Christopher Columbus Was Evil (with poll)

I don't know if anybody else caught this.  A new document was recently discovered in Spain describing previously unknown atrocities committed by Christopher Columbus during his reign as governor of Hispanola (modern day Dominican Republic).  What a monster.  

Here's a snippet:

Columbus' government was characterised by a form of tyranny," Consuelo Varela, a Spanish historian who has seen the document, told journalists.

One man caught stealing corn had his nose and ears cut off, was placed in shackles and was then auctioned off as a slave. A woman who dared to suggest that Columbus was of lowly birth was punished by his brother Bartolomé, who had also travelled to the Caribbean. She was stripped naked and paraded around the colony on the back of a mule.

"Bartolomé ordered that her tongue be cut out," said Ms Varela. "Christopher congratulated him for defending the family."

The evidence has been found in a previously lost report drawn up at the time for the Spanish monarchs as they became worried by growing rumours of Columbus' barbarity and avarice...

The report, by Francisco de Bobadilla, lay undiscovered in a state archive in the Spanish city of Valladolid until last year. Bobadilla had already been named governor of the Indies, replacing Columbus, at the time of the report...

Columbus and his brothers were forced to travel back to Spain. Columbus was in chains but, although he never recovered his titles, he was set free and allowed to sail back to the Caribbean...

"Columbus and his brothers come across in the text as tyrants," Ms Varela said. "Now one can understand why he was sacked and we can see that there were good reasons for doing so.

Somebody remind me about this when Columbus Day rolls around.  

•  You Know

  It's kind of embarrassing to have a holiday celebrating this jerk.  Surely there is some great American who is more worthy.

  by johnny rotten on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 09:10:25 PM PDT

•  Replacing Columbus Day

  I think a day honoring and remembering all American Indian genocide victims or honoring someone like Chief Joseph would be appropriate

  by pernoclone on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 09:13:06 PM PDT

•  How about 'Day Off Day'

  It would be a refreshingly honest. Just a day off.

  I remember in the 1970's, I used to be an avid coin collector. One thing I wanted to get was an 1892 Columbian exposition commemerative coin. I figured that 1992, the 500th anniversary, would be an even bigger event. But it was... nothing. Attitudes about Columbus changed in a fairly short period of time. At one time, he was seen as a proto-founding father, a sort of demigod. But attitudes toward him shift, ranging from distaste to irrelevance. Sure, there are some who still have that old admiration for him, but it's gotten a bit fringy. Perhaps the right just doesn't want to put that much effort into keeping up Columbus' image - just not enough political gain for the effort. History books often try to put the best face on Columbus as possible, for example mentioning briefly that he may not have been that nice a guy, but he sure was a good sailor. I don't think that skills as a sailor made up for his actions in any case.

  Columbus chose the lowest estimate of the Earth's diameter that was available - faith based sailing. His trip would have been unfeasable if he used the actual diameter. So, faced with inconvenient facts, what did he do? Just picked the facts that matched what he wanted to believe. If the Americas had not existed, Columbus and his crew could well have died out in the middle of the ocean, and not even have been a footnote in the most obscure history books. He was dead wrong, and was just plain lucky to have hit previously unknown land.

  by A Citizen on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 09:24:12 PM PDT

•  LORDY!

  It wase a different world back then.  Waay different.  Alien (and I don't mean foreigner)different!

  read a histories or a bio of that spanish era.  Or before.  St. Teresa of Avia, perhaps.  Something.

  Of course they were tyrants.  It does not excuse ... but ... not news.

  by Prime Number on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 09:24:58 PM PDT

•  Some relevant documentation......

  ...about the policies of Columbus in the 'New World':

  http://web.mit.edu/...

  The 1492 "voyage of discovery" is, however, hardly all that is
  at issue. In 1493 Columbus returned with an invasion force of
  seventeen ships, appointed at his own request by the Spanish Crown to
  install himself as "viceroy and governor of [the Caribbean islands]
  and the mainland" of America, a position he held until

  1500. Setting up shop on the large island he called Espa–ola (today

  Haiti and the Dominican Republic), he promptly instituted policies of
  slavery (encomiendo) and systematic extermination against the native
  Taino population. Columbus's programs reduced Taino numbers from as
  many as eight million at the outset of his regime to about three
  million in 1496. Perhaps 100,000 were left by the time of the
  governor's departure. His policies, however, remained, with the
  result that by 1514 the Spanish census of the island showed barely
  22,000 Indians remaining alive. In 1542, only two hundred were
  recorded. Thereafter, they were considered extinct, as were Indians
  throughout the Caribbean Basin, an aggregate population which totaled
  more than fifteen million at the point of first contact with the
  Admiral of the Ocean Sea, as Columbus was known.

