Timothy Birdnow

Happy Columbus Day! Today marks the day we honor one of history's great men, the discoverer of America.

And he was a great man no matter what the lunatic left tries to claim.

Columbus was a very lucky man. He believed the Earth was about half the size it actually is, in defiance of scholars at the time who had calculated the size of the Earth fairly accurately. Columbus argued that he could sail west and reach China with the naval technology of the day, while the great minds of Europe all agreed he couldn't, not because it was unreachable by sailing west but because it was too far. They had no reason to suspect there was a pair of continents in their path. They did not know if any islands would be in what they assumed was a massive ocean and so everyone knew not to waste money on what was probably a suicide mission.

There was never any truth to claims made by 19th century leftists that people thought the Earth was flat and Columbus would fall off the edge.

After being rejected by multiple governments in Europe Columbus finally got Queen Isabella of Spain to give him the money. I rather suspect he was giving her something else for the money, and King Ferdinand's actions buttress that suspicion. Ferdinand sent Columbus off to the Canary Islands and gave him three small ships, clearly inadequate for the task of long-range sailing. I think Ferdinand wanted him gone and away from his wife. And I suspect he wanted him not to come back.

But Columbus ran into the Guanahani aka San Salvador in the Bahamas. He thought he was in the East Indies. In fact, he believed he was in those islands until the day he died; he never knew he was half the world away from them.

Columbus would make several voyages to the New World, and be the governor of Spain's budding colonies there.

He was a poor administrator who lacked proper control of his subordinates. He was briefly imprisoned by the Spanish authorities for

Still, Columbus was a very pious man who wanted to convert the natives in the Caribbean to Christianity out of a care for their souls. His writing makes that plain.

I would add that the Spanish monarchs did not wish to exploit the natives either. They issued this order to Columbus when he returned with a fleet on his second voyage:

"treat the said Indians very well and lovingly and abstain from doing them any injury, arranging that both peoples hold much conversation and intimacy, each serving the others to the best of their ability”

Read more here.

Unfortunately Columbus was unable to obey that command.

After his third voyage he was under great pressure from the colonists he had brought, who had unrealistic expectations of profit. There was rebellion in the winds, and Columbus was busy mapping and exploring. He left his brother in charge, and the colonists resented an Italian telling them what to do.

Under pressure Columbus' brother  allowed them to impose forced labor on many of the natives (who had already killed the original settlers) and the Spanish crown learned of this and sent people to investigate. In 1500 Francisco de Bobadilla, an ambitious man, was sent to determine if Columbus was fit for his position.

Columbus and his brother were slapped in irons and shipped back to Spain.

Columbus was thrown in prison for a few months. Ferdinand pardoned him though; how do you imprison a hero?

Columbus was tired and the Crown decided to replace him.

But despite these failures Columbus was a very well intentioned person and he brought civilization to the natives.

And do not kid yourself that the natives did not need civilizing. The Caribe' were cannibals, for example.

The Tainu and other such got on well with Columbus and the Spanish, but primarily because they wanted Spain as an ally against the Caribe'. They saw the value of guns and horses. The Tainu of Cuba are often portrayed as virtuous and living in some sort of Eden, but they held slaves of their own and their women were completely naked for easy access. There is a reason why almost all Cubans are mixed-race; the Tainu women bore many Spanish babies during the early colonial period. That and disease wiped them out (and you can't blame the Spaniards for not knowing they were bringing fatal diseases to the natives.)

The first Spanish settlement was massacred, I might add.

In our post-modern way we now make the Spanish into devils, and the natives into angels. There was a lot of bad on both sides, and good as well.

Was Columbus a saint? No. But he was a great man, a man who changed history. He deserves the honor we have bestowed upon him.

So a very happy Columbus Day to everyone! Remember, we are all richer for that particular inheritence.

Here, and here, and here are essays defending Columbus. Do read them all.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 10:58 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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