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The Beginning

The Beginning. “History is the polemics of the victor” - William F. Buckley Jr. Christopher Columbus. Here is what most history textbooks say: Born in Genoa, Italy. Became an experienced seafarer whose adventures led him to believe the earth was round.

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The Beginning

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  1. The Beginning “History is the polemics of the victor” - William F. Buckley Jr.

  2. Christopher Columbus • Here is what most history textbooks say: • Born in Genoa, Italy. • Became an experienced seafarer whose adventures led him to believe the earth was round. • He was convinced he could find an alternate route to Asia where spices were abundant and beseeched monarch after monarch to fund his voyage. • Finally Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain agreed. • He outfitted 3 tiny ships and set forth on a difficult journey that lasted more than 2 months. • After threats of mutiny, Columbus reached the Indies on October 12, 1492. • He died still believing he’d reached Asia in relative obscurity.

  3. First of all… • He never set foot on the continent of North America. • Vikings, Polynesians, Native Americans, Africans, and Asians had already reached the Americas hundreds and even thousands of years before Columbus. • Norse settlements popped up as early as 1005. • The Egyptians, Romans, Phoenicians, and Celts may have reached them too. • Cocaine Mummies. • Not to mention, there were millions of Native Americans and Africans still here.

  4. “ He became an experienced seafarer whose adventures led him to believe the earth was round” • The Renaissance was in full force, people knew the Earth was round. • Fun fact, did you know that ideas from India (via the Turks), Greece (thanks to preservation by Muslim scholars), and the Arabs helped spur the Renaissance in the first place?

  5. “He was looking for spices.” • Spices from Asia were readily available thanks to trade routes through Turkey. • That Turks closed trade routes after the fall of the Ottoman’s is a myth, the routes were extremely profitable. • Also, he claims outright that he’s looking for gold.

  6. “The ships battled rough seas.” • According to his journals, the ships actually enjoyed calm seas and could even converse with each other. • When the Santa Maria was shipwrecked, the native Arawak Indians rowed out in full force to help them.

  7. Moreover, a few forgotten details… • Columbus set sail shortly after the beginning of the arms race that continues today. • Guns were bigger, they could be mounted on ships. • War was constantsignificant advances in archery, drill, and siege warfare. • Serious military advantage. • Europe had also expanded new social technologies that made it possible to manage broad enterprises. • Bureaucracy, double-entry bookkeeping using the decimal system, mechanical printing. • Printing increased literacy and the availability of Columbus’ accounts of his voyage.

  8. More details… • Religious paradigm shift • People associated amassing wealth and power/dominance with esteem and salvation. • Columbus did not claim he wanted to settle new lands, he claimed he wanted to find riches. • Moreover, Christianity was transportable and used to rationalize conquest and exploitation of land and people. • Help • Columbus took ideas and knowledge gained by Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal, who used what the Phoenicians and Egyptians learned when they sailed at least as far as Ireland and around Africa.

  9. Upon Return in 1493: • Columbus and his men demanded that the Natives supply them with food, gold, cotton, and their women. • Resistance meant punishment and eventually justified all out war. • After a few months of brutal, bloody slaying of the natives, they established a slave trade out of Haiti. • Thousands were shipped to Europe, many dying on the way. • Those remaining faced paying tribute, being hunted for sport, rape, brutal punishments, and watching their land and culture deteriorate. • Many opted for suicide instead.

  10. Upon return… • Native ecosystems were, at best, disrupted and, at worst, destroyed. • Natives worked in mines rather than farming, leading to malnutrition. • Invasive species, livestock, led to epidemics of disease. • Other cultures emulated the new slave trade. • Portuguese transported Beothuk’s to Labrador. • French transported almost the entire Natchez nation to the West Indies. • Coastal tribes captured inland tribes to save themselves. • Eventually, due to high death rates, Haiti became a portal for the African slave trade.

  11. So… • What is the significance of the presence of pre-Columbian voyagers from Africa? • “The possibility of African discovery of America has never been a tempting one for American Historians.” Samuel Marble • Why is Vasco da Gama credited with sailing around Africa instead of the Phoenicians or Hernando de Soto with discovering the Mississippi River instead of the American Indians who chased him down it? • Columbus originally described the first Natives he met in positive terms; “very handsome”, “eyes are large and very beautiful”, “young”, “of fine shapes”; how did his perception of them change?

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