Oct
2009
Schools Finally Telling The Truth About Christopher Columbus
Only a few things are certain in life: death, taxes and that I’ll rant about Christopher Columbus on Columbus Day.
For the past four years I have posted a rant about Columbus Day and how it is a farce that this man is still honored by people for his supposed accomplishments. Well, luckily it seems this year I am no longer alone in these beliefs.
According to a new story from the Associated Press, schools are beginning to downplay his importance to the history of the United States. I would quote more of it, but the AP has very strict rules about what bloggers can quote from their works, so I would recommend you just go and read it for yourselves, it is well worth the time and effort.
For everyone else, here is the annual rant about Columbus, enjoy!
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Welcome to the fourth annual posting of this entry! Long time readers can skip it, but as I keep adding more readers, it’ll keep getting posted!
Ah, Columbus Day, the day we set aside each year to celebrate a lie. It always warms my heart.
People tend to forget that Christopher Columbus wasn’t looking for North America when he landed here, he was looking for the West Indies. Quite the navigator there. He also believed, until his death, that the entire time he was in this area that he was exploring the Eastern coast of Asia.
Never mind the fact that he also took the indigenous people as slaves and shipped them back to Spain, against the Crowns wishes. Never mind that colonists he brought over here rebelled against him when the New World didn’t come close to what he described. No, no, all those things are just a-ok for a man we should honor with a governmental and banking holiday.
The biggest offense to me is that he was far from the first person to “discover” the Americas. (how does one “discover” a place that is already inhabited?) The Siberians crossed the land bridge with Alaska as early as 70,000 BC, and it was those crossings that gave us the Native Americans. There were numerous other occurrences of people coming to the Americas, but one of the most well documented was Leifur Eircksson in 1005 when he sailed from Iceland to North America and traveled down the coast. Gee, does that come before 1492?
Yet, history textbooks still hail him as the man who “discovered” America. Why is beyond me, but a friend pointed me to a wonderful book called “Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong” (Barnes & Noble link) that spends an entire chapter delving into this very matter. Fascinating stuff.
If you want to credit Columbus with something, just say that he brought the America’s to the attention of Europe, but leave it at that.
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yarrr | October 12th, 2009 at 7:12 pm #
All the things you say are supposedly not taught were taught when I was in middle school… but he is still a hero IMO…
Sean P. Aune | October 12th, 2009 at 7:33 pm #
None of that was taught when I was in school, or has been taught to other kids I've talked to.
As for being a hero, to each their own, but I don't tend to think of someone who enslaved an indigenous people as a "hero".
Luis | October 15th, 2009 at 3:26 am #
Columbus: the first Illegal Immigrant.
Matt | October 26th, 2009 at 1:15 pm #
Hey there. I have a daughter that is currently being told about all the great and benign things of Christopher Columbus. Meanwhile, we have been educating her about how he began taking Native Americans as slaves on day 1, responsible for their murder and helping to develop the North American Atlantic Slave Trade. We are starting discussions with her teacher and it will probably continue to the principal and beyond. Are there any national organizations that work on this issue? Thanks for your suggestions.