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Chapter I.
Christopher
Columbus: Hero or
Otherwise
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He was the son of an obscure Italian weaver and wool merchant; he had little
education and no formal training in the art of navigation, but by age 14 this young lad was
serving as a cabin boy and dreaming of fame and fortune. Eleven years later, the young man
was a ship’s captain, an excellent navigator, and a skilled sailor with a sixth sense for
detecting storms before they reached the horizon. His career took him to the far ends of
the Mediterranean, through the straits of Gibraltar, up the coast of France to England and
Ireland, and south along the coast of Africa. He sailed westward to the edge of the
uncharted waters on the far side of the Azores and the Canary Islands. With a head full of
red hair and a knowledge of three languages, this man of noble bearing had developed a
great deal of confidence and was sure in his belief that God had chosen him for some kind of
a divine mission.

We all know the divine mission Christopher Columbus completed was to open North
and South America to exploration, settlement, and development by the Old World. We know
that this made him a hero in Spain and a luminary in the United States whose achievement is
celebrated with a national holiday. But we also know that this so called “discovery” of a
continent that had its own unique cultures and civilizations led to vast dislocations and a
virtual annihilation of long established societies. As a result Columbus became a symbol of
European imperialism. Although he was not personally responsible for the changes made by
those who came later, we can assess the character and actions of the man whose
explorations had such dramatic impact. The results of our study can help us decide whether
Columbus should be regarded as a great and bold navigator, a visionary agent of civilization,
or a man whose ambition, pride and dumb luck had disastrous consequences for millions of
people.

Early Calculations

Observing the driftwood floating in from the west, Columbus concluded that land
must lie somewhere beyond and within reach. Believing the earth was round, he calculated
that he could sail west and reach the shores of the fabulously wealthy Indies by catching
the winds from the east, and that a return voyage was also possible by taking a northern
route towards France where the winds blew from the west. The only mistake Columbus
made in his speculations was that he underestimated the earth’s circumference by some
10,000 miles.

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www.americans.net/ LandingofColumbus.jp
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Armed with pride and ambition, Christopher Columbus approached the royal court
of Portugal where he tried to convince King John to finance his voyage. But the King was
busy pursuing schemes to reach China and India by sailing east. Rebuffed by the Portuguese,
Columbus approached King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. Columbus impressed the
royal couple with his knowledge, commanding personality, and deep piety. He enticed them
with visions of souls to save and wealth to accumulate, and he convinced their advisors that
his questionable calculations of the distance to the Indies were correct. With a contract all
but in hand, Columbus insisted on obtaining the titles of “Admiral”, Viceroy”, and
“Governor” and the promise of 10% of the Crown’s share of gold and silver. When these
titles were refused, Columbus set off for France to gain its King’s support for his voyage,
but a last minute appeal from a royal courrier convinced the Queen to meet Columbus’s
terms.

As our early lessons in

Our will is That you, Christopher Columbus, after discovering
history have taught us, on August
and conquoring the said Islands and Continent in 5he said
3, 1492, three frail ships, the
ocean, or any of them, shall be our Admiral of the said islands Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa
and Continent you shall so discover and conquer; and that you Maria set sail with a crew of some
shall be our Admiral, Vice-Roy, and Governour in them, … and 90 men. After stopping at the
that you may exercise the office of Vice-Roy and Governour of Canary Islands to take on
provisions for the perilous voyage,
the said Islands which you and your Lieutenants shall conquer,
and with favorable winds at their
and freely decide all causes, civil and criminal, appertaining to backs, the tiny ships made good
the said employment of Admiral, Vice-Roy, and Governour as progress into the unknown. But
you shall see fit in justice after a month on the open seas
Source: Commager, Documents of American History, with no land in sight, Columbus’s
New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1963, p. 1. sailors began to lose faith in their
commander and clamored for a
quick return home. Undaunted,
Columbus urged his men not to abandon their mission. As an incentive, he proposed that
the first man to spot land would be rewarded with the equivalent of a sailor’s yearly wage,
but because Columbus saw lights far in the distance on the night of October 11th he denied
the reward to the sailor who actually saw the and claimed it for himself.

The land detected by the ill-used sailor was Watling Island in what we now know as
the Bahamas. In the company of the officers of his three ships, Columbus came ashore and
promptly kneeled in thanks to God for a safe voyage while claiming the land for the King and
Queen of Spain. The Taino Indians on shore being ‘discovered’ observed the white sails and
strange men with hair covering their faces and helmets reflecting the early morning sun.
Timid at first, they gradually made their presence known. Columbus later described them as
handsome, tall, intelligent, generous, and peaceful, and he made note that they had bits of
gold attached to their noses and wore no clothes. He tried to befriend them with strings of
colored beads, and he learned of men and women on other islands who wore bands of gold
on their arms. He also learned that other natives, the Caribs, were fierce warriors and
cannibals.

