We should judge the historical convergence of Columbus, the Indians and Human Progress by looking at how the story of these events are conveyed, the categorization of the term genocide in the situation, and question if it's possible to have human progress without death. When Columbus arrived on the shores and was greeted by the indians while being welcomed into their culture he took these gestures as a sign of weakness. “...They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance.” this shows how ignorant Columbus thought they were since the Indians did not have the kind of knowledge that he had. This further lead to his idea of easy domination of the inferior group who did not know any better. Many historians noted that the Indians viewed Columbus and his men as a godly figure and he was to be worshiped. With the Indian people there for Columbus at his every beck and call this made for an easy conquering …show more content…
Throughout time the story of Columbus coming to the Americas has been sugar coated to the point where no one is aware that a group of people were completely annihilated. Howard Zinn believes we should always look at history from both sides but more importantly the side of the inferior. This is because the superior is more likely to exaggerate their findings or plots just like Columbus did when he went to King and Queen Ferdinand. Getting the fact from the inferior provides a more realistic story and how they felt about being attacked. The battle between the Native Americans and Columbus is not a story we tell children in kindergarten. The result of the battle tore apart a culture and race, lives were lost, people were being captured as slaves to bring back to Spain, and many died traveling to Spain. In no way was the meeting of Columbus, the Pilgrims, and the Indians a joyful welcoming
In the first five chapter of Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the United States, Zinn provides an overview of American History by providing examples and detailed accounts of Columbus’s arrival, the experience of the Native Americans after European arrival, slavery, the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and the invisibility of women through early American history. In writing this book, Zinn’s purpose was to write more than another history book, just listing events and giving the traditional point of view, but to provide a balanced viewpoint. Zinn believes that, “The treatment of heroes (Columbus) and their victims (the Arawaks)-the quiet acceptance of conquest and murder in the name of progress…[is an example]
Columbus has always been portrayed as an enlightened, peaceful explorer who “discovered” a new world, and became friends with the native people. Howard Zinn’s view on Columbus’s encounter with the natives is an entirely different perspective. Zinn describes Columbus as a man who is willing to torture and kill others to be able to accomplish what he wants; in this case he wanted to obtain gold and other resources to take back with him to Spain.
Howard Zinn’s thesis for pages one through eleven is that Christopher Columbus has been given a false image of being a heroic, peaceful person who discovered the Americas by history books. In reality, Columbus gave false reports to the Spanish crown and oversaw
Though a vast majority of students learn about Columbus’ great conquests and celebrate him as a hero, very few know of the horrible atrocities he caused when he first landed in America. While considered a hero by most in the United States, Zinn argues that people should think twice about Columbus’ actions, and question whether his behavior to the Indians was necessary. In quotes one and five, Zinn clearly depicts his thoughts on the atrocities done by Columbus and other colonists to the natives living in America.
Samuel Eliot Morison- A Harvard historian, most distinguished writer on Columbus, the author of a multivolume biography Christopher Columbus, Mariner, and was himself a sailor, retraced Columbus 's route across the Atlantic and tells about the enslavement and the mass genocide of the natives
The chapter, 1493 in the book “Lies My Teacher Told Me,” by James W. Loewen discusses how Christopher Columbus’s “discovery” of the Americas led to the meeting of new cultures. Columbus was not the first to discover the Americas, but rather he was the first European to. His expedition was fueled by the desire for wealth; he wanted to exploit and conquer. He claimed the riches and land the Native Americans had as his own. His interaction with the natives of the land were abusive for he tortured and enslaved ones who did not perform his labor. Columbus almost caused the extinction of the natives through the Europeans introduction to horrible diseases and mass suicide because of their horrible conditions. In fact, textbooks do not focus on what
Zinn argues that the perspective of indigenous people should not be omitted and argues that their perspectives are as significant as any other. He provides insight and perspectives of the Indians to describe how the heinous acts of the Europeans were unjustified. He also discusses that the Europeans had a continual motive of exploring during that time which was to increase the power/authority of the Spanish Crown by whatever means necessary, usually leading to violent wars.
