Columbas

Columbus
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Christopher Columbus has been celebrated hero in the American history for decades. He has been portrayed as the European sailor who first landed in America and discovered the new world (history.com). However, in Zinn’s piece, Columbus is portrayed totally different. Zinn (2001) narrates events from the native people’s perspective which uncovers truths that have rarely been documented in the history. This account of events shows Columbus as an individual who was ruthless and his interest was to amass as much wealth in terms of gold and slaves to please his masters in Spain. In his mission, Columbus ended up committing crimes against the native people which include rape, torture, enslavement, stealing and genocide. This accounts in Zinn’s clearly show that Columbus expeditions in the new world were not noble as we have always thought.
While some may argue that these barbaric behaviors were acceptable during that era and therefore Columbus actions should be interpreted and judged as per his time, Zinn (2001) presents the version of events of Bartolome de Las Casa who belonged to that time. The accounts by the Bartolome de Las Casa, a Dominican priest play a vital role in uncovering the true character of Columbus. According to Bartolome, indicate that the things Spaniards did to the Indians were still inhuman and unacceptable even during that time. Bartolome writes “of all the infinite universe of humanity, these people are most guileless, the most devoid of wickedness and duplicity…yet into sheepfold…there came some Spaniards who immediately behaved like ravening beasts…” (Zinn, 2001).

Bartolome goes on to state how Spaniards became crueler and killed Indians people for a sport as well as their babies by smashing their heads on rocks and if they resisted they were hunted. Other atrocities documented include disposing of Indian children by being thrown to dogs, newborn of imprisoned women being left in the jungle to die, forced labor on land and mines which led to death and sickness and raping of women (Zinn, 2001). Rebelling against them was heavily punishable e.g. the encounter mentioned in which a woman was whipped using a rope for resting an admiral who wanted rape her. Bartolome went on to advocate for the rights of this oppressed people hoping that the Spanish government would intercede. This reports by Bartolome show how cruel the Spaniards were to the Indian people who welcomed them with open arms and shared what they had without second thoughts.
“Who controls the past controls the future and who controls the present controls the past.” This is a quote by George Orwell which is the opening statement in Zinn’s work. This quote which has been supported throughout Zinn’s work implies that those who govern the society have the power to write the history of the people and in a similar way they can alter or influence the future of the society. Additionally, this quote is based on the theme of strict governing and ruling the weak people or nation(Yildrim, 2014). Zinn portrays the authoritative governance of Columbus over the new world i.e. he ruled with might and during his reign, he influenced people and colonized them to be as he was. This approach of governing the feeble is a clear indicator of Orwell’s quote.
Additionally, Orwell’s quote implication of the rule over the weak with extreme authority and power is emphasized where Columbus threatened the native Indian people to search for gold failure to which they would face harsh punishment(Zinn, 90). This threatening and punishment were so that others can learn and give in to what he was demanding. This led to many native Indians dying by being killed when they tried to escape for the failure of finding gold, others took their lives by consuming poison (Zinn 91). Since there was no enough gold some ended up being taken up as slaves to compensate the master for this gold shortage and most of these native people died in the voyage from illness and cold. This shows the extreme greediness and brutal nature of Columbus. Similarly, Columbus wanted to spread his religion by turning Indian people to Christians.
In his work Zinn (2001) makes it clear that the role of historians is not just collecting information about the past rather, they have the capability to inspire readers and generations by becoming more active. In this piece, Zinn focuses on the bias and historiography. He focuses on this familiar historical story of America but gives the accounts from a different perspective i.e. the viewpoint of the native people. Unlike other books that praise Columbus, he focuses on the pain and suffering of the people at the hands of Columbus. He does not focus on a few individuals instead he emphasizes on the experiences of the majority.
This is a very interesting and unbiased point of view to give historical account. Historians should adopt this as they present information to the people. This is instrumental in getting the truth and the exact picture of what exactly happened in that period. Different perspectives will different data hence comprehensive information. Omitting information and being biased should be avoided so not to mislead people and the generations to come.
Reference
History.com Staff. (2009). Columbus Controversy. Retrieved January 27, from http://www.history.com/topics/exploration/columbus-controversyYildirim, G. (2014). Scratch the Surface.
Zinn, H. (2001). Columbus and Western civilization. You Are Being Lied To: The Disinformation Guide to Media Distortion, Historical Whitewashes and Cultural Myths. New York: The Disinformation Society Ltd, 205-213.