Christopher Columbus is commonly known for his expedition across the Atlantic Ocean seeking Asia, but instead running into North America, land that was thought to be unknown to many other countries including his own. Furthermore, many assume that he was able to ask the Native people, who already inhabitant the land, to kindly move elsewhere so that he could claim the territory, making a big name for himself. Today, American's recognize him on a holiday named Columbus day in resemblance of is "great" achievement.
What many do not know is the truthful and brutal reality behind it all. Columbus, in fact, was not the first explorer to the discover the new world, there were several others who were on a voyage and ran into the Americas just as he did. Vikings were actually the first Europeans to the discover the land 492 years before Columbus did, maybe we ought to rename the holiday to "Vikings day". After attempting to assert the ownership for the country of Spain, he first had to remove the Natives who were already living in the land for 12,000 years before Columbus intruded. As he sailed towards the land, Columbus and his men noticed the Native Americans didn't have weapons of any sort and doing so, they drew their swords attempting to establish their power. It was then decided that Columbus was going to keep these people as his servants and command them to do whatever it is he wanted. In search for gold among the land, he enslaved, murdered and inflicted many inhuman misery on these innocent and gentle people.
Citizens see Columbus as an outstanding individual when all he did was discover something that had already been discovered and established himself with violence for selfish purposes. Native's today are still viewed as outsiders who don't act the "norm". They're the ones who are told they don't belong here, when many years ago, their ancestors were the first ones to inhabit the land during one of the several ice ages and the help of a land bridge.
So now the real question is "What did Columbus really do to deserve the attention that he has received in the past few hundred years?".
I agree with most of the things you said. However, I do not believe Columbus was all bad in what he did. He was the person who debunked the flat Earth myth that was commonly believed back in Europe. He was also the reason that these areas became know to the Europeans and rest of the world at the time. I do agree that he should not be as celebrated as he is because of the negative impact of his actions.
ReplyDeleteI noticed you referenced possibly changing Columbus Day to Vikings Day, but would such a change still give enough respect to the indigenous peoples that reached the New World as well? I agree that Columbus receives an excess amount of credit but I feel like the problem would just be created in a different form with Vikings Day. Personally I think we should rename it Single-Celled Organism day before naming the day after a single group of people in order to respect those who truly were there first.
ReplyDelete