An adventurous spirit and activism
Anna
Content featuring @abekahomeschool
Like many Americans I acknowledged Columbus Day most of my life without really thinking twice about it. My 4th grade @abekahomeschool “History of the United States” book left out a lot about him. They called him “brave, a hero and a great man”.
Swipe left to see how in my 4th grade history book there was only a brief mention of “He even brought back several Indians”. Which grossly understates that he sent thousands of peaceful Taino natives(men, women and children) to be separated and sold at the slave market in Seville, Spain. Most died in chains below deck on the ship before reaching Spain.
Zero mention of how Columbus and his men enslaved the native inhabitants of the West Indies and subjected them to extreme violence, rape, mutilation and disease. They starved them, forced them to do hard labor searching for gold in mines and working on plantations. Columbus put down native unrest and revolt by ordering a brutal crackdown in which many natives were killed, and then paraded their dismembered bodies through the streets in an attempt to discourage further rebellion. Within 60 years after Columbus landed, only a few hundred of what may have been 300,000 Taino were left on their island.
Christopher Columbus’ reign of terror was considered brutal and deplorable even by the standards of his age. Bartolome de las Casa, who accompanied Columbus on one of his voyages, wrote in his The History of the Indies, “Such inhumanities and barbarisms were committed in my sight as no age can parallel… My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature that now I tremble as I write.”
In October 1500 Columbus was forcibly removed as governor after reports surfaced of his horrific misgovernment and horrendous treatment of natives. He was sent back to Spain in chains. He spent a paltry 6 weeks in jail as punishment.
What were you taught? Why would we teach our children in schools he was a hero? Is the reason people are so opposed to Critical Race Theory because it involves teaching real history?
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