Evaluations of Historical Heroes- Katrina Furgeson

    In American history, we spend lots of time reviewing the heroes of our early history. The one that stands out the most to me is Christofor Columbus, as we celebrate him nationally every year. We hail him and other similar men for discovering these lands and tipping off the chain of events to lead to the beginnings of modern democracy. But, as we move further and progress further in society if these men are the heroes in our history or the monsters.

    IN our earliest years of schooling, we learn about Columbus sailing the oceans blue and discovering America, and dubbing him as our first American hero. More recently, a discussion of him really being a monster has emerged, and I must say that I agree. In the colonization of the New World, thousands of Natives Americans were killed or enslaved. This does not seem to me to be a display of freedom and liberty, as we currently describe our American heroes. 

    Another example of this type of historical figure is George Washington. He may have fought against an oppressive government, and fought for the freedoms of colonial Americans, he also himself enslaved people and owned a plantation. This is where many controversies come up, as we decide if we need to look at him in the light of the present or the past. Should we look past his racism because it was standard in the era of the revolution? Or should we instead hold these people to the same values we hold today? It is a sticky situation to decide who to hold to hero standards and who to leave in the past.