When I first heard of Columbus, it was in a middle school in Switzerland. Because of Switzerland’s relative disconnection with…
“In 1492 Columbus sailed the open blue” Whenever I think of Christopher Columbus I think of two things. First, his actual un-anglicized name “Cristoforo Columbo” as that how I learned about him and secondly this video. I think about the woman staring at the camera, hurt in her eyes, saying “evil, pure evil” I cannot […]
This week we have explored various representations of Columbus’ arrival in the New World, through texts and student videos. Within the texts, it is clear that both authors, as posed in one of the week’s questions were very much aware of their audience. Columbus addresses the Crown within his introduction and Poma associates the years […]
Where was Columbus coming from when he discovered Bahamas? How long did Columbus stay in Bahamas? I never learned much about Christopher Columbus, so the only impressions I had of Columbus before I looked at his account is that he was a global hero. My thoughts changed a little after looking at his accounts since … Continue reading Week 2- The Meeting of Two Worlds
I find the title of the video interesting as this event has always been described as a “discovery” but in the recent years I have changed this to an “exchange”. It is interesting to consider 1492 the “birth” of Latin America. The region has always been there with well developed cultures, yet it is interesting […]
Until now, I had never thoroughly considered how truly impactful 1492 was for the rest of the world, nor why Columbus’ arrival was so significant in comparison to the Vikings (as used in the example). During my earlier years in … Continue reading →
Reading Columbus’ journals leaves me with a reinforced belief that Columbus may not be the villain of Euro-American history, but he played a very significant role as a villain. Although the reality that understanding does not time travel well, the things Columbus did were against the beliefs of his own God, the Church through Antonio de Montesino, Bartolomé de las Casas and the Spanish heads of state, including, albeit arguably, King Ferdinand II and his son King Charles V during that time period. Although the violence Columbus committed against the Natives of the Americas’ was horrific, it was far from surprising. The thing I found most surprising in these excerpts were the lack of the details of what he did to the peoples he had plans to “subjugate” as when the Lucayan peoples refused his orders or him stating “A hundred castellanoes are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand”. Unfortunately, this seems to be in the further future of Christopher Columbus.
Reading Columbus’ journals leaves me with a reinforced belief that Columbus may not be the villain of Euro-American history, but he played a very significant role as a villain. Although the reality that understanding does not time travel well, the things Columbus did were against the beliefs of his own God, the Church through Antonio de Montesino, Bartolomé de las Casas and the Spanish heads of state, including, albeit arguably, King Ferdinand II and his son King Charles V during that time period. Although the violence Columbus committed against the Natives of the Americas’ was horrific, it was far from surprising. The thing I found most surprising in these excerpts were the lack of the details of what he did to the peoples he had plans to “subjugate” as when the Lucayan peoples refused his orders or him stating “A hundred castellanoes are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand”. Unfortunately, this seems to be in the further future of Christopher Columbus.
Reading Columbus’ journals leaves me with a reinforced belief that Columbus may not be the villain of Euro-American history, but he played a very significant role as a villain. Although the reality that understanding does not time travel well, the things Columbus did were against the beliefs of his own God, the Church through Antonio de Montesino, Bartolomé de las Casas and the Spanish heads of state, including, albeit arguably, King Ferdinand II and his son King Charles V during that time period. Although the violence Columbus committed against the Natives of the Americas’ was horrific, it was far from surprising. The thing I found most surprising in these excerpts were the lack of the details of what he did to the peoples he had plans to “subjugate” as when the Lucayan peoples refused his orders or him stating “A hundred castellanoes are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand”. Unfortunately, this seems to be in the further future of Christopher Columbus.
“Columbus is the hero of the discovery of America,” this is how I believed about Christopher Columbus. When I was a child, there was a book for kids about Columbus’ journey in the bookshelf at the elementary school. There were some required readings for each grade, and the book of Columbus’s journey was one of […]