Columbus mistakenly found the New World in 1492, when sailing from Europe in hopes of sailing to Asia. He hit shore on what is now Virginia, and came in contact with the Indians, who were already settled. Columbus came with a group of colonial men and brought with him “cotton, parrots, javelins, and other things too numerous to mention,” (Doc. 1). The Indians perceived the colonial men as a different culture and welcomed them by inviting them into their religious faith, this way there would be no tension between the parties. Consequently, both parties ended up fighting over control over the land, the Indians with bows and arrows and the colonial men with swords and armor (Doc. 5).
During the 1400’s, a physical connection was made between Europe and the Native Americans by Christopher Columbus. Today, he is looked upon as a hero for discovering the land that the United States of America currently occupies. Beneath the glorified image of Columbus, there lies something much darker that people often overlook. Although Columbus began the migration of Europeans to America, he did not discover it first. In addition, the new formed connection between the Europeans and the Americas paved way for the genocide of many of the indigenous people.
When Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas, he has little regard to their way of life. He showed no remorse for taking the indigenous population and killing, and enslaving them. Christopher Columbus writes, “With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want” (Doc. 2). Christopher Columbus and his men enslaved the natives and made them do the tedious works they did not want to do. We also see the side of a historian who writes, “But our work was to exasperate, ravage, kill, mangle and destroy” (Doc.7).The men deliberately went there to kill the population that already existed.
The main argument of Columbus in his diary from October 11-15, 1492, is that the natives that populated America before he “discovered” it are ignorant brutes who should be enslaved into servants and taught to be Christian. Columbus clearly supports his thesis as shown by three pieces of evidence. The first piece of evidence he gives is that the natives are ignorant: “They do not carry arms nor are they acquainted with them, because I showed them swords and they took them by the edge and through ignorance cut themselves.” He writes about how they do not even know what a sword is and how they use primitive weapons without iron. Another piece of evidence is that they are poor in everything: “All of them go around as naked as their mother bore them; and the women also . . . Our Lord pleasing, at the time of my departure I will take six of them from here to Your Highness in order that they may learn to speak.” The natives don’t understand about covering their bodies to preserve modesty, and they still need to be taught to speak properly. The final piece of evidence Columbus gives is that the natives are savages. He alludes to the fact that the natives do not understand how the world works and that they are cannibals who are a threat to society. The source did add to my own understanding of the topic. Before I read Columbus’s account of meeting the natives, I did not know that he thought the native inhabitants of the West Indies were deserving of torture, murder, and enslavement;
It is disheartening that the Arawak tribe which received Columbus and his crew with open hearts could be subjugated to mere slaves. Also evident in his writing, “the Indians are so naïve…” This further exposed who he really was, a tyrant who capitalized on the warmth and affection shown upon his arrival for monetary want.
For many years, schools have taught us that the Indians were small, uncivilized groups that had little effect on the world before Columbus. Due to unexpected discoveries and evidence that say otherwise, many scholars now question and argue about their time in the Americas before Columbus. In 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, Mann uses the latest research, along with his own results from his travels, to provide eye-opening information on the Indians and what they were really like before the Europeans. We learn that they were more culturally advanced and had more of an influence on our world that what is thought.
Zinn’s book, A People’s History of the US, reveals to us the truth about Columbus and his arrival to the “New World”. In other words, Zinn teaches us that the history of Columbus that has been narrated to us when we are in school, is false and different to
Regarding the article, “Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress, Dr. Howard Zinn argues that there is another perspective to consider as to Christopher Columbus’ adventures. Dr. Howard Zinn’s position is that history books have omissions of slavery, death and innocent bloodshed that accompanied the adventures of Christopher Columbus. In the following statements Dr. Howard Zinn describes his perspective; “The writer began the history, five hundred years ago, of the European invasion of the Indian Settlement in the Americas. That beginning, when you read Las Casas- even if his figures are exaggerations (were there 3 million Indians to begin with, as he says or 250,000, as modern historians calculate) is conquest, slavery, and death. When