I’m sure it’s happened to you, as it did to me, again, last night: Some starry-eyed collegian told me that Christopher Columbus shouldn’t be celebrated because of his treatment of native Americans. Oh, and surprise, surprise, she was armed with nothing more than her university professor’s insistence.
If Mark Twain was right that a lie can travel halfway around the world before truth has a chance to put on its shoes, imagine the damage a lie can do over 500 years.
Let me introduce you to Francisco de Bobadilla – liar and Columbus usurper. The criticism of Columbus today comes from de Bobadilla. Who was he? The man who wanted Columbus’s job as governor of Hispaniola.
In 1500 the King and Queen sent him to North America to investigate claims that Columbus wasn’t being fair to the European settlers (which means Columbus was protecting the Indians). So de Bobedilla came here, and in just a few short days did his investigation (with no telephones or motorized vehicles to help him), and promptly arrested Columbus and his brothers for Indian mistreatment and sent them back to Spain, sans a trial. Oh and, he also appointed himself governor. Coup de coeur for power lead to coup d’ etat, as usual
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The King and Queen out these shenanigans and sent for be Bobadilla two years later, but he drowned on the trip home. Columbus was reinstated as admiral.
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3 comments:
Columbus is widely and wrongly credited with discovering "America." Often times the US is refered to as America when in fact America is a general term that refers to North, South and Central America. Columbus explored much of Central America, various Carribean islands and Venezuala, but never onces stepped foot on what is now the United States.
Some even say that Amerigo Vespucci discovered America. He too hopped arround in the Caribbean Islands as well as much of South America and the Amazon River.
If we are looking to credit an EXPLORER with the Eastern Civilization's discovery of the U.S. portion of the America we would have to look at Leif Erickson. Erickson is credited with exploring and discovering lands in Canada and portions of the northern United States.
The individual who discovered "America," is certainly debatable and probably unknown, but one thing is for certain-It was NOT Columbus. Many explorers and natives set foot on the grounds of the New World far before Columbus' existence.
Leif Erickson is widely credited as one of the 1st non-natives to reach the Americas.Just last week there was a special on History Channel titled "Who really discovered America ?" and there are many interesting theories,including one that modern day Cherokee Indians are descendants of the lost tribe of Jews who also allegedly landed in the Americas centuries before Columbus.
Are the residents of Hispaniola native Americans?
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