Why is Christopher Columbus now considered controversial by many?
Columbus' complicated flat earth myth
Like a lot of things, Columbus is more complicated than what we learned in elementary school. In fact, Columbus never set out to prove the earth was round. The Ancient Greeks discovered our world was a sphere over a thousand years before and it was accepted knowledge in his time. But Columbus did mistakenly believe the circumference of the earth was a lot smaller than it is, leading to his theory that he could easily reach China by heading west.
Indigenous people enslaved and mistreated
But that’s not really why some people are now hesitant to celebrate his legacy. His treatment of the Indigenous people is probably the most problematic. On his first day in the new world, after landing on an unknown Caribbean island, he ordered six residents to be seized as slaves. When he sent 500 enslaved people to Queen Isabella of Spain, historians say the angry monarch sent them back, believing any people Columbus discovered were Spanish subjects who should not be in chains. But that did not stop Columbus from sending thousands more people to Europe to be sold, decimating populations.
Columbus arrest legacy tarnished
And Columbus was not free from controversy in his own lifetime. After conditions in one of his settlements got so bad it led to a revolt, he was arrested and returned to Spain. He died a few years later having lost most of his prestige. Now as new generations tackle his history, his legacy sparks new debates.