Was Columbus really the glorified figure that we were taught about at a young age?

What is the point in celebrating this characteristic? If his Heroism didn't lead us to a good place, why do we celebrate it? 

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First of all while it was known to some people that the earth was round, it's  circumference had been known since the  ancient Greeks. this made it extremely unlikely that Columbus could sail all the way to India unless he found someplace to replenish his stores of food. also as the other proof of the target statement points out, the trip across the Atlantic was extremely dangerous. so I don't think  it can be  denied that Columbus was brave and heroic.

 heroic is not a synonym of a good person. in fact most heroes are  considered heroes for their wartime accomplishments, killing many people. So the arguments that Columbus did bad things  are pretty much irrelevant to the topic statement here that he did heroic things. if the author of this topic wants to change the topic statement in some way this could continue, but currently the topic statement maintains Columbus was heroic, and that seems to be pretty clearly true and proven.

 also this was not the beginning of American slavery. the indigenous peoples often kept slaves. 

When Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, his intentions were acceptable. He was planning on going to India to obtain Spices. Yes, he was brave in that he went off the unpopular opinion of the world being round, but this was already proven with science so this doesn't necessarily make him brave. When he got to the New World that he thought was India, he met the Native Americans. He enslaved them, used violence to get what he wanted, and he was the beginning of American Slavery. Slavery is something that we now realize is something that should not have been done as we could have progressed much further as a nation. If Columbus hadn't used violence, slavery might not have been so prominent in early America

Christopher Columbus led four voyages across the Atlantic ocean in wooden ships not designed to take the punishing waters of the Atlantic ocean.  Also, there were many people across Europe who did not believe he could do it.  Although he did not treat the indigenous people right, Columbus was the one that created the bridge between the old and new world. 

Heroic is a synonym of brave according to the dictionary.

A hero (heroine in its feminine form) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of Ingenuity courage or strength.

 sailing across the Atlantic Ocean when it had never been done before within memory or history, and when many people believed it would lead you to fall off the end of the world was undoubtedly a brave act. indeed Columbus and all his men were near starvation and would have starved if they had not hit the New World, a serendipitous discovery. they never would've made it to India.

Heroes in general are celebrated for their accomplishments and the benefits that come from those accomplishments. Columbus's discovery of the New World created many benefits for Spain, the country that sent him, and for the later settlers of the New World, although it was not so great for the indigenous people. heroes in general are people, and like all people they have their shortcomings and sins. this does not prevent them from being  recognized as heroes. Indeed heroes are more often than not figures in warfare who slaughter their opponents, who probably are not happy about it. 

Columbus sent thousands of peaceful Taino "Indians" from their island to be sold in Spain.  Many of these people died on the way.  Columbus imposed iron discipline on what is now the Dominican Republic.  In response to unrest and revolt, Columbus ordered a brutal crackdown in which many natives were killed.  He ordered the dismembered bodies to be paraded through the streets.

https://www.history.com/news/columbus-day-controversy

Columbus had done many bad things in his lifetime and he never even set foot in North America.