US: Christopher Columbus Was a Bad Guy

I'm not sure how I feel about this but I find it strange...

http://news.aol.com/article/students-learn-about-the-dark-side-of/712947?icid=main

I think it's wonderful. No-one should learn a one-sided or one-dimensional history, if you can manage to avoid it. Granted, that's often difficult considering that as they say "history is written by the victor" but why shouldn't students learn about how Columbus, you know, was kind of a craptastic person who tortured people and probably raped little girls? Not to mention, he didn't really know where he was half the time AND he didn't discover America.

 

I do think it's good that students learn all sides of the story, at a level that's appropriate for their age.  He wasn't a hero to those who were already living in the place he "discovered", and it's important that children understand that.

Why do you find it strange?  Is it the methods the schools/teachers use (some of which I do find a bit over the top) or simply that students aren't taught about Columbus the same way we were?

I think it's wonderful. No-one should learn a one-sided or one-dimensional history, if you can manage to avoid it.

I agree whole heartily with this part of your rant.

but why shouldn't students learn about how Columbus, you know, was kind of a craptastic person who tortured people and probably raped little girls? Not to mention, he didn't really know where he was half the time AND he didn't discover America.

Raped little girls??? Tortured people??? What article did you read? The article is about Columbus,,not Polanski!  Do you have anything to back up your claim?

I was taught he discovered America,I was never told he was the first human being to set foot on the continent. Like I said I agree that he probably was not the the first person to sail to the Americas. But to make a claim that he was a sadistic paedophile is insane! 

Raped little girls??? Tortured people??? What article did you read? The article is about Columbus,,not Polanski!  Do you have anything to back up your claim?

I was taught he discovered America,I was never told he was the first human being to set foot on the continent. Like I said I agree that he probably was not the the first person to sail to the Americas. But to make a claim that he was a sadistic paedophile is insane!  

Columbus never actually set foot on any part of the North American landmass. He is mostly credited with spreading 'awareness' of the NA continent (and setting up colonies on 'Hispaniola' what is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) - not of "discovering" it like you were taught (the Norse actually built a settlement on Newfoundland *500* years before Columbus was even around).

This is an excerpt from something written by Thom Hartmann, which contains several snippets of actual letters written by Columbus. Not so glamorous, really.


"Cuneo further notes that he himself took a beautiful teenage Carib girl as his personal slave, a gift from Columbus himself, but that when he attempted to have sex with her, she "resisted with all her strength." So, in his own words, he "thrashed her mercilessly and raped her."

While Columbus once referred to the Taino Indians as cannibals, a story made up by Columbus - which is to this day still taught in some US schools - to help justify his slaughter and enslavement of these people. He wrote to the Spanish monarchs in 1493: "It is possible, with the name of the Holy Trinity, to sell all the slaves which it is possible to sell...Here there are so many of these slaves, and also brazilwood, that although they are living things they are as good as gold..."

Columbus and his men also used the Taino as sex slaves: it was a common reward for Columbus' men for him to present them with local women to rape. As he began exporting Taino as slaves to other parts of the world, the sex-slave trade became an important part of the business, as Columbus wrote to a friend in 1500: "A hundred castellanoes (a Spanish coin) are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten (years old) are now in demand."

As for the torture - I have read elsewhere of his tyrannical nature, but if you even look on Wikipedia it mentions his arrest and trial - where witnesses testified as to his use of torture.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/aug/07/books.spain

But to make a claim that he was a sadistic paedophile is insane! 

So we'll just count that as the argument FOR better teaching of history in school, shall we?

Sir Frances Drake was an evil b*stard too.  I didn't realize the extent of his exploits until I went on vacation to Panama in Central America and our tour guide couldn't contain his seething hatred for Drake and the English.  Drake repeatedly attacked Panama raping the women, killing the men, pillaging the gold and silver and burning down towns. 

This was in the 1500's but the tour guide was still livid.

