What is America to Me?!

Vanessa White
January 22, 2009
English 1120


America today is a totally different place than what it was hundreds of years ago. Naming America had to be a very difficult task for him with little to no help from others. Society has become more comfortable with people that are new to this country. Christopher Columbus had a short life on a long journey of unexpected events. People have changed drastically from then and now.

Some of the islands that surround America, but are considered part of America, were named words that, we, Americans cannot pronounce or have never seen before. Christopher Columbus was obviously a very diverse person in order for him to want to find the islands of America. He had to be smart to name them the way he did without the input of any other person. In his letters, he never mentioned anyone helping him out with this voyage, so it had to be a very hard thing to do with naming America.

When we were first found, the community was more afraid of new comers than welcoming. Christopher Columbus says, “There were neither towns nor villages on the seashore, but only small hamlets, with the people of which I could not have speech because they fled immediately”. My thoughts towards this statement are, whether or not he would be able to talk to them even if they did not run away. With the difference of languages it would be very difficult to approach someone with a conversation, as of now, it is a lot easier because we can learn different languages in order to carry a conversation with a person who speaks a different language. So we as a community or society are more comfortable with new people coming to our country.

Through Christopher Columbus’ journey of discovery, he has been through lots of different situations. He has grown physically, mentally, and spiritually as a man of new findings. He has had to go through people being scared of him, to people saying that he was evil, to being alone on his journey. I believe it would have been very complicated for him to live through all of the unexpected situations. At the age of twenty-eight, he talks about death because of him being sick. Now people would never talk about death at such a young age even if they are sick. Christopher Columbus really looked reality as it was and not how he wanted to be. He never really gave himself a chance to dream of a future other than exploring to find new land for his country.

In conclusion, I have said and have proven that America is not like it used to be. The names of our American islands have become improperly pronounced and misused. American society has become a more comfortable place for foreign people to live in. People have become more outgoing but harsh at the same time. Christopher Columbus has had a very hard life going through this journey alone. He had no money and really did not have any support of the people of his country. So, America has changed a lot from the discovery and the years today.