  The whole article is very good.

  by Rex Manning on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 09:25:36 PM PDT

•  I Think Our Natives Will Remind You n/t

  by Gooserock on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 09:27:45 PM PDT

•  Ay, add this to yer exploits

  In 1492 in the City of Genoa,
  Lived Isabel, the Queen of Spain,
  Areal Spanish Lady.
  She fell in love with a sailor bold
  Who swore the world was roundo
  And that sailor's name, well known to fame
  Was Christopher Colombo

  He knew the world was roundo
  He knew the world was roundo
  That Masturbatin' calculatin'
  Sailor named Colombo.

  He boldly strolled into her court
  Wearin' stockings o' bright yellow
  A buldgin' at the trousers
  For he were a randy fellow.
  Queen Isabel had sent for him
  For she knew his reputation
  Then swoonedd and sighed,
  take what you want,
  I'll do it for the Nation.

  He knew the world was roundo
  He knew the world was roundo
  That Masturbatin' calculatin'
  Sailor named Colombo.

  The for 40 days and 40 nights
  They sailed the broad Atlantic
  There were no woman aboard the ship
  An d the crew was well nigh frantic
  'Til they spied a mermaid on the rocks,
  And off went coats and collars
  By the time the mermaid sailed away
  She had ten million dollars.

  In 1492 clap cures they were not many
  And the only doc Colombo had
  Were a damned old fool called Benny
  He purge the crew with castor oil
  And sent them to there stations,
  And Mussolini is doin' it still
  To the whole Italian nation.

  He knew the world was roundo
  He knew the world was roundo
  That Masturbatin' calculatin'
  Sailor named Colombo.

  When they reeached the shores of Amerikay
  They roamed about the nation
  By teh time they sailed,
  They'd left behind
  Ten times the population
  One 32d grandson, whose name was Al Caponee.
  In the town they call Chicago
  Flies the flag of ole Italee.

  He knew the world was roundo
  He knew the world was roundo
  That Masturbatin' calculatin'
  Sailor named Colombo.

  by Krum on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 09:34:58 PM PDT

•  Columbus for the discovery, not the morality

  Columbus did not "discover" America. The native Americans were here first. And there is some evidence that the Norse people visited upper Candada. And some people contend that the Chinese visited the west coast in the 13th century.

  However, our govenment and our society, culture, and civilization came from Columbus and Europe. I don't see why we shouldn't celebrate him because part of what he did after he "discovered" America was bad.

  For example, George Washington had slaves. Does that mean he was a bad President who should not be celebrated or featured on our money? THink about that for a bit.

  by Mikesco on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 10:40:57 PM PDT

•  Historical Relativism

  There were mighty few cultures in Europe, the Middle East, or Asia that didn't do things like cutting people hands off or their tongues out for various offenses in 1500.  If you judge Columbus' actions - it should be done by the standards of his time.  Columbus may have doubted the belief in  a "flat earth", but he most likely drank deeply from a whole range of cultural discourses deeply imbedded in early modern western culture.

  Perhaps we should celebrate the Galician, Breton, and Scots fishermen who came before Columbus - or the Vikings who clearly had a settlement in Newfoundland.  Yes, Columbus opened up two continents to the ravages of brutal colonialism and environmental assault, but he also represents the combination of science, technology, and alternative thinking that became the basis for modern society - for better or worse.

  I think we can honor native peoples and their historical experiences without ignoring Columbus.  In fact, to ignore Columbus would be tantamount to the airbrushing of discredited Bolsheviks that was so characteristic of the Stalinist regime.

  by johnnygunn on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 10:45:28 PM PDT

•  How about changing it to

  Cortez day.

  Oh yeah, that'll never work.

  by Mike S on Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 11:13:05 PM PDT