Monday is Columbus day here in America and many will get the day off from school and work. While at face value it seems reasonable to celebrate the man who discovered America, it really is not if you consider some of the actions he took which changed the course of the future, for the worse. I would like to devote this entry to exploring the reasons why Columbus was a tryrant who should not be celebrated.
First, a little background info. Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. He was hired as a cabin boy at age 14 and became a captain by age thirty. In 1476, Columbus became a citizen of Portugal and started to consider launching a expedition to reach Asia by going west. He believed that the world was almost 5,000 miles smaller than it really is, and that the Americas didn't exsist. At the time, the was normal as the New World had only been seen once before, and that was by the scandanavian sailor Leif Erikson. Most people of the time new nothing of Erikson. In 1482, Columbus asked the King of Portugal to fund the expedition. He was turned down. Columbus than went to Spain. Spain at first was hesitant, than they agreed and provided 3 ships and eighty-something crew. On October 12, 1492. Columbus landed on the Bahamas. He met the Arawaks who he named, the Taino because they came to him saying "taino" which meant "peace."
Columbus claimed the land for Spain, and on that day, European sentiment towards Native Americans were set in stone for the next 400 years. How is that so? Well it has to do with Columbus's observations and thoughts and attitude in general. He wrote in his diary that the natives could be easily converted and "subjugated." He also wrote that the lands were resource rich and that they could be of much profit to Spain. And finally he stated that the Natives could be easily intimidated and taken advantage of. It was this which led Europeans to rape and exploit Native American culture and society and land.
Columbus also encouraged the plundering, rape, of the Arawaks and their villages. Diesease also took it's toll, and if the Arawaks resisted, they were slaughtered by the European's advanced weaponry. in 1494 alone, some 50,000 Arawaks perished.
In short, celebrating Columbus is celebrating a tyrant. It was Columbus who set the stage for the next 400 years which would be 400 years of diesease, death, starvation, genocide, and mass murder.
First, a little background info. Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. He was hired as a cabin boy at age 14 and became a captain by age thirty. In 1476, Columbus became a citizen of Portugal and started to consider launching a expedition to reach Asia by going west. He believed that the world was almost 5,000 miles smaller than it really is, and that the Americas didn't exsist. At the time, the was normal as the New World had only been seen once before, and that was by the scandanavian sailor Leif Erikson. Most people of the time new nothing of Erikson. In 1482, Columbus asked the King of Portugal to fund the expedition. He was turned down. Columbus than went to Spain. Spain at first was hesitant, than they agreed and provided 3 ships and eighty-something crew. On October 12, 1492. Columbus landed on the Bahamas. He met the Arawaks who he named, the Taino because they came to him saying "taino" which meant "peace."
Columbus claimed the land for Spain, and on that day, European sentiment towards Native Americans were set in stone for the next 400 years. How is that so? Well it has to do with Columbus's observations and thoughts and attitude in general. He wrote in his diary that the natives could be easily converted and "subjugated." He also wrote that the lands were resource rich and that they could be of much profit to Spain. And finally he stated that the Natives could be easily intimidated and taken advantage of. It was this which led Europeans to rape and exploit Native American culture and society and land.
Columbus also encouraged the plundering, rape, of the Arawaks and their villages. Diesease also took it's toll, and if the Arawaks resisted, they were slaughtered by the European's advanced weaponry. in 1494 alone, some 50,000 Arawaks perished.
In short, celebrating Columbus is celebrating a tyrant. It was Columbus who set the stage for the next 400 years which would be 400 years of diesease, death, starvation, genocide, and mass murder.
Whatever I think of Chavez, I'm very keen on the Venezuelan alternative to Columbus day - Day of Indigenous Resistance!
Ren - that just about sums it up
Dave - Yeah I read that on Wikipedia lol. That was so coined by Chavez. I could tell the instant I read it. It just reaked of him lol.
In fourteen hundred and ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
In fourteen hundred and ninety-three
Columbus stole all he could see.
Columbus may have been cruel to the Taino, but keep in mind that that was nothing compared to the conquistadors who came later, like Cortez, Pizarro, Coronado, De Soto, etc. And even if he didn't exactly "discover America" his voyage started an interest in exploration that did just that.