pgs. 594-595 Blog Questions

1) Why is there a myth about Christopher Columbus, and why do we have a holiday for him?

In my opinion, the myths about Columbus exist to portray him as a hero. The myth that he had little resources and poorly constructed ships make him look more capable, since he was able to discover "America" with only the bare minimum. If instead, they told the truth about him, that he had lots of resources and well built ships, then he would be seen as less of a hero, since he had all those resources to help him out in his journey. We created a holiday for him and celebrate the false fact that he discovered America, because the discovery of America is one of the most important events in our history, and it is the reason why we are all here today. We as a society needed some central figure to look up to for such an important event, and since the people who actually discovered America were probably insignificant, we chose Columbus, because he is well known and he got somewhat "close" to finding America. 

2) Reflect on the contents of the essay.  What will be new/change about the path of history in this coming era?  What do you think will continue/stay the same?


The biggest change that will come with this era is the integration of the eastern and western hemisphere to create a singular global connection. In this new era, trade will be truly global, since all parts of the world come together in one global economy, unlike the previous era of trade, in which the eastern and western hemisphere only conducted trade within their own hemispheres and rarely ever did commerce with each other. Another big change is the increase in slave trade. Although slave trade existed in previous eras, it boomed in the early modern era. Massive numbers of slaves were traded across the eastern, as well as the western hemispheres, where they suffered cruel and inhumane conditions. Other   than these two major changes, most everything else remains the same. There is still the spread of agriculture, manufactured products, culture, and technology, as there was in the previous era. Religions like Christianity and Islam, as well as technologies like printing and gunpowder reached areas throughout the globe. Trade routes still existed and prospered even more than in previous eras.