![]() During the clash between the colonies and the Crown, this proved to be a rather politically incorrect fact, Smithsonian Magazine reported. Venetian explorer John Cabot was in fact the first European explorer to reach the continent in 1497, aside from the Vikings that settled in Canada. The Columbus fever caught on as far back as the Revolutionary War, and only began to truly break for the general public in the 20th century. So how did Americans come to celebrate the legacy of Christopher Columbus in the first place? While he was freed and sent on another voyage, Columbus was not reappointed as governor. Modern day Columbus supporters have portrayed Bobadilla as a dishonest usurper, but Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand did jail Columbus and his brothers for six weeks in response to the report. The report contained horrific allegations of torture and mutilation. After collecting testimony from the governor's allies and enemies alike, he assembled a report alleging Columbus and his brothers were hapless tyrants. To address the rumored abuses and incompetence of Columbus, Francisco de Bobadilla traveled to Hispaniola. Historians have recognized a phenomenon of the Black Legend, a historical phenomenon in which non-Spanish historians attempt to portray the Spanish as the most brutal European colonizers. If they failed to meet the quota, their hands would be hacked off. In some areas, native individuals above the age of 14 were forced to collect a certain amount of gold powder in order to receive a token, Smithsonian Magazine reported. ![]() Harsh conditions, starvation, and disease decimated the local population, according to Smithsonian Magazine. The Spanish colonizers enslaved the native Taíno people, forcing them to work in gold mines. On Hispaniola, Columbus served as the governor of Spain's new territory. Columbus actively participated in some pretty gruesome crimes himself, in his pursuit of profit. He wasn't simply a navigator whose arrival in America set off a wave of destruction. And his actions in the Caribbean and Central America were controversial even by early modern standards. It often indicates a user profile.Įither way, the fact it's a debate at all is unusual, considering Columbus himself never even made it to North America - let alone the portion of the continent that would one day become the US. In response to native unrest and revolt, Columbus ordered a brutal crackdown in which many natives were killed in an attempt to deter further rebellion, Columbus ordered their dismembered bodies to be paraded through the streets.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. ![]() Within 60 years after Columbus landed, only a few hundred of what may have been 250,000 Taino were left on their island.Īs governor and viceroy of the Indies, Columbus imposed iron discipline on what is now the Caribbean country of the Dominican Republic, according to documents discovered by Spanish historians in 2005. Those left behind were forced to search for gold in mines and work on plantations. ![]() Later, Columbus sent thousands of peaceful Taino “Indians” from the island of Hispaniola to Spain to be sold. Throughout his years in the New World, Columbus enacted policies of forced labor in which natives were put to work for the sake of profits. Since the late 1860s, Italian Americans in New York City had celebrated a Columbus Day to honor the heritage they shared with the famous Italian explorer in the 1930s, the Knights of Columbus added national weight to that celebration. On his first day in the New World, he ordered six of the natives to be seized, writing in his journal that he believed they would be good servants. The desire of the Knights of Columbus to honor minorities made them turn to an old American holiday. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |