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Friday, February 2, 2018
Headline: 1493 The Return Voyage
Author: Lorenzo Camusso
Source of the Article: The Voyages of Columbus
1. prevailing - existing at a particular time
2. nautical - of or concerning sailors or navigation
3. arrogance - having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities
Because of a large and dangerous storm, one of Christopher Columbus's ships, the Pinta, disappeared from sight. Columbus thought that it had sunk, but nevertheless, it was gone, so Columbus had only one ship left, The Nina. The Nina was the smallest ship of the three. Since he was down to his last ship, Columbus decided to stop for some help at Cape St. Vincent, in Portugal. It was also very close by. When they got there on February 18, they dropped anchor and the next morning they went to shore to go to the chapel, though they were soon arrested by the Portuguese, who thought that the Spanish were bad. Columbus was infuriated by this, and after many debates and negotiations, he got his crew out of prison and they set sail again on February 24th. On March 4th, they arrived at Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.
I think that Columbus Day should keep its name. Even though Columbus was kind of an idiot and didn't really discover America... he still dragged us out of the Dark Ages. By thinking up new ideas, and just being adventurous in general. Everyone went from thinking that the world was flat to discovering a "new way to get to Asia" and actaully finding a new continent! Columbus should not be praised every October 12 for discovering America, but for exploring and thinking and helping the people of Spain learn to do those things, too. He should not be famous for discovering America, but instead for making the people smart and more thoughtful again.
My other reactions to these events are that Columbus is an overrated idiot who thought that he found a new way to get to Asia. Well... no one really knows about that. Basically, everybody believes that Christopher Columbus was a brave sailor who was super smart and discovered America. Unfortunately, they are all wrong. Columbus thought that the world was extremely small, and that if he sailed west then he could get to Asia. It turned out that he actually found a new continent, and was completely oblivous to it. The man was in Cuba! There are palms, beaches, and islanders there that have totally different lifestyles than Asians. I don't understand how he couldn't see that he wasn't in Asia. Also, he should not have his own holiday because he did not discover America since people were ALREADY LIVING THERE, and he is an idiot who thought that Cuba and the Indies were the same place. However... he did get us from thinking the world wasn't round to something else entirely...so I think it should still be Columbus Day. This can relate to the world because people are constantly findidng new things and not knowing what they have found. Also, there are lots of people who like to take credit for things that they didn't do or find, and people that like to take over other people's land without the negotiation or authority to do so.