Criminally ignorant schools still teaching kids that Christopher Columbus was some hero

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Check this disturbing crap out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKPs6bDgQnY&mode=related&search=

(note that the comment at the end is a direct kick to the balls of all
Native Americans in the Americas, yet this kid doesn't even know it!)

Another sick example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSfTmfymjXY


And for those who think Cristobal Colon (the real name of "Columbus")
was a hero, a tiny example out of countless that say otherwise:

http://prestwidge.com/river/columbus.html

The reputation of Christopher Columbus has been heading down. Whether
he deserves membership in the Genocide Hall of Fame or not is a topic
open for debate. There's also no way of telling whether or not
historians 500 years from now will be kind to some current prominent
figures in today's society.

Here are 2 pieces of writing found on the internet that may alter your
view of the person that history most often is given credit for
discovering America.

Examining the reputation of Christopher Columbus

By Jack Weatherford

Christopher Columbus' reputation has not survived the scrutiny of
history, and today we know that he was no more the discoverer of
America than Pocahontas was the discoverer of Great Britain. Native
Americans had built great civilizations with many millions of people
long before Columbus wandered lost into the Caribbean.

Columbus' voyage has even less meaning for North Americans than for
South Americans because Columbus never set foot on our continent, nor
did he open it to European trade. Scandinavian Vikings already had
settlements here in the eleventh century, and British fisherman
probably fished the shores of Canada for decades before Columbus.

The first European explorer to thoroughly document his visit to North
America was the Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto, who sailed for
England's King Henry VII and became known by his anglicized name, John
Cabot. Caboto arrived in 1497 and claimed North America for the
English sovereign while Columbus was still searching for India in the
Caribbean. After three voyages to America and more than a decade of
study, Columbus still believed that Cuba was a part of the continent
of Asia, South America was only an island, and the coast of Central
America was close to the Ganges River.

Unable to celebrate Columbus' exploration as a great discovery, some
apologists now want to commemorate it as the great "cultural
encounter." Under this interpretation, Columbus becomes a sensitive
genius thinking beyond his time in the passionate pursuit of knowledge
and understanding. The historical record refutes this, too.

Contrary to popular legend, Columbus did not prove that the world was
round; educated people had known that for centuries. The Egyptian-
Greek scientist Erastosthenes, working for Alexandria and Aswan,
already had measured the circumference and diameter of the world in
the third century B.C. Arab scientists had developed a whole
discipline of geography and measurement, and in the tenth century
A.D., Al Maqdisi described the earth with 360 degrees of longitude and
180 degrees of latitude. The Monastery of St. Catherine in the Sinai
still has an icon -- painted 500 years before Columbus -- which shows
Jesus ruling over a spherical earth.

Nevertheless, Americans have embroidered many such legends around
Columbus, and he has become part of a secular mythology for
schoolchildren. Autumn would hardly be complete in any elementary
school without construction-paper replicas of the three cute ships
that Columbus sailed to America, or without drawings of Queen Isabella
pawning her jewels to finance Columbus' trip.

This myth of the pawned jewels obscures the true and more sinister
story of how Columbus financed his trip. The Spanish monarch invested
in his excursion, but only on the condition that Columbus would repay
this investment with profit by bringing back gold, spices, and other
tribute from Asia. This pressing need to repay his debt underlies the
frantic tone of Columbus' diaries as he raced from one Caribbean
island to the next, stealing anything of value.

After he failed to contact the emperor of China, the traders of India
or the merchants of Japan, Columbus decided to pay for his voyage in
the one important commodity he had found in ample supply -- human
lives. He seized 1,200 Taino Indians from the island of Hispaniola,
crammed as many onto his ships as would fit and sent them to Spain,
where they were paraded naked through the streets of Seville and sold
as slaves in 1495. Columbus tore children from their parents,
husbands from wives. On board Columbus' slave ships, hundreds died;
the sailors tossed the Indian bodies into the Atlantic.

Because Columbus captured more Indian slaves than he could transport
to Spain in his small ships, he put them to work in mines and
plantations which he, his family and followers created throughout the
Caribbean. His marauding band hunted Indians for sport and profit --
beating, raping, torturing, killing, and then using the Indian bodies
as food for their hunting dogs. Within four years of Columbus'
arrival on Hispaniola, his men had killed or exported one-third of the
original Indian population of 300,000. Within another 50 years, the
Taino people had been made extinct -- the first casualties of the
holocaust of American Indians. The plantation owners then turned to
the American mainland and to Africa for new slaves to follow the
tragic path of the Taino.