This is an excerpt from something written by Thom Hartmann, which contains several snippets of actual letters written by Columbus. Not so glamorous, really.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/aug/07/books.spain

I see what you read but you seemed to have missed sharing with us the paragraph that preceeds your quote. It says,
"When Columbus first landed on Hispaniola in 1492, virtually the entire island was covered by lush forest. The Taino "Indians" who loved there had an apparently idyllic life prior to Columbus, from the reports left to us by literate members of Columbus's crew such as Miguel Cuneo."

Your rapist is Miguel Cuneo! And using a blog written by a talk radio personality and presenting it as some sort of investigative journalism is wrong.

Your "snippets of actual letters written by Columbus" were maybe written by a crew member.

Five Hundred years ago the world was a much different place.Standards and norms back then are barbaric today. Christopher Columbus did not invent the slave trade. It was something considered normal at the time. He was an explorer who took money from a country to fund his explorations. It was his job to find wealth to pay back the money.
 I agree he was not the man most were taught he was.People do need to see the different viewpoints of him.I just take offense to you claiming he "raped little girls" based on the info you read by Thom Hartmann and Wikepedia.
 

Well, whether he actually physically raped people isn't really the point. He did ultimately rape people of their land and their dignity, so yeah, I think it's great to tell children the truth. I can remember having a huge argument with a history teacher over his lesson on Andrew Jackson - he called him a great president, I called him a murderous racist. (Yes, I know his family were killed by native peoples, but you can't take these things out on a whole race of people. There was no cause for the Trail of Tears, in my opinion.) I think it is important to discuss things as they actually were, without romanticization. When teachers talk about slavery in schools, they explain things as they actually were (well, maybe a scaled down version that isn't quite so brutal, but it certainly isn't glorified.) So why not be honest about who Columbus was, and what his actions ultimately meant to millions of people who had everything taken from them?

I'm not sure how I feel about this but I find it strange...

http://news.aol.com/article/students-learn-about-the-dark-side-of/712947?icid=main

What exactly do you find strange about the article? It’s Columbus Day, a newspaper runs a story of interest about Columbus, one which really does not present anything new or that hasn’t been discussed before. Nothing I read appeared controversial. Just wondering what your objections are.

I learned all this when I was in elementary school in the 1970s.

I'm shocked that it's considered "news" to people.

I learned all this when I was in elementary school in the 1970s.

I'm shocked that it's considered "news" to people.

When I was in school in the 80's and 90's, none of these negative things were said about Columbus. Then again, in Texas, even discussing Darwin in school is still a serious issue.  I thought it was interesting that Texas was mentioned as one of the states who does present the nastier side of American history. I wouldn't have expected that, from my past experiences.

I learned all this when I was in elementary school in the 1970s.

I'm shocked that it's considered "news" to people.

Same here. And in a Catholic school with mostly Italian kids too. 

We weren't taught the full picture until high school, and even then it really wasn't the full picture.

I know that about 5 years ago, I met kid who was still being taught that Columbus proved the Earth was round.  This was in a major US city, and there was nothing I could do to convince him otherwise.  It didn't help that a friend of mine joined in the defence of the myth.  At least he sort of had an excuse for believing it as he went to school in the 60s and 70s in the deep South.

I'm not sure how I feel about this but I find it strange...

I, too, thought it a bit strange as the article opened with teachings to 5 year olds. Shouldn't that sort of thing be left until they are a bit older? As Abbey stated ...at a level that's appropriate for their age.5 year olds should being taught how to interact with others, writing, reading etc not the cold harsh realities of the real world.

If we are to teach them historical truths, why stop there? Why not teach them about the realities of the Crusades or that Santa is not really real?

Christopher may not have been the first etc etc BUT he did set foot on the North American continent. He may not have stepped on to what is now the US but he did step onto what is considered the North American continent (of course my teachings of the 7 continents may be flawed and Hispaniola is really part of the South American continent).