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1992-02-14
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WHERE'S COLUMBUS
Where is Columbus in the timeline of history?
Columbus's voyages have been compared to the first
explorations in space because both events had comparable
impacts on their times. They both resulted in an explosion
of technological advances and scientific inquiries. They
altered people's concepts of their planet. This period
of history might be viewed from the perspective of many
ethnic groups -- not just people of European descent.
Columbus was an 'agent of the inevitable'. For some,
he represents the greed and brutality of expansionism. The
impact of the Encounter on the New World was devastating to
the native inhabitants. The Western explorers carried
diseases that overwhelmed immune systems of the natives.One
result was the decimation of the population due to disease.
The Caribbean Indians, the first to encouter the Europeans,
were almost extinct within 50 years after the contact.
Three million Taino in the Caribbean islands in 1492 were
wipedout within ONE generation. Columbus began an age of
expansion that destroyed the traditional Indian way of
life.Indians were stripped of their land; many treaties
were broken. Nearly 41 percent of Native Americans
presently live in poverty.
A group of Native Americans is planning to sail an
Armada of ships from New York TO Spain to protest Spain's
celebration. Wilma Manhiller, Chief of the Cherokee Nation
has stated :"Many Native Americans view America's worship of
Columbus as an insult. Many see him as a pre-colonial-day
Hitler". The Mayans view the Conquest as domination and the
end of histroy as Indians. They wish to commemorate the day
as a "Day of Indian Dignity".
Columbus became a symbol of success and inventiveness
for a society of European immigrants. "Do we punish Columbus
and deny him his place in history just to appease groups?"
[Pat Buchanan,syndicated columnist]. Mario Cuomo, a New York
politician, says "In my family, Columbus has always been
viewed as a hero, as in many other Italian homes". Samuel
Morison (in his "Life of Christopher Columbus") observes
that "no such dead-reakoning navigators exist today; no
man alive, limited to the instruments and means at
Columbus's disposal could obtain anything near the accuracy
of his results!"
Where is Columbus NOW? Seville,Spain claims that the
Admiral's bones are resting in their cathedral. Santo Domingo
claims that his remains are in a lighthouse in Santo Domingo.
He is elusive in his final resting place.