Inspired by his new friends, Columbus resumed his quest for the riches of the Indies
with a three and one-half month voyage of discovery around the Caribbean. On Christmas
day Columbus ran his flagship, the Santa Maria, aground on the island of Hispanola, now the
site of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Try as he might, Columbus was unable to pry the
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Santa Maria loose. He was forced to abandon the ship, but with help from willing natives
salvaged most of its timbers. He supervised the hasty construction of a fort and with no
space in his two remaining vessels, was compelled to leave 39 of his men there with the
promise he’d return. With that Columbus set sail for Spain.

The Second Voyage

Accompanied by captured natives, local spices and exotic birds, Columbus made his
triumphant return to the royal court of Spain where he told wild tales of cannibals and
mermaids. His display of New World treasure, such as it was, convinced the royal couple to
outfit Columbus with 17 ships, over 1200 men, and supplies sufficient to build shelters,
establish a permanent settlement, subdue and convert natives, wage wars and explore the
entire area. Columbus set sail for the world he had “discovered” amidst great hopes and
fanfare.

I gave to them many beautiful and pleasing things that I had

With his finely honed
navigation skills, Columbus
had no trouble finding the
site where he had left his
men. But to his shock and
grief, the fort had been
burned to the ground. The
Tiano who apparently had
retaliated for their
mistreatment had killed all
of his men. Columbus
nevertheless resolved to
start a small colony close to
the ruins of the old fort. He
ordered his subordinates to
build a new stockade,
construct shelters, and
cultivate fields in
preparation for planting.
brought with me, no value being taken in exchange, in order that
I might the more easily make them friendly to me, that they
might be made worshipers of Christ, and that they might be full
of love towards our king, queen, and prince, and the whole
Spanish nation;
These people practice no kind of idolatry; on the contrary they
firmly believe that all strength and power, and in fact all good
things are in heaven, and that I had come down from thence with
these ships and sailors; and in this belief I was received there after
they had put aside fear. Nor are they slow or unskilled, but of
excellent and acute understanding; and the men who have
navigated that sea give an account of everything in an admirable
manner; but they never saw people clothed, nor these kind of
ships. As soon as I reached that sea, I seized by force several
Indians on the first island, in order that they might learn from

However, the us, and in like manner tell us about those things in these lands of
adventurous Spaniards had which they themselves had knowledge …
not come to the New World Source:
to perform manual labor and http://www.usm.maine.edu/~maps/columbus/translati
take orders from a on.html
foreigner. They preferred to
spend their time searching for gold and silver. Many of the natives died as a result of
practices Columbus permitted while in charge of this settlement. The Tiano were ordered by
the Spanish to collect a certain amount of gold per month or have their hands cut off for
failing to fulfill their obligation. Approximately 500 Tiano were rounded up to be sold as
slaves in Spain, but most of them did not survive the journey. Spanish settlers were allowed
to enslave Indians for their own estates, or work them to death in the gold mines later
established on the mainland. As a consequence of their treatment and the diseases brought
by the settlers for which they had no natural defenses, the population of natives rapidly
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dwindled in twenty years, according to one estimate, from a total of 3 million to fewer
than11,000.

When Columbus left the colony to continue his explorations, he put his brother,
Diego, in command. Unfortunately Diego was a weak leader and unable to stop the Spanish
from fighting amongst themselves. When authorities in Spain got word of a virtual civil war
raging in Hispanola, they sent a royal commission to investigate. Hearing this news,
Columbus hurried back home to answer any hostile charges that might be made and to give
his own version of the story.

The Last Two Voyages

Back in Spain, Columbus was cleared of the charges against him and was even
authorized to organize another voyage of exploration. But this third visit to the New World
was even less successful than the second. Although he managed to reach the coast of
South America, he foolishly claimed that the Orinco River he discovered in Venezuela flowed
from the Terrestrial paradise that originated in the Garden of Eden. Then, when he reached
the town of Santo Domingo in Hispanola, the Spanish official who had replaced his brother
Diego had the ‘Great Explorer’ arrested, clapped into irons, and brought back to Spain.
Fortunately, Columbus still enjoyed the royal couple’s support. Though he was stripped of
his impressive titles of Governor and Admiral of the Fleet, he was pardoned and
compensated for his imprisonment. Furthermore he was granted permission to lead another
expedition, providing that he stay clear of Santo Domingo.

