Nathalie Estevez
Nov.14, 2008
English 12
Compare and contrast
Two different viewpoints debating the achievements of Christopher Columbus debate whether or not he discovered America, and if he deserves all the honors for his discoveries. On the other hand, some discuss the way his agreements were handled, and the little importance that he gave the Native American people when deciding how to use and distribute the land.
Michael S. Berliner, of the Boston Herald newspaper, stated: “Did Christopher Columbus discover America? Yes, in every important aspect. This does not mean that no human eye had been cast on America before Columbus arrived. It does mean that Columbus brought America to the attention of the civilized world that is to the growing scientific civilizations of Western Europe.” To continue, Berliner defends Christopher Columbus’ accidental discovery, and he is certain that everyone should recognize the struggles he went through and be able to gather ships and crews so that people could be aware of how big or small our earth really is. Also, Columbus wanted to demonstrate new routes to span our navigation skills through the vast oceans. Furthermore, Columbus believed that there were more ways to get from one place to the next, which was going to make it easier, and faster to transport goods and services.
On the other hand, in an interview from “A World Of Ideas” Louise Erdrich and Michael Doris, responded to this issue in a totally different way. Erdrich and Doris say, “ Columbus only discovered that he was in some new place. He did not discover America. The best way to celebrate Columbus would be to begin keeping over four hundred treaties (with Native Americans) that were made and never kept. If some of the treaties were kept, perhaps through returning some of the land from the public domain to Native American communities, that land itself would mean that standards of living would rise. It really comes down to the land.” Furthermore, they...