This was the great cultural encounter initiated by Christopher
Columbus. This is the event we celebrate each year on Columbus Day.
The United States honors only two men with federal holidays bearing
their names. In January we commemorate the birth of Martin Luther
King, Jr., who struggled to lift the blinders of racial prejudice and
to cut the remaining bonds of slavery in America. In October, we
honor Christopher Columbus, who opened the Atlantic slave trade and
launched one of the greatest waves of genocide known in history.

(poster's note: Even this example is still a rather sanitized version
of Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus) and his goons did to the
indigenous people of the Americas. Colon and his men did some
extremely vile acts to the indigenous people including but not limited
to:

-Ripping the babies from their mothers arms and throwing them into the
water while roaring with laughter

-Laying bets on who can split an (indigenous) man in two with his
sword in one blow

-Packing indigenous people into 3 large houses, locking them inside,
and setting the houses on fire, burning them alive.

-mutilation

Celebrating this man and giving him a national holiday is nothing
short of vile, immoral, and a punch in the face to the indigenous
people of the Americas, and must be replaced with a "Americas'
Holocaust Memorial Day", and remembered the same way 9/11 is
remembered..
 
<ultimauw@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1189630363.490554.294020@k79g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
> Check this disturbing crap out:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKPs6bDgQnY&mode=related&search=
> (note that the comment at the end is a direct kick to the balls of all
> Native Americans in the Americas, yet this kid doesn't even know it!)


Who cares?

> Another sick example:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSfTmfymjXY
> And for those who think Cristobal Colon (the real name of "Columbus")
> was a hero, a tiny example out of countless that say otherwise:
> http://prestwidge.com/river/columbus.html
> The reputation of Christopher Columbus has been heading down. Whether
> he deserves membership in the Genocide Hall of Fame or not is a topic
> open for debate. There's also no way of telling whether or not
> historians 500 years from now will be kind to some current prominent
> figures in today's society.
> Here are 2 pieces of writing found on the internet that may alter your
> view of the person that history most often is given credit for
> discovering America.


Christopher Columbus is a hero.
 
On Sep 12, 4:52 pm, ultim...@hotmail.com wrote:
> ...
> And for those who think Cristobal Colon (the real name of "Columbus")
> was a hero, a tiny example out of countless that say otherwise:


If you examine the notarial documents from the archives of the
Republic of Genoa, you will see that his real name was Cristoforo
Colombo.

> http://prestwidge.com/river/columbus.html
>
> The reputation of Christopher Columbus has been heading down. Whether
> he deserves membership in the Genocide Hall of Fame or not is a topic
> open for debate. There's also no way of telling whether or not
> historians 500 years from now will be kind to some current prominent
> figures in today's society.


The "Genocide" that you mention was implemented by the Spanish, just
as they had done against the natives of the Canary Islands and against
the Moors of Granada.

> Here are 2 pieces of writing found on the internet that may alter your
> view of the person that history most often is given credit for
> discovering America.
>
> Examining the reputation of Christopher Columbus
>
> By Jack Weatherford

[snip]

The myths and legends that were popularized after his death cannot be
used to discredit the epic crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by Columbus
and the highly skilled captains, pilots and sailors.

For almost 50 years, the Portuguese had been trying to sail westward,
starting from the Azores Islands, but were not successful because of
the strong headwinds of that region. In his first attempt, starting
from the Canary Islands, Columbus found the best route for sailing to
and from the West Indies. His voyage opened the Western Hemisphere to
European colonization and, for better or worse, altered the course of
history.

Christopher Columbus formulated his Enterprise of the Indies (Empresa
de las Indias) based on all the information that was known at the
time. In 1992, when so much flimflam was being peddled, I wrote up the
following summary. Most of it comes from Samuel Eliot Morison's
"Admiral of the Ocean Sea", and from "The Life of the Admiral
Christopher Columbus by his Son Ferdinand."
============================

I. Explorations of the Atlantic Ocean preceding the voyage of
Columbus

c. AD 874 Iceland is settled by Norwegians.

c. 982 Greenland is settled by Eric the Red.


c. 1000 Vineland (Newfoundland) is discovered by Leif Eriksson.
(excavations at L'Anse-aux-Meadows have revealed Norse settlement)

1300s Iceland loses contact with settlements in Greenland. The
disappearance of the Greenland settlements remains a mystery.

1300s Porto Santo and Madeira Islands discovered by Genoese
adventurers.

Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) establishes a two-pronged
program to explore the Atlantic Ocean.
(1) South to explore the west coast of Africa.
(2) West to search for the mythical St. Brendan's Islands.

1418 Porto Santo and Madeira (1420) are rediscovered.

1427-1439 Seven of the nine Azores Islands are discovered.

1434 Gil Eanes sails around Cape Bojador in West Africa, then known as
Cape Nun--the Cape of No Return.

1452 Flores and Corvo, the westernmost Azores Islands, are discovered.
Corvo is only 1,054 miles from Newfoundland. The Portuguese attemps to
sail westward are unsuccessful because of the strong headwinds of this
region.

1456 Alvise Ca'da Mosto and Diogo Gomes reach Sierra Leone and
discover the Cape Verde Islands.

1468 Fernao Gomes sails around the bulge of West Africa to the Ivory
Coast and the Gold Coast.

1487-88 Bartholomeu Dias reaches the Cape of Good Hope.

II. Why Columbus believed that additional islands and mainlands (in
Asia) were within a feasible sailing distance westward:

(1) St. Brendan's Islands - St. Brendan was a 6th century seagoing
Irish saint. The accounts of the fabulous islands that he had visited
were the most popular stories of the Middle Ages.
(2) The island of Antillia--According to legend, when Portugal was
invaded by the Moors, seven bishops and their congregations fled and
founded seven cities on the island of Antillia.
(3) Countless reports of islands "sighted" by sailors.
(4) Physical Evidence that washed ashore after severe storms in the
Azores, Madeira, and Canary Islands.
(a) Carved driftwood.
(b) Huge canes that did not grow in Europe or Africa.
(c) Sea beans similar to, but larger than, horse chestnuts.
(d) Large trunks of trees that were unknown in Europe.
(e) Two dead bodies with non-European features washed ashore on
Flores.
(5) Columbus was particularly enticed by the spice trade and the
potential riches that he would find. The Book of Marco Polo (Il
Milione) described Cipangu (Japan) as a fabulously wealthy Island with
gold-roofed and gold-paved palaces, and stated that "all the
sovereigns of Europe have not such riches as belong to the Khan."
(6) Many contemporary geographers and scholars claimed that it was
feasible to sail westward to China.

III. How Columbus made the colossal miscalculation that Cipangu
(Japan) was less than 3,000 miles west of the Canary Islands.

c. 230 BC Eratosthenes of Cyrene estimated the circumference of the
Earth to be 25,000 miles (the actual is 24,902). This is one of the
most celebrated measurements of antiquity.
c. AD 150 Ptolemy of Alexandria estimated the circumference of the
Earth to be 20,800 miles and the span of the known world to be 180
degrees.
Marinus of Tyre estimated the span of the known world to be 225
degrees.
c. 900 The Arab geographer Alfragan estimated the circumference of the
Earth to be 27,000 miles.
Marco Polo (1254-1324) claimed that China extended an additional 28
degrees eastward and that Cipangu was 30 degrees east of China.
Pierre d'Ailly (1350-1420), a cardinal and rector of the Sorbonne,
included all of the above in his compendium of ancient texts entitled
"Imago Mundi," which Columbus possessed. D'Ailly wrote that the voyage
from Spain to China required only a "few days."
Paolo Toscanelli, a Florentine physician, supported Marinus of Tyre
and Marco Polo. Toscanelli estimated the distance from the Canaries to
Cipangu to be 3,450 miles.
Martin Behaim, a German geographer, estimated the distance from the
Canaries to Cipangu to be 3,550 miles.

Columbus' calculations:

Marinus of Tyre's span of the known world 225 degrees
Marco Polo (added to China) 28
Marco Polo (China to Cipangu) 30
Spain to Canaries 9
Adjustment made by Columbus 8

Eastward span Canaries to Cipangu 300 degrees
Westward span Canaries to Cipangu 60 degrees

Columbus compounded his errors by determining that one degree equals
45 miles and arrived at the following:

Distance from Canaries to Cipangu 60 x 45 = 2,700 miles.

The actual distance is 12,200 miles.

IV. The Capitulations of 17 April 1492 (Columbus' contract with King
Ferdinand and Queen Isabella)

If Columbus discovered any new islands or mainland, he would:
(1) be given the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea (Atlantic Ocean).
(2) be appointed Viceroy and Governor of all the new lands.
(3) have the right to nominate three persons, from whom the sovereigns
would choose one, for any office in the new lands.
(4) be entitled to 10 percent of all the revenues from the new lands.
(5) have the option of buying one-eighth interest in any commercial
venture with the new lands and receive one-eighth of the profits.
(6) All these rights and privileges were to be passed on to his heirs
in perpetuity.

