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Christopher Columbus

“Discoverer of America”

Or was He?

Celebrated Hero or Criminal?

Many things have been said of Christopher Columbus throughout history, some good, some not so good, some accurate, some not so accurate. One thing that most all the tails, legends and historical documentation all agree on, is that Christopher Columbus sailed West in search of 2 things. First, a shorter route to the East Indies, China and Japan withoug having to sail around Africa. Second, the riches of fine silks, herbs and trades with the Indies. But instead of landing on the expected Indies, Columbus landed on the island of Hispaniola. Still thinking he landed in the Indies, Columbus referred to the natives as “Indians”. Of course, they were not “Indians” insofar as from the Indies, nor were they “Indians” as we know them today as “Native Americans”.

If you closely look at historical records, including the accounts of Bartolome de las Casas who in the 1530s wrote of the journey. Having personally seen and inspected the now lost journals of Columbus. Bartolome de la Casas put together the only known personal account. This account, and other documentation, reveal that not only did Columbus NOT discover America on Oct 12, 1492, but never stepped foot on “American” soil. In fact, the closest Columbus came to America, was Puerto Rico. So how was Columbus credited with the discovery of America? Interesting question, I think. The answer is actually quite simple. Like the quote goes “The squeaky wheel always gets greased”. That is basically the case here. It is well established that in 986 Bjarni Herjolfsson of the Norse expeditions had been to America. Equally known as historical fact is that the Asiatic peoples who became Native Americans were certainly the first, tens of thousands of years ago.But, they were much less known as there was no real reason for word of the Norse expeditions’ discovery. Columbus is credited because his landings resulted in a 2 way commerce and settlements. Columbus was the first to even try much less accomplish this. With the commerce and repeated traffic to and from, came word of, talk of and planning for this New World.

Left: is a map of Columbus’ first voyage. Shortly after landing, many of the island's inhabitants assembled on the beach and Columbus gave them gifts of red hats and beads. The natives reciprocated with gifts of parrots, cotton and other goods. In describing the natives, Columbus wrote: "They go as naked as when their mothers bore them, and so do the women, although I did not see more than one girl. They are very well made, with very handsome bodies, and very good countenances." Source:(http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/columbus.htm)

A charge generally made against Columbus was his alleged role in the slave trade. This has been overstated by many. In Spain of this period, slavery was legal under certain circumstances: the person had to be a prisoner of war awaiting ransom. In effect, such a person had a monetary value equal to his expected ransom, and therefore it made sense (to a 15th century Spaniard, anyway) that such an "asset" could be bought or sold. (This system of ransoming prisoners of war was actually a huge improvement over the previous ethic of "take no prisoners".)

Therefore, when the Spanish took a number of Native Americans as prisoners on Hispaniola, Columbus saw an opportunity for profit. In 1496, he sent 300 of these prisoners to Spain, to be sold as slaves. The Spanish Sovereigns (King Fernando and Queen Isabel) very properly objected to this, since there was obviously no chance that such prisoners could ever be ransomed. They promptly sent these prisoners back to Hispaniola, and Columbus made no further ventures in the slave trade.

An undercurrent to this debate is the issue of the general decline of the Native American population on Hispaniola (and later, in other parts of the New World) after the arrival of the Spanish. Warfare was a part of this, and disease also played a role; although disease can hardly be seen as a moral stain on its carriers. Nonetheless, with the Spanish came unavoidable exposure to certain ailments and viruses and such that the natives had until now, never been exposed to. The initial exposure hit hard since their bodies had never had the opportunity to build an immunity to or immune system to fight the viruses or “diseases”.

Although there is some historical dispute as to exactly where Columbus landed on each of his voyages to the “New World” but one thing they all have in common, which is none were American soil as we know America today. They were the Cuban, Bahama and Bermuda Islands.

If you would like to read more about the 3 voyages of Columbus to the “New World” I recommend http://www1.minn.net/~keithp/index.htm as they have an excellent write up and timelines as well as historical data. Some of the information in this article is from their information.

Sources: http://www1.minn.net/~keithp/index.htm

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/columbus.htm

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