Is christopher columbus a great historical figure?

The name Christopher Columbus is widely known indeed. For the past few centuries, he has been known as a great discoverer- The Admiral of the Ocean Sea, and a great historical figure. But yet, many people claimed that Christopher Columbus' treatment of Taino Indians was not something a great person would do. Thus many debates have resulted. When I heard about his treatment to the people he found, I am inclined to agree that he is not such a great historical figure after all.

Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength. (Henry Ward Beecher) This quote is the best reason that I feel Christopher Columbus is not fit to be a great historical figure. His treatment of the Taino people was unjust beyond reason. He took many of them as slaves, killed many more, and exploited them. He also stole the reward of sighting land from Bermejo by claiming he saw a distant light hours earlier.

Some people might say that greatness does not mean that you have to do the right thing. They claim that even Hitler is a great historical figure as he did something no one else ever did. However, I think that a truly great historical figure would have integrity too. With great power comes great responsibility. Hitler had persecuted the Jews to a great extent, and Columbus had killed off lots of Taino people as well. Thus I feel that neither Hitler nor Columbus acted responsibly with the power they had.

Just as Christopher Columbus mistakenly thought that he was in Asia, I think that some people are also mistaken about Columbus being a great historical figure. He had claimed that he was trying to spread Christianity to the Tainos. Yet he killed and enslaved them without any second thoughts. Is that something a Christian would do? I hope not.

I was supposed to write this essay as a socials assignment. Please tell me your thoughts :)

ohh and lastly our teacher told us we must only write one page doublespaced, which explains why this is so short.

no he is not... he stold the land from the tainos... do not support him!

Put quotation "" marks around this:
"Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength." (Henry Ward Beecher)

Wow, this is clever! This part:
Just as Christopher Columbus mistakenly thought that he was in Asia, I think that some people are also mistaken about Columbus being a great historical figure.

Great essay! In fact, when I started reading it I was thinking that I disagreed with you, but now I agree more. You even gave the counterargument and refuted it, which is an important part of a paper in which you make an argument. Brilliant!

I do not think so also.

Thanks everyone for your feedbacks!! :)