See links for source at bottom:
I recommend reading James Loewen’s eye-opening book about how textbooks distort history, Lies My Teacher Told Me (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995). Among the very interesting myths Loewen exposes are the ones surrounding Christopher Columbus.
You may in fact know the following:
• Columbus–and virtually everyone else at the end of the fifteenth century–was fully aware that the earth was round.
• Columbus indeed recognized that he’d discovered a new continent, even adding a section to his coat of arms reflecting it. He never confused it with India.
• The voyage to the “New Land” took about a month. It was smooth sailing the entire way. There was never any threat of mutiny.
• The Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria were well-equipped vessels.
• Columbus’ accomplishment was immediately appreciated by Spain, which outfitted him for a large second voyage–17 ships, 1200 men, and weapons.
• Columbus may not even have been Italian; he certainly never wrote in Italian.
What you may not know is that Columbus epitomized greed, racism, and sadism. He searched for new lands for one reason only: gold. Where he found natives, he captured, enslaved, or murdered them. Here’s an excerpt from Ferdinand Columbus’s biography of his father:
“The soldiers mowed down dozens with point-blank volleys, loosed the dogs to rip open limbs and bellies, chased fleeing Indians into the bush to skewer them on sword and pike, and with God’s aid soon gained a complete victory, killing many Indians and capturing others who were also killed” (from Kirkpatrick Sale, The Conquest of Paradise [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990]).
Columbus’s “discoveries” unleashed a world of slavery and persecution that has ramifications to this day.
Taken from this blog.
Political Essays and Op-Eds - Neal Starkman
At this link:
http://blog.seattlepi.com/nealstarkman/2009/10/12/columbuss-day/
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