American Lit Burden Of The United States - 1031 Words

Morgan Finley American Lit Burden December 12, 2014 American What does it mean to be American? Webster’s defines an American as: Of or relating to the United States of America or its people, language, or culture. My definition to be American means that you’re free. Free to say what you want. Free to choose your own religion. Free to vote for whom you want. Free to grow up and pick the occupation you desire. Free to go where you please. Free of being a slave to no one! Free to love whom you want. Most importantly, free to get a good education. Just being free period! As a child, I was taught those things to grow up and realize you’re not as free as they portray us to be. Thomas More’s Utopia is an enhanced United States of America.†¦show more content†¦Christopher Columbus is mostly famous for being credited with discovering the Americas. It is said to be that his explorations paved the way for the colonization and exploration of certain areas. How can Christopher Columbus be the first to discover the Am ericas, if there were people living there when he arrived? I did come to one accurate conclusion of what Christopher Columbus was famous for. Christopher Columbus was the first person from overseas (foreigner) to find the Americas, not the first to find the Americas. After arriving to the Americas to see he wasn’t the first person there, you would think his character and attitude towards the natives would have been positive. Christopher Columbus was known to be very cruel, greedy, and manipulative to the natives. Christopher Columbus enslaved indigenous people and also raped the women. He killed and tortured many Native Americans when he landed in the West Indies, and also made some of them slaves. Mind you that slavery was in Spain, one of his previous journeys, and hasn’t been introduced to the New World (Fernandez-Armesto). Not only was Columbus filthy verbally, but physically too, due to the fact he brought diseases to the New World and also died from one. Columbus too, took advantage of natural resources. Slave trade was active in the Americas, because the natives could have