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McCook Gazette
Editorial

The other side of Columbus Day

Monday, October 12, 2009

Who discovered America?

The answer, of course, isn't Christopher Columbus, the explorer some of us are taking the day off to honor, who bumped into the continent in 1492, nor Amerigo Vespucci, who arrived five years later but caught the attention of Martin Waldseemuller, who happened to be a mapmaker.

Nor was it Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho who, recent evidence suggests, found the continent in 1421, or even Leif Ericsson, who apparently arrived here in 1000.

The truth is, we don't know who the first man or woman to arrive in North or South America was; someone was waiting on the shore when any of the above-mentioned European or Asian explorers made landfall.

Politically correct historians are busy rewriting lesson plans to emphasize the havoc Columbus' arrival caused among Americans already living here, and they have a point.

Before leaving what is now Haiti on his first voyage, Columbus kidnapped 10 to 25 natives as proof of his discovery, but only seven or eight of them lived to arrive in Europe.

And, while Columbus' delivery of smallpox to the new world with devastating effect is well known, there's new evidence that the syphilis that caused as many as 5 million deaths in the late 15th century was carried back to Europe by members of his crew.

But there's no doubt that American genocide was one of the results of Columbus' arrival.

For example, he threatened to cut off the hands of the Taino people native to Cuba if they didn't bring his crew gold.

Since there was little gold to be had in Cuba, the Spaniards hunted them down with their superior weapons and killed them. Eventually, hundreds were rounded up and shipped to Europe to be sold into slavery, and those that weren't either died from European diseases, or in some cases, engaging in mass suicide, even killing their own children to save them from the Spaniards.

Within two years, half of the island's population was dead, and a century later, the Taino were basically extinct.

It is said that history is written by the victors, and in this case, it's true. Modern American history starts with Columbus' "discovery" of the New World, and that needs to be acknowledged.

It's only being honest, however, not to ignore the result of that event.

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  • The tainting of Columbus is an effort to delegitimize even the pre-start of America by those actively working toward our demise.

    Most of the people making these claims and attending Anti-Columbus Rallies and making disparaging remarks are misguided, under-educated and worst than that, mis-educated by our unregulated public schools.

    Watching Anti- Columbus rallies, you will also note large groups of Mexicans, many of them carrying Mexican flags, who feel Columbus killed off their ancestors, Afro-Americans who are convinced Columbus started the slave trade and radical white kids that feel guilty for all the above.

    The one thing most of these people will have in common is a very liberal to socialist ideology that is contrary to the principles of the United States. They actually consider Ernesto Guevara, affectionately known to communist as "Che" as a heroe, when in reality "Che" was documented to have murdered children in front of their parents. He was so sadistic, that Castro protected himself by sending "Che" to South American where he was killed.

    To analyze the overall importance and experience of Columbus, you must consider all the events of his role in history in the setting of the medieval times.

    The Natives of this new world had virtually no technological advancements or sophistication even of that time period. They had very limited knowledge of the outside world, never seen a ship or people wearing clothes, metal tools, etc. In many cases, these tribes were groups of savages, who had held unchallenged traditions that included cannibalism, Pagan sacrifices, abducting, raping and slaving members of neighboring tribes.

    If you can change a countries history in the eyes of their children you can change its future and not all change is good.

    -- Posted by quickend01 on Tue, Oct 13, 2009, at 9:40 AM
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