{"id":2060237,"date":"2023-10-09T08:12:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T12:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/christopher-columbus-calamitous-mistakes-dont-negate-his-noble-contributions\/"},"modified":"2023-10-09T08:20:55","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T12:20:55","slug":"christopher-columbus-calamitous-mistakes-dont-negate-his-noble-contributions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/christopher-columbus-calamitous-mistakes-dont-negate-his-noble-contributions\/","title":{"rendered":"Columbus&#8217; errors don&#8217;t erase his achievements."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fchristopher-columbus-calamitous-mistakes-dont-negate-his-noble-contributions%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2060237&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rethinking\u2064 Christopher Columbus: A Controversial Legacy<\/h2>\n<p>I was first exposed to an\u2064 alternative history of Christopher Columbus, who we celebrate this\u2064 Monday, reading Marxist historian Howard Zinn\u2019s epochal <em>A People\u2019s History of the \u2062United \u200dStates: 1492-Present<\/em>.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWhen we read the history books given to children in the United States, it all\u2062 starts with heroic \u2062adventure \u2014 there is no bloodshed \u2014 and Columbus Day \u2062is a celebration,\u201d Zinn wrote at a time when Columbus was still widely honored. Yet Columbus, declared Zinn, was responsible for \u201cconquest, slavery, and death.\u201d Moreover, \u2063\u201cto deemphasize their genocide,\u2064 is not a technical necessity but an ideological choice. It serves \u2014 unwittingly \u2014 to justify what was \u2062done.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Now high school\u200b and university students across \u2062the nation read\u2062 Zinn, a critic\u200b of American Christianity, \u200ccapitalism, and republicanism. That explains much of the \u2063opprobrium an entire generation feels toward Columbus, who, we are told,\u2064 is no hero but a racist \u2064imperialist responsible for the deaths of millions of indigenous Americans.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2021\/10\/11\/us\/indigenous-peoples-day-2021-states-trnd\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Many states and cities<\/a> \u2014 including the District \u2062of <em>Columbia<\/em>, ironically \u200d\u2014 do not celebrate Columbus Day but <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/10\/10\/on-indigenous-peoples-day-american-indians-should-blame-the-government-not-christopher-columbus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day<\/a>. Should we cast the honoring of \u201cColumbus the colonizer,\u201d like\u2062 so much else, into the dustbin of our \u2063national collective memory, \u200bas Zinn \u200burged? Not so fast, I would plead. Indeed, I\u2019d argue the 15th-century Genoese sailor accomplished\u2062 more than his detractors ever will.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Columbus Sailed for Christianity<\/h2>\n<p>What motivated Columbus, explains \u2063Harvard\u2064 historian Samuel Eliot Morison in his Pulitzer Prize-winning 1942 book<em> Admiral of the\u200d Ocean Sea<\/em>, was\u2064 not \u200cgold but Christianity. Columbus, sober, moderate, and deeply pious, \u2062wanted wealth to fund further crusades to stem the\u200c advances of the aggressive Ottoman Empire that had\u200b conquered Constantinople two years \u2062after he was born. Columbus possessed great strength. In \u200b1476, after \u200ban enemy war fleet sunk\u2063 a \u200bship he was on, the young,\u2064 wounded sailor grabbed some wreckage and swam <em>six miles<\/em> to shore.<\/p>\n<p>Columbus, \u2062contrary to what is <em>still <\/em>taught and \u2063assumed by many Americans, did not need \u2063to persuade people that the world \u200bwas round. Almost every educated European in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/christopher-columbus-calamitous-mistakes-dont-negate-his-noble-contributions\/\" title=\"Columbus' errors don't erase his achievements.\">late 15th century believed<\/a> the world was round, as had Greeks since before Christ.<\/p>\n<p>Rather, the problem for the Genoese navigator was persuading skeptical court officials that the Earth \u2063was small enough to arrive in China and Japan by sailing out into the Atlantic \u2014 something he only achieved by\u2064 grossly miscalculating the circumference of the Earth. Amusingly, Columbus\u2019 skeptical critics were right. If there were no giant land mass between Europe and the Far\u200d East, Columbus\u2019 15th-century vessels never would have made it to \u201cthe Indies.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A \u2064Mission of Discovery, Not Conquest<\/h2>\n<p>That Columbus would even attempt\u2062 such\u200c an enterprise was original and bold. Yet he had reasons to be hopeful. When he visited the Azores, islands far out into the Atlantic recently colonized by the\u200d Portuguese, he learned of carved driftwood and dead bodies of non-Europeans washing up on the shores. <em>Something<\/em>, he conjectured, was not far away.<\/p>\n<p>But it took\u2062 Columbus multiple pitches to \u2064different royal \u2062households before he finally\u2062 secured Spain\u2019s support for his venture. His three famous ships, <em>Ni\u00f1a<\/em>, <em>Pinta<\/em>, and <em>Santa Maria<\/em>, were strong seagoing vessels but not equipped (or manned) \u200cfor conquest, only\u200d discovery.