Tell Me It's Not So...
By Susan
@HazySue (39265)
Gouverneur, New York
May 11, 2017 9:18am CST
I just read an article that claims that Christopher Columbus was not the benevolent person that I believed he was. He was not the person who was portrayed in the history books we studied when I was in school. Tell me it isn't so.
According to the article I read, he was not a person who reached out a friendly hand to the Native Americans who greeted him here in North America.
Instead, he and his men tortured them and held them captive, using them as slaves. He went as far as to order them to be put to death if they did not follow his orders.
I hate to hear something like this about the person who discovered the country we live in. According to Historical documents this is supposed to be the true accounts of that time in history.
What do you think? Do you believe this is a true account of the behavior of Columbus and his men?
8 people like this
7 responses
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
11 May 17
I wouldn't dismiss it. But at the time wasn't he under the delusion that he had arrived at India, which he wanted to trade with, rather than the fact that he found a new land? If he thought that they were Indians (which is what he called them) then he wouldn't want to risk hurting trade negotiations by mistreating them.
I don't think that hurting them would have been his initial response, given that he wanted something from them and didn't really know who they were. Generally you don't go to a new town wanting to set up a business by torturing the locals, do you?
2 people like this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
13 May 17
@HazySue It doesn't connect. After all, the whole purpose of the trip was to establish a western route. They didn't know there was a big chunk of other land there. The vikings knew, but Columbus and vikings weren't best friends.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128824)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 May 17
Having grown up and went to school in Florida, we learned history a little differently than probably everywhere else in the country. Florida was under Spanish control longer than it ever was under American or English control, so we look at history a little differently. I always remember learning that Columbus (and other explorers) were not friendly to the natives at all. It's sad to know this, but I don't necessarily hold it against them. Times were different hundreds and hundreds of years ago. They were discovering and conquering new lands. These explorers were commissioned by kings and queens to take new land and bring back riches. They weren't on peacekeeping missions. Their job was to conquer anything and everything they encountered. I'm not thrilled about that, but that's how times were back then.
2 people like this
@TiarasOceanView (70020)
• United States
11 May 17
I honestly do not know as I don't always believe what I read Susan.
I think history can be distorted so much.
We can only assume.
Recently, I have read a lot of different accounts of historical figures that were painting them in a bad light compared to what we apparently know about them.
Some of this, I believe, is politically motivated. I could be wrong, but it fits people's agendas sometimes. Hard to explain.
1 person likes this
@Dena91 (17029)
• United States
11 May 17
I'm always skeptical when someone brings out another side to history. The truth is no one from that time who would have been an eye witness is here now. If new information is out how can we trust it? I'm not saying eventually if enough facts are proven right that I won't change my way of thinking, but when it is fresh point of view, no way.
1 person likes this
