging to the Amazon Indians and armed thugs occupy Indian villages in the backwoods of Central America" (qtd. by ManticEye.com). Christopher Columbus sent both Native Americans and many Africans into debt, oppression, and slavery, killing a myriad of people. His ruthless, angry search for wealth set a tone of a criminal quest for wealth in the Americas (ManticEye.com). Columbus set an example, and helped found the United States of America through genocide and the mistreatment of people, causing a Holocaust. In reality, such genocide has happened many times before, and is happening still today in Rwanda and other places. Responsible people today need to study and analyze the holocaust's of the past, in order to prevent Columbus' legacy of racism, greed, and violence from continuing to be a menace to peace on Ear