<\/p>\n<p>Columbus maintained detailed records of the entire trip, encompassing about 98 percent of the information we possess about \u200dthe \u200dfirst European \u2063encounter with the New World since\u2062 the failed 11th-century\u2064 Viking colony in Newfoundland. And Morison,\u200d based on his own 1939 trans-Atlantic voyage mimicking \u2064that journal, argues no one could have possibly faked the document given \u200bits precision.\u2062 Thus we know an incredible amount \u2064about\u200b how \u200dColumbus\u200b permanently linked the Eastern\u2062 and Western Hemispheres and their civilizations.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Columbus\u2019 Friendly Relations with the Indigenous<\/h2>\n<p>Columbus\u2019 first interaction with the native peoples of the Caribbean was entirely positive.\u200c \u201cI knew that\u2063 they were a \u200bpeople \u2062who could better be freed and converted to our Holy Faith by \u2063love than by force,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the natives, he observed, had marks on their bodies, made by the inhabitants of \u2062nearby islands who\u200b sought to enslave them. Columbus ordered that his men treat these people, the Taino, with respect. The Caribs periodically attacked and\u2062 enslaved the Taino (though we also know that the Taino had\u200b <em>themselves <\/em>conquered an earlier group, possibly the Guanahatabey).<\/p>\n<p>Other natives he met\u200b on that first voyage had gold, but Columbus refused to take it by\u200d force. \u201cUnfortunately,\u201d notes Morison, \u201cthe Admiral\u2019s kindly acts to the Indians only rendered them less prepared to cope with the\u2064 kidnappers\u2062 who followed him. The next Spaniard that came to these parts was Alonso de Ojeda on a slaving raid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That said, Columbus did view indigenous peoples as inferiors. Though we may wince or wag our fingers at that sentiment for its bigotry, it is unsurprising. All the indigenous civilizations Columbus met over four voyages were incredibly rudimentary in comparison to Europeans. These were people without a written language, little interest in technological advancement, and incapable of traveling large distances even within their own Caribbean\u2064 backyard.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Indigenous Relations Deteriorate<\/h2>\n<p>And the indigenous inhabitants, far from being innocent \u201cnoble savages,\u201d were quite capable of their own cruelties. Caribs on some islands engaged in slavery and \u2063cannibalism. On his second voyage, Columbus\u2019 men \u201cfound large cuts and joints\u2063 of human flesh, shin bones set aside to make arrows of, caponized Arawak \u2064boy captives who were being fattened by the griddle,\u200d and girl captives who were mainly used to produce babies, which the Caribs regarded as a particularly \u2062toothsome morsel.\u201d In response, Columbus sought to destroy Carib canoes to stop slaving raids against the Arawaks.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of \u2062his second voyage, Columbus\u2019 treatment of indigenous peoples worsened. Columbus was presented with an acute problem: The \u200bSpanish crown had given him a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-slave-labor-fueled-chinese-fleet-destroying-fishing-industry-in-west-africa\/\" title=\"Report: 'Slave Labor'-Fueled Chinese Fleet Destroying Fishing Industry in West Africa\">huge fleet<\/a> to explore the West Indies, and it expected a\u2062 significant return on \u2062its investment. \u2063If Columbus \u2062did \u2064not return with <em>some <\/em>wealth, he would be derided as a \u2063failure, and support would dry up.<\/p>\n<p>Thus Hispaniola, the first permanent Spanish settlement, developed a harsh disciplinary system to force \u200bindigenous peoples to deliver gold or\u2064 cotton or suffer increasingly \u2063harsh punishment. \u201cThe system was irrational, most burdensome, impossible, intolerable, and abominable,\u201d writes \u200bMorison. It \u2063may not have been \u2064Columbus\u2019 idea, but he nevertheless bears responsibility\u2062 for the tragedy. Within 60 years, approximately 300,000 natives died from \u2062a\u2062 combination of cruel exploitation, murder, and exposure to European diseases.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Celebrate Columbus as an Inspiration and a Warning<\/h2>\n<p>Columbus\u2019 later voyages \u200cwere also remarkable missions of discovery \u2064in their own right (on the third he landed on the\u200c South American continent), though\u2062 none identified his greatest desire: a sea route to Asia. \u2062Frustrated and increasingly\u2064 disgraced among\u2062 his peers, Columbus in his final years stubbornly refused to admit he had failed in that mission. His death provoked little public comment or memorials, and it would\u200b take\u200b many years\u2064 before anyone would celebrate him.<\/p>\n<p>Today,\u2063 critics accuse Columbus of the \u200ckinds of evil,\u2063 such as genocide, that place him\u200b alongside the \u200cworst criminals in history. The \u2064charges are inaccurate and unfair. Columbus\u2019 \u200down journal entries clearly prove his respect for\u200b the indigenous peoples he encountered.\u2063 The grave mistreatment he eventually \u200cpermitted against \u200cthem was motivated\u2064 not by hatred, but\u200d ignorance (stupidly presuming the natives would deliver gold if properly incentivized) and fear and threats to his own credibility.<\/p>\n<p>That, of course, doesn\u2019t excuse his behavior. But Columbus was no genocidal sociopath; he was an ambitious, expert\u200b explorer\u200b disastrously incapable of \u2063governance, whose poor decisions\u2063 had \u2064consequences he could hardly have predicted.<\/p>\n<p>We honor Columbus not for the calamitous mistakes he made, which \u200bresulted in \u200dthe destruction of a Caribbean culture, but for having the imagination and tenacity to venture into the unknown and introduce two distant\u200b civilizations to one another.