Luis de Santangel, the treasurer of Aragon who persuaded Isabella to
accept Columbus' terms, arranged the financing of the enterprise.

1,400,000 maravedis were borrowed from a fraternal organization to
which Santangel belonged.
250,000 maravedis were invested by Columbus.
350,000 maravedis were invested by Santangel and his associates.
--------------
2,000,000 maravedis = total approximate cost ($14,000 in 1940)

The city of Palos was ordered by the crown to provide and outfit two
caravels. The wages of the crew would be paid by the crown.

After the Discovery, this contract became inconvenient and the Spanish
Crown broke it. The attempts to discredit Columbus, which are being
peddled to this day, were initiated by the Spanish Crown during the
subsequent court cases (pleitos de Colon).
 
>
> Who cares?


Educated people.

>
> Christopher Columbus is a hero.


Educate yourself to realize how wrong you are.
 
Ears wrote:
> >
> > Who cares?

>
> Educated people.
>
> >
> > Christopher Columbus is a hero.

>
> Educate yourself to realize how wrong you are.


Educate YOURSELF to learn English.

Columbus IS a hero.

Whether he should be or whether he deserves to be a hero is a
different question.

But stating that Columbus is a hero is a simple statement
of fact.
 
On Sep 14, 3:24 pm, Dom <DR...@teikyopost.edu> wrote:
> On Sep 12, 4:52 pm, ultim...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> > ...
> > And for those who think Cristobal Colon (the real name of "Columbus")
> > was a hero, a tiny example out of countless that say otherwise:

>
> If you examine the notarial documents from the archives of the
> Republic of Genoa, you will see that his real name was Cristoforo
> Colombo.
>
> >http://prestwidge.com/river/columbus.html

>
> > The reputation of Christopher Columbus has been heading down. Whether
> > he deserves membership in the Genocide Hall of Fame or not is a topic
> > open for debate. There's also no way of telling whether or not
> > historians 500 years from now will be kind to some current prominent
> > figures in today's society.

>
> The "Genocide" that you mention was implemented by the Spanish, just
> as they had done against the natives of the Canary Islands and against
> the Moors of Granada.
>
> > Here are 2 pieces of writing found on the internet that may alter your
> > view of the person that history most often is given credit for
> > discovering America.

>
> > Examining the reputation of Christopher Columbus

>
> > By Jack Weatherford

>
> [snip]
>
> The myths and legends that were popularized after his death cannot be
> used to discredit the epic crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by Columbus
> and the highly skilled captains, pilots and sailors.


The Nazis also moved technology forward with a lot of innovations,
particularly in rocketry. In fact, one of the top scientists who
worked under the Nazi regime ended up at NASA, and helped get it
started! (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun )

This does not dismiss the facts that the Nazis were brutal, immoral
savage monsters, and Columbus is no different.
 
In article <1190063422.103044.4910@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>,
<ultimauw@hotmail.com> wrote:
>On Sep 14, 3:24 pm, Dom <DR...@teikyopost.edu> wrote:
>> On Sep 12, 4:52 pm, ultim...@hotmail.com wrote:


>> > ...
>> > And for those who think Cristobal Colon (the real name of "Columbus")
>> > was a hero, a tiny example out of countless that say otherwise:


>> If you examine the notarial documents from the archives of the
>> Republic of Genoa, you will see that his real name was Cristoforo
>> Colombo.


>> >http://prestwidge.com/river/columbus.html


>> > The reputation of Christopher Columbus has been heading down. Whether
>> > he deserves membership in the Genocide Hall of Fame or not is a topic
>> > open for debate. There's also no way of telling whether or not
>> > historians 500 years from now will be kind to some current prominent
>> > figures in today's society.


>> The "Genocide" that you mention was implemented by the Spanish, just
>> as they had done against the natives of the Canary Islands and against
>> the Moors of Granada.


There is NO evidence that Columbus himself engaged in
genocide, and in fact probability the greatest cause
of it was measles, and nobody in those days would have
considered exposing the Indians to a disease which most
children had and from which most recovered to be even
remotely serious.

There were other things the LATER Spanish did, but do
not attribute them to Columbus. Is Pasteur responsible
for the efforts at germ warfare? Is the discoverer of
uranium in the 18th century responsible for the atomic
bomb?

In any case, what happened afterwards in the Americas
was affected by its rediscovery by Columbus, and not
much by anything he did afterwards.