On his fourth voyage good fortune eluded Columbus once again. His ships were
battered by storms and were forced to beach on a remote island where they waited for a
year to be rescued. While they waited, the marooned commander and his men were at the
mercy of natives who temporarily refused to sell them food. Ever innovative, Columbus was
able to use his knowledge of a coming eclipse to convince the natives he was withholding
the light of the moon and would not restore it until food deliveries were resumed. When a
rescue ship finally arrived, this former “Admiral of the Fleet” was forced to return to Spain
as passenger on a ship and not its commander. Once back in his adopted country, the aging
explorer spent most of his remaining days seeking unsuccessfully to have his titles restored.
He did succeed, however, in getting his promised 10% of the Crown’s share of gold found in
the New World. As a result, Columbus lived comfortably but in relative obscurity until his
death on May 20, 1506.

Evaluation

Did Columbus deserve to regain his titles or earn the privilege of having a day named
after him? His most ardent supporters included Italian Americans who organized the first
Columbus Day celebration in the United States in 1792. The anniversary of his achievement
was made a national holiday in1893 and has been enthusiastically celebrated ever since. The
absolute high point of the commemoration came on the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s
first landing in the New World. But the enthusiasm for honoring this anniversary has been
considerably dampened by protests stemming from Native Americans and their supporters
who believe Columbus’s arrival in the New World was a disaster which led to the
enslavement and destruction of over 100 million people. Others point out that Columbus
was justifiably credited as the visionary who opened the New World to the civilization of the
old, and see this civilization as vastly superior to those it replaced.
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Activity: Preparing for a Debate

1. For over two centuries Americans have commemorated Columbus’s landing in the New
World with a special day dedicated in his honor. What information in this chapter
supports the image of Columbus as a hero?
2. What information in this chapter supports an unfavorable view of Columbus and his
accomplishments?

3. Prepare to debate whether Columbus was a skilled navigator and heroic figure or a
blunderer and self-serving despoiler?
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The Issue Today: Was Columbus a Hero?
Columbus’s Discover Opened America Columbus’s Arrival Was a Disaster
Prior to 1492, what is now the United States … Just as Columbus could not, and did not,
was sparsely inhabited, unused, and "discover" a hemisphere already inhabited by
undeveloped. The inhabitants were primarily nearly 100 million people, his arrival cannot,
hunter-gatherers, wandering across the land, and will not, be recognized by indigenous
living from hand-to-mouth and from day-to- peoples as a heroic and festive event.
day. There was virtually no change, no growth
for thousands of years. With rare exception, Defenders of Columbus and his holiday argue
life was nasty, brutish, and short: there was that critics unfairly judge Columbus, a 15th
no wheel, no written language, no division of Century product, by the moral and legal
labor, little agriculture and scant permanent standards of the late 20th century. Such a
settlement; but there were endless, bloody defense implies that there were no legal or
wars. Whatever the problems it brought, the moral constraints on actions such as
vilified Western culture also brought Columbus' in 1492. In reality, European legal
enormous, undreamed-of benefits, without and moral principles acknowledged the
which most of today's Indians would be natural rights of Indians and prohibited their
infinitely poorer or not even alive. slaughter or unjust wars against them.
Columbus should be honored, for in so doing,
we honor Western civilization. But the critics Throughout this hemisphere, educational
do not want to bestow such honor, because systems and the popular media perpetuate
their real goal is to denigrate the values of the myth that indigenous peoples have
Western civilization and to glorify the prim- contributed nothing to the world, and,
itivism, mysticism, and collectivism embodied consequently, we should be grateful for our
in the tribal cultures of American Indians. colonization, our dispossession, and our
They decry the glorification of the West as microwave ovens.
"cultural imperialism" and "Eurocentrism." We
should, they claim, replace our reverence for The Columbus legacy throughout the
Western civilization with multi-culturalism, Americas keeps Indian people at the bottom
which regards all cultures (including vicious of every socio-economic indicator. We are
tyrannies) as morally equal. In fact, they under continuing physical, legal and political
aren't. Some cultures are better than others: attack, and are afforded the least access to
a free society is better than slavery; reason is political and legal remedies. Nevertheless we
better than brute force as a way to deal with continue to resist and we refuse to
other men; productivity is better than surrender our spirituality, to assimilate, or to
stagnation. In fact, Western civilization stands disappear into Hollywood's romantic sunset.
… for the values that make human life
possible: reason, science, self-reliance, To dignify Columbus and his legacy with
individualism, ambition, productive parades, [and]holidays … is repugnant. As
achievement. The values of Western the original peoples of this land, we cannot,
civilization are values for all men; it is the and we will not, tolerate social and political
objectively superior culture. 2 festivities that celebrate our genocide.3
Your verdict
1. Should Columbus be honored as the person who brought civilization to the New World?
Support your verdict with facts and ideas.

2
Michael Berliner, On Columbus Day, Celebrate Western Civilization, And Not The Cruel Hoax
of Multiculturalism, Capitalist Magazine, October 3, 2004.
3
An Open Letter From the AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT of Colorado and Our Allies, Rocky
Mountain News on Saturday, October 8, 1994
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