Christopher Columbus Howard Zinn Analysis

Everyone knows who Christopher Columbus was, how he sailed across the ocean blue in 1492, and how he is considered the first European to land in North America. Columbus, however, is also credited with bringing centuries of war, bloodshed, and slavery to the native people of North America. In his article, “The Clamor over Columbus,” Dr. Martin E. Marty addresses this controversy with his own personal opinions and speculations. Throughout this article, I both agree and disagree with points made by Marty, and have observed some areas where I believe speculation has occurred. I have chosen this article for a variety of reasons, ranging from pure curiosity to having the will to address controversy, or even start controversy.

For the longest time, Americans have celebrated Columbus day, commemorating the admiral’s supposed discovery of America. But, in “The Inconvenient Indian”, Thomas King shatters this idea and develops a new thought in the mind of the reader about natives. By using excellent rhetoric and syntax, King is able to use logos, ethos and pathos in his chapter “Forget Columbus”, where he develops the argument that the stories told in history aren’t always a true representation of how it actually happened.

In traditional books, Christopher Columbus is portrayed as a heroic figure. In the book A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn he gives an accurate portrayal of Christopher Columbus; a merciless conquistador who killed anyone that stood his way. And in the book Zinn is pleased to say how his book stands apart from many others stating “The mountain of history books under which we all stand leans so heavily in the other direction-so tremblingly respectful of states and statesmen and so disrespectful, by inattention, to people’s movements-that we need some counterforce to avoid being crushed into submission.” After all his purpose for writing this book was to give an accurate and detailed account of American history from the victim's point of view. And he explained that we shouldn't just grieve victims of torture but discredit those who have been written in a good light.

Previously, Columbus was the “person who found the Americas,” but that is historically incorrect. We celebrate Columbus day as if he was a hero who saved mankind but he did the exact opposite. Zinn explains how much the Native Americans suffered and their perspective during Columbus's “discovery” of the Bahamas. We learn that because of his discovery, everyone was able to benefit from it but we never learn specifically how his actions affected the Arawaks.

b.) Zinn’s thesis for this chapter was that Christopher Columbus wasn’t the great hero he was written to be. Zinn portrays him as an evil man who harshly abused the foreign people he came in contact with around the world.

However, opposing historians address this fact through varying degrees of approval. In A Patriot's History of the United States, Schweikart and Allen do not mention any of Columbus’ faults, and refer to the massacre of Aztecs by Cortés and his men as a “stunning victory” (Schweikart ) in order to preserve their goal in retelling history from a patriotic standpoint. Because Schweikart and Allen choose to ignore the undeniable brutalities and damage inflicted on native people and societies, they fail to recognize the importance of addressing these issues as a root of racial intolerance. On the other hand, Zinn’s documentation provides a far more in-depth description of the injustices faced by the native and states, “Even allowing for the imperfection of myths, it is enough to make us question, for that time and ours, the excuse of progress in the annihilation of races, and the telling of history from the standpoint of the conquerors and leaders of Western civilization” (Zinn). As a social activist, Zinn’s primary focus is calling out flawed systems and actions within history, but by doing so, he disregards the positive outcomes of European exploration. Conversely, Mintz points out numerous advantages from exploration, pointing out that “Columbus's voyage of discovery… contributed to the development of the modern concept of progress”

Throughout recorded human history, authors, leaders, and researchers, have documented the past from many different perspectives, and viewpoints. Not every historian has the same stance on a certain issue, therefore, differences in point of view occur in almost every writing. In the textbook The American Pageant, A People’s History of the United States by Larry Schweikart, and Michael Allen, and Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, the reader can see many different perspectives throughout each reading. The infamous explorer known as Christopher Columbus, has been documented in many different ways. Depending on the reading, Columbus has be called everything from a “[...]symbol of the new age of hope”, to an inhuman tyrant who captured Indians and turned them into slaves.