>> > Here are 2 pieces of writing found on the internet that may alter your
>> > view of the person that history most often is given credit for
>> > discovering America.


>> > Examining the reputation of Christopher Columbus


>> > By Jack Weatherford


>> [snip]


>> The myths and legends that were popularized after his death cannot be
>> used to discredit the epic crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by Columbus
>> and the highly skilled captains, pilots and sailors.


> The Nazis also moved technology forward with a lot of innovations,
>particularly in rocketry. In fact, one of the top scientists who
>worked under the Nazi regime ended up at NASA, and helped get it
>started! (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun )


Was von Braun a Nazi? That he worked under the Nazi
government does not make him such, and it is not by any
means clear that his participation made things worse.

> This does not dismiss the facts that the Nazis were brutal, immoral
>savage monsters, and Columbus is no different.


I repeat the question; was von Braun such a monster?

--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University
hrubin@stat.purdue.edu Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
 
On Sep 17, 5:10 pm, ultim...@hotmail.com wrote:
> On Sep 14, 3:24 pm, Dom <DR...@teikyopost.edu> wrote:
>
> > On Sep 12, 4:52 pm, ultim...@hotmail.com wrote:

>
> > > ...
> > > And for those who think Cristobal Colon (the real name of "Columbus")
> > > was a hero, a tiny example out of countless that say otherwise:

>
> > If you examine the notarial documents from the archives of the
> > Republic of Genoa, you will see that his real name was Cristoforo
> > Colombo.

>
> > >http://prestwidge.com/river/columbus.html

>
> > > The reputation of Christopher Columbus has been heading down. Whether
> > > he deserves membership in the Genocide Hall of Fame or not is a topic
> > > open for debate. There's also no way of telling whether or not
> > > historians 500 years from now will be kind to some current prominent
> > > figures in today's society.

>
> > The "Genocide" that you mention was implemented by the Spanish, just
> > as they had done against the natives of the Canary Islands and against
> > the Moors of Granada.

>
> > > Here are 2 pieces of writing found on the internet that may alter your
> > > view of the person that history most often is given credit for
> > > discovering America.

>
> > > Examining the reputation of Christopher Columbus

>
> > > By Jack Weatherford

>
> > [snip]

>
> > The myths and legends that were popularized after his death cannot be
> > used to discredit the epic crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by Columbus
> > and the highly skilled captains, pilots and sailors.

>
> The Nazis also moved technology forward with a lot of innovations,
> particularly in rocketry. In fact, one of the top scientists who
> worked under the Nazi regime ended up at NASA, and helped get it
> started! (seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun)
>
> This does not dismiss the facts that the Nazis were brutal, immoral
> savage monsters, and Columbus is no different.


The comparison of Columbus with the Nazis is way over the top.
Columbus did initiate the exploitation and enslavement of the natives
in order to find sufficient gold to repay those who had financed his
Enterprise. However, he cannot be held responsible for the widespread
plunder and extermination policies that followed his arrest.
 
In article <fcp9c9$1ftc@odds.stat.purdue.edu>,
hrubin@odds.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) wrote:
> >On Sep 14, 3:24 pm, Dom <DR...@teikyopost.edu> wrote:


[snip]

> > The Nazis also moved technology forward with a lot of innovations,
> >particularly in rocketry. In fact, one of the top scientists who
> >worked under the Nazi regime ended up at NASA, and helped get it
> >started! (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun )

>
> Was von Braun a Nazi?


He was a member of the Party and eventually a Major in the Waffen SS, so
he certainly was a "card-carrying Nazi". The extent to which that was
merely a useful "flag of convenience" for him is in some dispute.

Call him a Nazi, he won't even frown:
"Nazi, schmatzi" says Werner von Braun.
-- Tom Lehrer

> That he worked under the Nazi
> government does not make him such, and it is not by any
> means clear that his participation made things worse.


Some say our attitude
Should be one of gratitude,
Like the widows and cripples in old London Town
Who owe their large pensions to Werner von Braun.
-- TL again

> > This does not dismiss the facts that the Nazis were brutal, immoral
> >savage monsters, and Columbus is no different.

>
> I repeat the question; was von Braun such a monster?


Probably not, but he was in a key place at a key time, and cannot
reasonably be considered blameless for the consequences of his voluntary
actions.


--
---------------------------
| BBB b \ Barbara at LivingHistory stop co stop uk
| B B aa rrr b |
| BBB a a r bbb | Quidquid latine dictum sit,
| B B a a r b b | altum viditur.
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