"To those who followed Columbus and Cortez, the New World . . .

[OneBlueSky]

truly seemed incredible because of the natural endowments. The land often announced itself with a heavy scent miles out into the ocean. Giovanni di Verrazano in 1524 smelled the cedars of the East Coast a hundred leagues out. The men of Henry Hudson's Half Moon were temporarily disarmed by the fragrance of the New Jersey shore, while ships running farther up the coast occasionally swam through large beds of floating flowers. Wherever they came inland they found a rich riot of color and sound, of game and luxuriant vegetagion. Had they been other than they were, they might have written a new mythology here. As it was, they took inventory." Frederick Turner

[obreaslan]

1. Being from New Jersey...

I am usually temporarily disarmed by the fragrance of the New Jersey shore, but not in the way Mr. Turner meant. :)

Nice quote though, and a little sad.

[RethugAssKicker]

2. greedy blood sucking bastards..

Things haven't changed in 500 years!

[DavidBowman]

3. No

That's a bit of a low blow, by my lights. Columbus, especially, was an incredibly brave person. Flawed to be sure, but it's difficult to judge people whose life and times we can't possibly comprehend. I still celebrate Columbus Day with a clear conscience.

[ret5hd]

4. what's to comprehend about rape, torture, slavery, theft, etc? (nt)

[DavidBowman]

5. Did Columbus do all of that?

[ret5hd]

6. from howard zinn (ya oughta read some of his stuff, excellent historian)..

(snip)
In his quest for gold, Columbus, seeing bits of gold among the Indians, concluded that there were huge amounts of it. He ordered the natives to find a certain amount of gold within a certain period of time. And if they did not meet their quota, their arms were hacked off. The others were to learn from this and deliver the gold.

(snip)
In Columbus’ journal, an entry of September 1498 reads: “From here one might send, in the name of the Holy Trinity, as many slaves as could be sold…”

(snip)
How many of you have heard of Tigard, Oregon? Well, I didn’t, until about seven years ago, I began receiving, every semester, a bunch of letters, twenty or thirty, from students at one high school in Tigard, Oregon. It seems that their teacher was having them (knowing high schools, I almost said “forcing them”) read my People’s History. He was photocopying a number of chapters and giving them to the students. And then he had them write letters to me, with comments and questions. Roughly half of them thanked me for giving them data which they had never seen before. The others were angry, or wondered how I got such information, and how I had arrived at such outrageous conclusions.

One high school student named Bethany wrote: “Out of all the articles that I’ve read of yours I found ‘Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress’ the most shocking.” Another student named Brian, seventeen years old, wrote: “An example of the confusion I feel after reading your article concerns Columbus coming to America… According to you, it seems he came for women, slaves, and gold. You say that Columbus physically abused the Indians that didn’t help him find gold. You’ve said you have gained a lot of this information from Columbus’ own journal. I am wondering if there is such a journal, and if so, why isn’t it part of our history. Why isn’t any of what you say in my history book, or in history books people have access to every day.”

I pondered this letter. It could be interpreted to mean that the writer was indignant that no other history books had told him what I did. Or, as was more likely, he was saying: “I don’t believe a word of what you wrote! You made this up!”

I am not surprised at such reactions. It tells something about the claims of pluralism and diversity in American culture, the pride in our “free society,” that generation after generation has learned exactly the same set of facts about Columbus, and finished their education with the same glaring omissions.

[DavidBowman]

7. I read People's History in high school

But I don't remember much of it. I'm generally skeptical of Zinn because he has such an obvious slant. Hacking off people's arms, if true, is heinous no matter where and when you lived. I wonder what sources Zinn has to back these claims.

[ret5hd]

8. his source is columbus' personal journal (nt)

[DavidBowman]

9. Columbus admits hacking off limbs?

If so, provide the reference.

[ret5hd]

10. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS AND THE INDIANS by Howard Zinn

an excerpt here:
http://www.newhumanist.com/md2.html

[DavidBowman]

11. That's interesting stuff.

I'd like to look into it. Thanks for the link.

[Pastiche423]

12. Check Zinn's book out of the library

and re-read it. He provides a mulitude of footnotes and end notes that will answer your questions.

What he did to the island people is called Genocide.