Growing up, I knew what I think every child knows about Christopher Columbus, “in the year 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” He had three ships, the Nina, Pinta, and of course the Santa Maria. He found land and ate with the Indians and Pilgrims…we had plays every Thanksgiving about it. So of course, with this being my knowledge of the subject, I was appalled to read what actually happened when Columbus stumbled upon this new found land.
From the reading of chapter one in A People’s History of the United States, the author tells of the truth in Columbus’ expedition. He tells of the extraordinary violence towards the Indian people. Columbus’ men practically killed Indians for sport. Reading about the violence was very disturbing to me. “Infants were killed to “save” them from the Spaniards.” (pg. 7) This absolutely sickens me to think that they had to kill their own innocent children because they didn’t want them to know the pain and suffering caused by the Spaniards. This is just one example of the horrifying acts taking place during this time. Hundreds of thousands of Indians died, not only from the hand of the enemy, but from mass suicides and being overworked.
I understand that what Columbus did, in discovering America, was an honorable thing and quite historic. I only wish there wasn’t so much blood shed. Although, everything happens for a reason. What kind of world would we be living in if the events that occurred had not? Who’s to say it would have been any better or worse. All I know is that somewhere throughout history, the truth has been masked. Children grow up thinking Christopher Columbus was a noble and important man in history (hey, we get a day of from school because of him!) without knowing just what he was capable of. I can’t necessarily coin Columbus hero or villain, he did what he believed he had to do at that time. History is full of violence and we can’t control what or how any of it happened. We just have to accept it and understand it. For we all are history in the making, and none of us are perfect.
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3 comments:
First I must say that your style of writing is very nice. With that said though I must make a few comments in regards to your post. Some of your background knowledge seems to be off. Christopher Columbus did not eat with the Indians and Pilgrims. He also had nothing to do with Thanksgiving as that occured in 1620 well after Columbus had died. (Faragher, 67, 2006)
I also don't understand how what Columbus did was honorable in regards to discovering a new land. Yes, he made an important contribution through the discovery of the clockwise circulation of Atlantic winds and currents. (Faragher, 38, 2006) Columbus from the start was looking for fame and fortune by his desire to open a new route to the Indies. (Faragher, 37, 2006) When Columbus reached the Caribbean he was overcome with greed, and honor was not a part of conscience.
First I must say that your style of writing is very nice. With that said though I must make a few comments in regards to your post. Some of your background knowledge seems to be off. Christopher Columbus did not eat with the Indians and Pilgrims. He also had nothing to do with Thanksgiving as that occured in 1620 well after Columbus had died. (Faragher, 67, 2006)
I also don't understand how what Columbus did was honorable in regards to discovering a new land. Yes, he made an important contribution through the discovery of the clockwise circulation of Atlantic winds and currents. (Faragher, 38, 2006) Columbus from the start was looking for fame and fortune by his desire to open a new route to the Indies. (Faragher, 37, 2006) When Columbus reached the Caribbean he was overcome with greed, and honor was not a part of conscience. Columbus was by far a villain and not a hero.
Jeff Ignatz
This post rightly points out that, despite the horrible things Columbus did, he still is an important part of American and World History. The post is also right to note that little children are not taught the horrible things that Columbus did. However, I believe that it is appropriate not to go into gory detail about these things with Children just like it is not appropriate to teach most 9 year old kids calculus: they can’t handle it. They may appreciate it, and they may understand that it is significant. But children don’t really need much more than “Columbus wasn’t very nice to the people he found because most explorers at that time weren’t very nice to the people they found.” Telling them about being worked to death and mass suicide is too much for young kids. Once kids get to high school, however—an age when they can accurately conceptualize and understand these kinds of things—they learn that more happened than just the three ships that went floating by. But it would be entirely inappropriate, I think, to try to ignore what Columbus did, given his impact on world history.
Juan Pablo Manriquez Zambrano
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