Columbus Day, a celebration of the Italian navigator and adventurer, is the second Monday of October. The very mention of Columbus' name seems to draw ire or raptures, depending on whom you ask. Somewhere in the middle, between hero worship and the imposing of modern values on an ancient world, is a truth worth knowing.
Christopher Columbus was a treasure-hunter
In 15th-century Europe, pleasing the monarch got you power and money. Monarchs could be pleased with money, which they used to grow more power. While there's plenty of evidence to support that others got there before him, Columbus' voyage to the Americas was notable in that the monarchs of Spain funded it to bring back gold, spices and treasure. One of those “treasures” was slaves.
Extracts from Columbus' diaries are used by both extremes to “prove” one aspect of Columbus' life or another. It's true that Columbus admired the generosity of those he met – but it's also true that, by the time he was complimenting them, he was sending them home in chains.
Likewise, diseases brought from Europe to the Americas would certainly not have been brought intentionally, but the net result was that millions died from this contact. Realizing this, Columbus could have left...but he just kept on sailing.
Christopher Columbus was a slave-master
Columbus' original diaries didn't survive, but Bartolome de las Casas made a copy of parts of them in the early 1500s, and that did survive. Other contemporary documents – third party reports, letters and the like – add depth to Columbus' observations. Yet, looking up the 14 October, 1492 journal entry, in his own words, here's what Columbus had in mind:
“These people have little knowledge of fighting, as Your Majesties will see from the seven I have had captured to take away with us so as to teach them our language and return them, unless Your Majesties' orders are that they all be taken to Spain or held captive on the island itself, for with fifty men one could keep the whole population in subjection and make them do whatever one wanted.”
Christopher Columbus was motivated by 15th-century social mores
A problem in modern times is that one tends to apply modern morals and values to the past. In 1492, slavery was acceptable and lucrative. There were, of course, those who opposed it. In the 21st century, slavery is unacceptable and reprehensible.
Yet it's equally wrong to pretend that Columbus was respectful of those he met. Columbus wanted, per his own words, to use the islanders he met. He wanted power from the monarchs, the islanders' gold and their souls – his journals make frequent mention of conversion.
Christopher Columbus was not motivated by 21st-century social mores
Is there anything to admire in Columbus? Of course there is. The man was an adventurer, a great traveler, and he opened up a new world of commerce, culture and discovery. He did what he felt was right. It's fine to note those good points, but to gloss over the wrongdoing and the disasters of two continents meeting in this way is not fine at all. To gloss over the pain of those enslaved, of the nations wiped out by disease, is not fine at all.
Every year, Columbus Day is proclaimed anew by the President of the United States. In the 2011 proclamation, not only are the hardships suffered by the Indians who encountered Columbus acknowledged, but so is Columbus' spirit of adventure and the bravery of pioneers of all kinds. This kind of balance is important.
Christopher Columbus can teach us that humans are complex, but only if we let him
One of the major benefits of studying history is to learn from mistakes. Looking at only one side of a given story makes that impossible. Some even consider the critics of Columbus to be “rewriting history.” They are missing the point.
The next time you are looking at a statue of Christopher Columbus in a city that he never visited, consider this: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat its mistakes. And that applies equally whether you tell the history leaving out all the good – or all the bad.
By considering all aspects, even the uncomfortable, Columbus becomes someone in which we, as modern humans, are reflected. He was flawed. He was brave. We are both. We can identify with history only insasmuch as we see ourselves in it. And then we can start to better ourselves.
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Further reading:
- “The Voyage of Christopher Columbus”; Translator: John Cummins; St. Martin's Press, 1992
- “People's History of the United States”; Howard Zinn; Harper Perennial, 2003
- “Lies Your Teacher Told You”; James W. Loewen; Touchstone, 1996
- 2011 Columbus Day Parade
- Knights of Columbus Catholic fraternal society
- White House: Columbus Day 2011 proclamation
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