As Columbus came upon the New World, his intensions were not noble. He had no thought in his mind about helping the natives, or helping others. In my opinion, his only goals were made to benefit himself, and to glorify him with fame. For those reasons, I believe that Columbus' encounter with the Native Americans can best be described as an imperialistic act of Genocide.
When Columbus sailed across the ocean, he thought his final destination was to be Asia. His main goal when he met the natives that he called "Los indios" was to harvest the considerable amounts of gold Jewelry. When he told the king and queen of this discovery, the plan was to come back, deceive the Indians into thinking it was for a good reason, and take all of the gold and valuables that could be found. If this is a noble act, then the question would arise of what is a non-noble act.
Christoper Columbus arrives in America
Columbus, Ohio
The Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, home ...Another reason that I have this theory is because of what occurred on his second trip. When he came back and his men were "...raping native women, and robbing Indian villages..." Columbus had a right to be angry with his men, as did the natives. With those acts, the natives were brought up in a society that punishes those acts by death, and that is exactly what they did, they killed them. When Columbus found out that 10 Spaniards were dead, he attacked the Indians. As soon as he did that, he could no longer be described as being heroic, but instead, committing an act of genocide.
The Natives committed an act of self defense against the Spaniards, yet Columbus, once again, committed an act of pure greed. When his crew captured 500 natives, and loaded them on a...