Columbus' Curse
Although it wasn't altogether new, the 1992 celebration of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America made it fashionable to malign Columbus big time. From Indians from all over the Americas, who still hold a grudge against the Spanish conquistadores, to latter-day revisionist historians, everybody got into the act of pissing on the erstwhile "Grand Admiral." Year after year we keep hearing the same old story: he wasn't the first to come to America (everybody and his brother had been here before); if he was, it was only because he had some maps given to him by somebody else (or stolen) from somebody else; it was just a fluke, etc. It has become politically correct to badmouth Columbus.
I suppose all those purists would have preferred that he stay home, leaving us all in a perpetual Garden of Eden, untouched by the European culture. This is nonsense. No matter if, objectively, he wasn't the first to set foot on this part of the world or whatever advantages he may have had, the fact is that he was the first to do it in a manner that mattered, that had consequences, good and bad. No one can take that away from him. No one should even try.
I suppose all those purists would have preferred that he stay home, leaving us all in a perpetual Garden of Eden, untouched by the European culture. This is nonsense. No matter if, objectively, he wasn't the first to set foot on this part of the world or whatever advantages he may have had, the fact is that he was the first to do it in a manner that mattered, that had consequences, good and bad. No one can take that away from him. No one should even try.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFor what is worth, here are my two cents. Columbus’ voyages to this part of the planet are the ultimate cause of what happened in the last 518 years. That alone makes him a pivotal figure. The "discovery" would had likely taken place sooner or later, but different explorers, from other countries in another time would have meant a totally different set of consequences, including that myself and many of us would not be here.
ReplyDeleteBut that's the easy part. The mixed feelings concerning that legacy come from the fact that there were, and still we find, a lot of suffering and injustices which stemmed from the European invasion of the Americas. America, as Alberto suggests, was not a "Garden of Eden", of course. Some societies controlled and even enslaved others, a feature of the human species everywhere and at all relevant epochs of our history and prehistory. For instance, many Polynesians, who gradually populated the Pacific islands from New Guinea to Hawaii, invaded and killed each other hundreds or thousands of years after their common ancestors had originally taken sail to explore Oceania. Likewise, that was no Garden of Eden.
The Pulitzer-winning book Guns Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond, shows that those who have been at the shorter end of the stick might have under different circumstances been the invaders and killers. Until we understand that, we will continue to miss the point and to misunderstand the lessons of human history.