Who is this Columbus guy? Definitely not the same one I learned about in books back in grade school. I always thought 'Columbus was a hero! He found our land. He sailed the blue in 1492.'
Man were those school books totally bias. Then again I don't know if it is appropriate to tell children that a man we celebrate every year is actually a theif, kidnapper, and a murderer.
Already I can say I am looking foward to reading the rest of Zinn's book. Even just the first few pages for me were eye opening. To me, Columbus became a power hungry man. After returning back to Spain from his first voyage, he promised the king and queen something they had extreme difficulty finding; gold. So Columbus decides to have a 'slave raid'. The spainards rounded up over 1500 natives, women and children included. Instread of returning to spain empty handed, he shows up with with 500 NATIVES! People ripped right out of the only life they knew. And of those 500, 200 died on the voyage back.
What does this remind me of? WWII, Hitler, Nazi Germany. Both of their actions may have been for different reasons, but both cases were genocide. For Columbus, the natives were forced to find gold. If they didn't find enough their limbs were cut off. In other cases the natives ran off when they were caught they faced muskets, swords, or being burned to death. Mass suicides began and within 150 years, no original native descendants were left on the island.
In Germany during WWII Hitler had control of the Nazis. People were also rounded up, shot down, or put into camps where many were sent to death. (You all know the story so I don't really need to elaborate.)
But if it has happened before, is it happening now, and can it happen again?
On a lighter note:
That is the same thing that crossed my mind when reading this book. I always try to educate my daughter about history that is left out of the school books but to begin to tell her the truth about what Columbus really did is pretty hard. I agree, this book is very good. I have enjoyed reading it and wish I did not have to put it down.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree Adrienne! I was so blown away by what I read. Until now, I never gave it much thought that we are celebrating a man that basically committed mass murder. It honestly just makes me question a lot of what I learn today. Great post:)!
ReplyDeleteAdrienne,
ReplyDeleteThis is some pretty interesting stuff! I took a history class with a professor who insisted on teaching us things we thought we already knew and it was exactly what Zinn does in his book, and that is to tell the truth! I often wondered if Columbus was greeted by the Indians when he arrived to this country, that was later named the Americas, why do we give him credit for "discovering" America? It seems absurd. As to the question does this still go on? I can think of a time when President Bush sent troops into a country to look for weapons of mass destruction that were never found but ended in the death of thousands, including our own troops. Sound familiar? Anyway, great post. Looking forward to hearing more from you!
you couldn't have said it any better! when i was reading the first few pages and seeing how Columbus really was i was thinking to myself, "this isn't the guy we learned about in elementary school, is it??" It was very interesting and I can't wait to see what else is in this book. great post & funny pictures! :)
ReplyDeleteAdrienne,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you! He was always a hero to me, we have a special day for him. But after reading this book, all I can think about is how unfair and cruel he is. I can't believe that even after people knew what he did they can still ignore that and celebrate him! Next time it is Columbus day I know that instead of thinking of all of his accomplishments, I will think about all those who he killed and all those who were killed because of him. And how ignorant some people are to be able to celebrate a man who murdered and destroyed so many people and their communities.