<\/p>\n<p>We \u2064can also learn from his failures, recognizing that we are just as capable of allowing our \u2062ambitions and fears to justify our abuse and exploitation\u200c of others. Perhaps the ones most in \u200bneed of learning that lesson are the ones most eager\u200c to\u200c extirpate him from our public memorialization.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What challenges did Christopher Columbus and his crew face during their voyages to the Americas?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Olphin-shaped \u200coars, poles, and other items that could only have come from far-off lands. Moreover, rumors \u200dof islands and \u2063treasures to the west circulated in Europe for years. Columbus was convinced that he could reach Asia by sailing westward, and he\u2062 saw himself as a missionar\u2061y called \u2062by God to spread Christianity to new lands.<\/p>\n<p>When he embarked on his voyage\u200c in 1492, Columbus \u200dhad a crew of about 90 men on\u2064 three small ships \u2014 the Ni\u00f1a, the Pinta, and \u2064the Santa Mar\u00eda. They <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/poll-joe-bidens-job-approval-underwater-in-45-states\/\" title=\"Poll: Joe Biden's Job Approval Underwater in 45 States\">faced numerous challenges<\/a> and \u200dhardships,\u2063 including storms, disease, and the constant fear of running out of supplies. Despite these difficulties, Columbus was relentless in his pursuit \u2064of discovery. And on October 12, 1492, after more than two months at sea,\u200b he spotted land \u2014 an island in the present-day Bahamas. This was the first step in the European exploration and colonization of the Americas.<\/p>\n<p>Columbus made a total of four voyages across the Atlantic, exploring the Caribbean, Central and South America. His encounters with indigenous peoples varied. Some natives were friendly\u200d and welcomed the newcomers, \u2062while others resisted and fought back. Columbus himself had conflicting attitudes towards the indigenous people he encountered, at times treating them with respect and at other times engaging in acts of violence and oppression.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Complex Legacy<\/h2>\n<p>It is undeniable that Columbus&#8217; voyages had \u200da\u200b profound and\u2063 lasting impact on world history. They opened up a new\u2063 era of exploration and paved the way for the European colonization of the Americas. The exchange\u200c of goods, ideas, and \u200ccultures between the Eastern \u2064and Western Hemispheres reshaped \u2064the world and laid the foundations for globalization.<\/p>\n<p>However, it is also true \u200dthat Columbus&#8217; actions had devastating consequences for the indigenous peoples of\u2063 the Americas. The\u200d arrival of Europeans brought diseases that decimated\u2062 native populations,\u2062 forced labor, and the enslavement of indigenous people, and the colonization of their lands. These atrocities cannot\u2064 be ignored or forgotten.<\/p>\n<p>As we reflect on Columbus and his legacy, it\u200c is important to acknowledge the complexities of history. \u2062We should neither completely vilify nor uncritically celebrate Columbus. Instead, we should strive to understand the multiple perspectives and consequences of his actions.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, we must also recognize the contributions and resilience of the indigenous peoples who survived these challenges\u200d and continue to thrive today. Their voices and perspectives must be heard and \u2062respected as we engage in discussions about history, culture, and identity.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Moving Forward<\/h2>\n<p>As we reconsider\u200b Columbus&#8217; legacy, let \u200cus not erase or ignore history, but rather learn from it. Let \u200cus engage in critical conversations \u2064about the past, present, and future, seeking a more inclusive and honest understanding of our\u2064 shared history.<\/p>\n<p>This \u200cincludes reevaluating the way we celebrate and \u200dcommemorate historical figures. Perhaps it is time to move away \u200cfrom the singular focus on Columbus and instead embrace a more inclusive commemoration that recognizes the contributions and experiences of\u2064 all peoples, especially those who\u2063 have been marginalized or\u2063 overshadowed by\u2063 mainstream narratives.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the legacy of Christopher Columbus is a deeply contested one. It is a reminder that history is complex and nuanced, and \u200cthat our understanding of the past is constantly evolving. By rethinking Columbus and engaging in \u200dcritical dialogue, we can \u200bstrive towards a more inclusive and\u2064 just society.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I discovered a different side of Christopher Columbus, whom we honor on Monday, through Howard Zinn&#8217;s influential book, A People&#8217;s History of the United States: 1492-Present. The traditional children&#8217;s history books in the US portray him as a brave explorer, omitting the violence and bloodshed that occurred.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":658,"featured_media":2060238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2060237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2060237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2060237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2060238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2060237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2060237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2060237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}