Reading Time: 4 Minutes, 55 seconds
“In fourteen hundred and ninety-three, Columbus stole all he could see.” – Traditional verse…remixed
Pop Quiz… who are the only two people the United States honors by name in a national holiday? Martin Luther King Jr. and Christopher Columbus! Columbus is seen like Jesus Christ by historians, they separate the history of the Americas as “before Columbus” and “after Columbus. ” The Bible, for instance, is separated into “before Christ” and “after Christ.” Most people probably haven’t given much thought to Columbus since elementary social science class. Other people only think of the mediocre sales they can get on his holiday. Is Columbus the hero we were taught way back when? Or is his story more a myth, and he’s a lot closer to a mass murderer, thief, leader of a genocide, enslaver, and all-around horrible human being? We’re going to discuss some of the well-known stories about Columbus today to see what’s real and what’s false.
Was Columbus the “first” to discover America in 1492?
The answer is an emphatic no, The Norse (Vikings) had a colony on Greenland from 982-1500. From Greenland, a series of Viking expeditions reached various parts of North America, including Baffin land (Canada), Labrador (Canada), Newfound land (Canada), and possibly New England. Some historians believe that the Norse got down as far as North Carolina. Columbus visited Iceland in 1477; it’s hard to believe he didn’t learn of North America and the Norse voyages then.
A map found in Turkey that is dated 1513, includes coastline details of South America and Antartica. Ancient Roman and Carthaginians coins keep being found all over the Americas. The coins cause archeologists to think that Romans visited the Americas more than once. Two Native American Ships were found shipwrecked in 60 B.C.
The Phoenicians (from Africa) launched their boats from either Morocco or West Africa and reached the Atlantic Coast of Mexico in around 750 B.C. Stone heads with African features stand along the eastern coast of Mexico. The statues are thought to be realistic portraits of West Africans. Alexander von Wuthenau stated about the figures, “It is contradictory to elementary logic and to all artistic experience that an Indian can depict in a masterly way interest the head of a Negro or of a white person without missing a single racial characteristic, he had seen such a person.”
We have evidence of the Vikings, Romans, Turkish, and Africans all visiting the America’s before Columbus. We also have proof of the Native Americans, visiting Europe before Columbus. If anything, Columbus was the last to “discover” the America’s but gets all the credit. Have to love white privilege; they are always “discovering” things others have either founded or have been using for years.
Was Columbus really seeking new trade routes on his historic voyage?
“Gold is most excellent; gold constitutes treasure, and he who has it does all he wants in the world, and can even lift souls up to paradise.” Christopher Columbus
Columbus was about his paper if they found a trade route tremendous, but that wasn’t his primary concern. Columbus was all about C.R.E.A.M. way before the Wu-tang Clan. If you don’t believe me, listen to the words of one of his shipmates, Michele De Cuneo “After we had rested for several days in our settlement, it seemed to the Lord Admiral that it was time to put into execution his desire to search for gold, which was the main reason he had started on so great a voyage full of so many dangers.”
Where did Columbus intend to sail to?
The evidence is inconclusive. Some say he was seeking Japan, India, or Indonesia; others say he was trying to reach “new lands” to the west. It is an answer we will probably never know. All we know is Columbus was sailing away from Europe.
Did people at the time of Columbus 1492 voyage, still think the earth was flat?
Most Europeans and Native Americans knew the world was round in 1492. Sailors see the earth’s roundness when ships disappear over the horizon. History books make Columbus seem like the old world batman. He bravely voyages the vast open seas to explore “new” lands, and in his spare time, he dabbles in science to prove the world was round. All lies to pump up the myth of one Christopher Columbus.
Did Columbus die penniless and unaware of his accomplishments?
False, Spain immediately appreciated Columbus’s discoveries. Spain outfitted him with a more significant second voyage to the Americas. Columbus died well off from all the gold he stole, and he left his heirs well endowed.
Was Columbus the godfather of the slave trade?
On Columbus’s first voyage to the Americas, he kidnapped some 10 to 25 Native Americans and took them back with him to Spain. Only 7 or 8 arrived alive. On Columbus’s next trip, he ended up landing in Haiti. This time Columbus rounded up 1500 Arawaks, 500 were sent to Spain as slaves, 500 were selected to be slaves for the Spanish on the island. Of the 500 shipped to Spain, 200 died along the voyage.
Columbus installed the encomienda system in Haiti. In the system, he granted or “Commended” entire Indian Villages to individual colonists or groups of colonists. Technically this was not slavery, just forced labor so it skirts around Queen Isabella distaste for slavery. The Arawaks started to commit suicide in mass to get out of this system. Arawak women started committing abortion or killing their young babies to avoid having them become slaves. Before Columbus reached Haiti, that island population was believed to be about 8 million people. In 1496 Columbus brother Bartholomew took a census of the Arawaks, and the count came to 3 million people. By 1516, according to Benjamin Keene, “thanks to the sinister Indian slave trade and labor policies initiated by Columbus, only some 12,000 remained.” By 1542 there were fewer than 200 full-bloodied Haitian Indians alive. By 1555, they were all deceased.
A whole tribe wiped out by actions started by Columbus. Other nations rushed to copy the tactics of Columbus. Because the Indians were dying in mass numbers during transportation for slavery, it indirectly led to the other slave trade..the one from Africa. To add another sinister aspect to this, Columbus rewarded his lieutenants with native women to rape.
Mistakes Were Made:
“Christopher Colombus not only opened the door to a new world, but also set an example for us all by showing what monumental feats can be accomplished through perseverance and faith.” George H.W. Bush
“His Christian faith gave to him a religious incentive to thwart the piratical activities of the Turkish marauders preying upon the trading ships of the Christian world.” Representative Roland Libonati
American history and quotes like the ones above make Christopher Columbus seem like a mythical superhero. The facts stated above paint an entirely different picture of Columbus’s actions. What’s the truth? I lean more to the side I told today, others believe in the Colombus myth we were taught in school. Truth is there is no truth silver bullet on the matter. All we are left with is circumstantial evidence that can be interpreted one way or the other. I know that, on this upcoming Monday, I will be celebrating Indigenous People’s day instead of Columbus day. My eyes have been opened on this matter, and I can’t go back to believing the lies about Columbus we were taught as kids
