Every year at this time we have to listen to people whining about the horrors of the Age of Discovery, and the plight of indigenous peoples, wiped out by the evil Europeans like Columbus. There are always attacks on Columbus Day, mostly by those who see only the negative impact of Columbus' voyages, missing the fact that his discoveries helped set in motion a chain of events that eventually led to the creation of this country. It is impossible to say what would have happened without Columbus, but it's likely that the world would be very different, and there's no good reason to think it would be any better.
Those of us that actually like the United States, and believe it is the greatest country in the world, would rather not have the past altered so that the U.S. never appeared. There's no need to gloss over or minimize the magnitude of the disaster that the Spanish & other European conquests brought to native American peoples. But that's not what Columbus Day is about, or it shouldn't be. We aren't Tainos or Arawaks, we are Americans. That includes those of native American heritage who identify as Americans. We are part of the modern United States which has a its own historical heritage, a history that includes both good and bad. Without Columbus and his remarkable achievements, our heritage and country might not even exist. That is why we celebrate Columbus Day, and should do so without apology.
This seems like a bizarre argument to me. I mean, just because a chain of events results in something good doesn't mean that we should celebrate a necessary cause of that chain of events if that cause was horrific.
ReplyDeleteFor example, let's say that some great scientist who cures a horrible disease was conceived because his mother was raped. Just because we celebrate that scientist's discovery doesn't mean we should celebrate his mother's rape simply because it was necessary in order for him to be born.
You missed my main point, which was that the horrific side is only one side of the story, and not what is being celebrated. Columbus brought Western civilization to the Americas. Western civilization itself has good and bad elements, but overall it's a great positive (in my opinion). We can celebrate the arrival of Western civilization while still recognizing that it came at a tremendous price for those it displaced or obliterated.
ReplyDelete"Just because we celebrate that scientist's discovery doesn't mean we should celebrate his mother's rape simply because it was necessary in order for him to be born."
So I guess the great scientist shouldn't celebrate his birthday?
But it wasn't necessary for the good things about Western Civilization to be accompanied by slavery and genocide, was it? Besides, 15th Century Spain is hardly the pinnacle of Western Civilization. This is the country that started the Inquisition and expelled/murdered all of their Jews and Muslims.
ReplyDeleteI'd highly suggest reading Charlie Mann's 1491 for a better picture of pre-Columbian America and what we lost because of Columbus.
"So I guess the great scientist shouldn't celebrate his birthday?"
He can celebrate his birthday, sure, just like we celelbrate Independence Day. But it would be awfully horrifying if he celebrated his CONCEPTION, no?
"But it wasn't necessary for the good things about Western Civilization to be accompanied by slavery and genocide, was it? "
ReplyDeleteYes, apparently it was, because that's what happened. Also, genocide is a loaded term. The primary killer was disease, as Mann's book points out. Those things happened in clashes of civilizations. Western civilization of the 15th Century was obviously not 21st century western civilization, but our current civilization would not exist without its precursors.
"I'd highly suggest reading Charlie Mann's 1491 for a better picture of pre-Columbian America and what we lost because of Columbus."
One of my PhD fields was colonial Latin America. I had to do extensive reading on the literature, and I'm well aware of what happened, as I indicated in the main post.
I would strongly dispute the notion that "we" lost anything because of Columbus. Without Columbus, our civilization here in the Americas would likely not exist in the same form. We have no way of knowing whether or not anything better would be in its place. Counterfactuals can be interesting, but ultimately they are only speculation.
"He can celebrate his birthday, sure, just like we celelbrate Independence Day."
If we can celebrate Independence Day, there's no reason not to celebrate Columbus Day.
"But it wasn't necessary for the good things about Western Civilization to be accompanied by slavery and genocide, was it?"
ReplyDeleteI don't know, but I wouldn't discount the possibility altogether. Here in the real world, evil sometimes accompanies good. Yes, the abuses perpetrated by the Spanish (and later, others) against the indigenous peoples of the Americas were horrible. But they were a long time ago, and the positive aspects of European influence in the Americas far outweigh the negative. In addition, it's unfair to hold Columbus to the moral standards we know today. They didn't exist in his world.
If you want to get angry about slavery and genocide, why not train your sights on some modern-day perpetrators? The world has plenty of both, still, and these don't have the same excuse the Spanish had in the 15th century.