Zinn’s thesis focused primarily on the devious Christopher Columbus. He wrote that Christopher Columbus wasn’t a real hero. He was power hungry and obsessed with finding gold. He was dishonest and deceitful to his crew. “The first man to sight land was supposed to get a yearly pension of 10,000 maravedis for life, but Rodrigo never got it. Columbus claimed he had seen a light the evening before. He got the reward.” He was also a cruel man, abusing the inhabitants of the land which he explored. The Arawaks were friendly and welcoming to these European men with overwhelming hospitality and their belief in sharing, but Columbus abused their kindness. He took them by force and used them as slaves, took all their gold and then killed them.” As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.” Columbus wrote this about his experience when he first arrived to the Bahama Islands. This shows that he did not care for the people; instead of returning back the hospitality he used unnecessary

Regarding the article, “Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress, Dr. Howard Zinn argues that there is another perspective to consider as to Christopher Columbus’ adventures. Dr. Howard Zinn’s position is that history books have omissions of slavery, death and innocent bloodshed that accompanied the adventures of Christopher Columbus. In the following statements Dr. Howard Zinn describes his perspective; “The writer began the history, five hundred years ago, of the European invasion of the Indian Settlement in the Americas. That beginning, when you read Las Casas- even if his figures are exaggerations (were there 3 million Indians to begin with, as he says or 250,000, as modern historians calculate) is conquest, slavery, and death. When

Though a vast majority of students learn about Columbus’ great conquests and celebrate him as a hero, very few know of the horrible atrocities he caused when he first landed in America. While considered a hero by most in the United States, Zinn argues that people should think twice about Columbus’ actions, and question whether his behavior to the Indians was necessary. In quotes one and five, Zinn clearly depicts his thoughts on the atrocities done by Columbus and other colonists to the natives living in America.

A second group that the documents can be divided into is of those which revealed the effects of the Columbian Exchange to be negative. Since Columbus did discover new land, he should be considered a hero, yet he should not be for his crimes committed upon the Natives, and neither should the Spaniards. Christopher Columbus describes his first encounter with the Native Americans and writes that “ They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” ( Doc 1). Columbus believed himself to be superior to the Native Americans and the he could to with them what he pleased. Howard Zinn in A People’s History of the United States writes that “ When we read the history books given to children in the United States, it all starts with heroic adventure-

As stated in the excerpt, Las Casas uses characterization to describe the Natives. He even says, "These would be the most blessed people on earth if only they were given the chance to convert to Christianity" (Casas 11). His use of this literary method virtually guarantees that his readers will become empathetic toward the natives and side with Las Casas in his endeavor to protect the Indians. Essentially, to those uneducated in the goings-on in the New World, Las Casas not only educated them but struck a sympathetic nerve that helped to push Old World Europeans toward minimizing the cruelty in the New World.

Columbus has always been portrayed as an enlightened, peaceful explorer who “discovered” a new world, and became friends with the native people. Howard Zinn’s view on Columbus’s encounter with the natives is an entirely different perspective. Zinn describes Columbus as a man who is willing to torture and kill others to be able to accomplish what he wants; in this case he wanted to obtain gold and other resources to take back with him to Spain.

Now, in our present society, people are rethinking the goodness of Columbus and the actual impact that he had on our world. People feel that the killing of the American Indians was “unethical and morally wrong,” says Janet Mckay in an article from TIME magazine (“Columbus Day in Cali” TIME MAGAZINE Oct. 15, 1995, pg. 17). When Columbus made the Voyage to the Americas it was a different time, a different way of life. People thought differently than we do today. In 1492 there were many internal conflicts in many countries. Fighting was a thing that was normal.

In the book The Conquest of America by Tzvetan Todorov, Todorov brings about an interesting look into the expeditions of Columbus, based on Columbus’ own writings. Initially, one can see Columbus nearly overwhelmed by the beauty of these lands that he has encountered. He creates vivid pictures that stand out in the imagination, colored by a "marvelous" descriptive style. Todorov gives us an interpretation of Columbus’ discovery of America, and the Spaniards’ subsequent conquest, colonization, and destruction of pre-Columbian cultures in Mexico and the Caribbean. Tzvetan Todorov examines the beliefs and behavior of the Spanish conquistadors and of the Aztecs.