Columbus was not as good, (or as bad) as you probably think
Like any good epic, the saga that is America has an origin story that’s hard to shake. It goes something like this:
Hailing from Italy and sailing for Spain, Christopher Columbus became the first European to navigate across the Atlantic and set foot in North America, thereby proving to his peers that the world was round, and inspiring future European immigrants to venture to the Americas, culminating in the founding of the United States of America.
To quote another famous explorer, Luke Skywalker in “The Last Jedi,” “almost every word in that sentence is wrong.”
Columbus was not the first European to land in the Americas, he never stepped foot in North America, and none of his peers thought the world was flat. Even Columbus’ nationality has been questioned by scholars, who note that he seems to emerge from nowhere as a young navigator in Italy and may have originally been from Poland. (So much for claiming Columbus as a hero of the Italian people.)
The popular anti-Columbus counter-narrative assigns to the explorer as much blame as the pro-Columbus narrative bestows glory. Many hold Columbus responsible for the near-extinction of the region’s indigenous peoples and the invention of race-based slavery. Finally, he was shipped back to Spain in chains for carrying out these crimes against humanity.
This revised narrative comes closer to the truth, but there’s more to the story. Certainly, evidence of his greed and ineptitude as a leader are ample, but the closer one looks — as I did when researching and writing “The History of Puerto Rico” in 2010 — the harder it is to pin examples of specific atrocities on Columbus.
If you study primary documents from the era, as well as the most recent archeological and historic scholarship, it’s hard to argue Columbus intended to enslave any and all indigenous people, much less annihilate the population and culture of the Taino island nations. Yet, that is exactly what happened. The question remains — what was Columbus’ level of culpability in all this? In other words, just how much should we revile him?
Let’s begin by taking a closer look at accusations he enslaved, tortured, and even dismembered indigenous people.
First of all, we should begin by burying the idea that Columbus “discovered” anything. The narrative of discovery and settlement is a dangerous myth. It implies nothing of note existed in the Americas prior to the arrival of Europeans, thereby justifying the continents’ “civilization.” This meta-narrative is how white America has justified genocide and ecological exploitation for centuries. But is Columbus to blame for the invention of this trope?
As it turns out, Columbus admired the Tainos, and for good reason. At the time he encountered them they were experiencing a florescence in the realms of trade, art and governance. The islands of the Caribbean they inhabited were not sparsely populated, but dotted with small cities.
When Columbus notes that the Taino are not adept at weaponry, this is accurate. At the time they were vexed by the emergence of a new nation, the Kalinago, whose highly skilled warriors were carrying out effective forays into Taino territory. Columbus promised to help. His help may have done more
During his lifetime, Columbus was a polarizing figure. More than 500 years later, whether you view him as a hero or villain, his life is more myth than plausible history.
harm than good, as it set in motion a series of tropes that still govern white majority policies against indigenous people to this day.
Declaring himself an ally of the Taino, he set up a scenario that permitted him to capture and enslave the Kalinago as the bounty of war, a trade he turned to when his dreams of ample gold were dashed. To justify Spanish involvement in the skirmish, he accused the Kalinago of horrific practices, including, erroneously, cannibalism. In doing so, Columbus established the narrative of the “good” and “bad” native, a trope that has been used to justify unfair treaties, cruelty and injustice ever since.
During his lifetime, Columbus was a polarizing figure. More than 500 years later, whether you view him as a hero or villain, his life is more myth than plausible history. It’s a life story full of human drama, intrigue and tragedy, and worthy of study. I’d recommend seeking out the work of Laurence Bergreen, James W. Loewen, Carol Delaney or Consuelo Varela Bueno, who provide a range of perspectives, from the somewhat forgiving to the condemnatory.
So, is Columbus a hero worthy of commemoration in the form of holidays and heroic statuary? Or one of the history’s cruelest villains? The truth most likely falls somewhere in the middle, though I lean toward the latter.
What we know for sure is that his four voyages prompted a paradigmatic shift in history and shaped our world in myriad ways, both for the good and the cataclysmic.