Friday, January 31, 2014

Christopher Columbus – Founding Father? A Hero? Friendly to Natives? OR Christopher Columbus – A Tyrant? A Slave Trader? A Cruel Person? - Bhargav Patel



Christopher Columbus – Founding Father? A Hero? Friendly to Natives?
OR
Christopher Columbus – A Tyrant? A Slave Trader? A Cruel Person?

   Today we celebrate Columbus Day in October every year in honor of the so called “Founding Father of America” / “A great Hero”. But have we ever wondered if any of this is actually true or have we just accepted what our history teachers have spoon fed us. Are the feelings incorporated in little children today for Columbus justified? Is Columbus worthy of being honored as a hero? Are things written about him the truth or are they myths? Let’s analyze.  

                                                               
   Let me start off by tackling the story of Columbus finding America (New World). Christopher Columbus never once in his entire lifetime stepped feet in America. That’s right he never came to the North American Mainland! Crazy right, I know. Christopher Columbus spent his time in the Caribbean islands (Bahamas and Hispaniola) and claiming land for the Spanish Empire. In fact the first verified expedition to North America was done by the Vikings. The Norse expedition led by Leif Erikson was the first to land in Canada. So my question is, why do we give Christopher Columbus the Credit of discovering the “New World”? (Kasum October 11, 2010) (Strauss October 14, 2013)

   Let’s move on to another issue – Christopher Columbus, the hero? Today American children are made to think of good ol’ Chris as some hero figure. But in reality he was a no good back stabbing S.O.B. tyrant. When he landed in the tropics of the Bahamas he met three different tribal native groups - the Lucayans, Taínos and Arawaks. He jotted in his diary that these people were very friendly and peaceful. The Arawaks even helped our Hero in Distress (Chris) repair his boat by doing all the labor. And as token of his f**king appreciation he enslaved them all and claimed the land for the Spanish Empire. (Kasum October 11, 2010) (Strauss October 14, 2013)

                   
   He made the natives work in mines and 2 years after horrible work conditions and no OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) 125,000 of the 250,000 natives died. Yup, this is the Hero we should look up to kids. Christopher Columbus truly represents the Italian-American Heritage that FDR signed into this national holiday (sarcasm)! (Kasum October 11, 2010)

   Let’s flow onto Christopher Columbus as a tyrant and person even worse than most terrorists today. Natives of the islands in Bahamas were so peaceful that slavery was not tolerated and most certainly not practiced. That is until Christopher Columbus became the first person in the Americas to start this horrible tradition of slavery that would go on to cause major problems in the future. He even sold little girls between the age of 9 -11 to older perverted men and even made entries about this in his diary. (Kasum October 11, 2010)

   Things got even worse when Christopher made a second journey to the New World and with him he brought wild mad dogs. He would let loose his savage dogs on any slave who tried to escape and the dogs would eat him/her. Slaves were buried alive or raped. The most horrific thing that almost made me want to kill this guy really slowly and torture in him in the most inhumane way possible was when I found out that Christopher Columbus would feed the Arawak babies to his hungry dogs. I don’t even have words to describe the level of tyranny and satanic deeds this man has done. (Kasum October 11, 2010)

                                             
   Some of you may still find this hard to believe but there have been several documented accounts from followers of Columbus who left him due to his ways. One Such person was Bartolome De Las Casas, who turned to priesthood after seeing what Columbus had been doing.

   There may still be numerous accounts of Columbus’ misdeeds but we wouldn’t want to teach our growing children that what they learned was all a lie. A surely the Govt. doesn’t want to tell the public that they are celebrating and honoring a rapist, murderer and tyrant. But we should spread awareness about this horrible man and remove the National Holiday as he does not deserve it.



Reference:
-        -Kasum , Eric. Huffington Post, "Columbus Day? True Legacy: Cruelty and Slavery." Last modified October 11, 2010. Accessed January 31, 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-kasum/columbus-day-a-bad-idea_b_742708.html.
-       - Strauss, Valerie. The Washington Post, "Christopher Columbus: 3 things you think he did that he didn’t." Last modified October 14, 2013. Accessed January 31, 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/10/14/christopher-columbus-3-things-you-think-he-did-that-he-didnt/.
-        -http://www.real-dream-catchers.com/images/columbusarrived2.gif


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