Columbus Day 2010: 5 Books That Expose The Scandals, Violence And Dubious Tactics Of America's Discoverer (PHOTOS)

Today is Columbus Day 2010 -- a day when Americans celebrate the man who allegedly discovered America. Nearly 500 years after Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, the United States declared October 12th -- or the nearest Monday -- a federal holiday in honor of the national hero.

Yet in more recent years the heroic status of Columbus has been challenged. Authors from Howard Zinn to Richard Shenkman have written new histories of America, offering shocking evidence of the imperfections and scandals that surrounded Columbus. Called everything from a "rapist" to an "idiot," Columbus Day now occupies the position of a bonafide controversy in the annals of America.

Here's are just a few books that expose the underbelly of the Columbus' myth. We're sure we missed some good ones. But here's the real question: should Columbus Day be celebrated or be ignored?

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'A People's History of The United States' by Howard Zinn

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Perhaps the seminal text of revisionist American History, "A People's History of The United States" offers a scathing portrait of the man once hailed as the discoverer of America. Zinn reports that Columbus wrote about the Arawk people in his journal:

"They would make fine servants ... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."

Zinn also writes:

"To emphasize the heroism of Columbus and his successors as navigators and discoverers, and to de-emphasize their genocide, is not a technical necessity but an ideological choice. It serves- unwittingly-to justify what was done. My point is not that we must, in telling history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in absentia. It is too late for that; it would be a useless scholarly exercise in morality. But the easy acceptance of atrocities as a deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress (Hiroshima and Vietnam, to save Western civilization; Kronstadt and Hungary, to save socialism; nuclear proliferation, to save us all)-that is still with us."

Read more here.

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Perhaps the seminal text of revisionist American History, "A People's History of The United States" offers a scathing portrait of the man once hailed as the discoverer of America.

Zinn reports that Columbus wrote about the Arawk people in his journal:

"They would make fine servants ... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."

Zinn also writes:

"To emphasize the heroism of Columbus and his successors as navigators and discoverers, and to de-emphasize their genocide, is not a technical necessity but an ideological choice. It serves- unwittingly-to justify what was done. My point is not that we must, in telling history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in absentia. It is too late for that; it would be a useless scholarly exercise in morality. But the easy acceptance of atrocities as a deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress (Hiroshima and Vietnam, to save Western civilization; Kronstadt and Hungary, to save socialism; nuclear proliferation, to save us all)-that is still with us."

Read more here.

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Comments

[Ruffianpup]

12:42 PM on 10/14/2010

How come no one speaks out against others in history for the same types of atrocities, why is what happend in the "New World" viewed as one of the greatest injustice in the world? If you hate what happened here 500 years ago, go to some other represive country, then you can actually judge it in 21st century standards. Why are you not in Darfur yet? Live under the represive Taliban rule or war raveged Africa. Take your chance in the drug war in Mexico, "under the thumb" of totalitain rule of N. Korea. I bet you also believe FDR was one of the greatest people on earth even though his creation of the "New Deal," Social secrutiy and other programs have economically enslaved millions to this day to the federal government. Is your hand out? You should really listen when they say drugs are bad. Come on people take the time to educate yourself, actually study history and all accounts of it, not just a couple versions of what others think. I know it is such a hard thing to do, to actually take time, put forth the effort yourself but you might be surprised if you use your minds and take into account various different view points and not just those of a one- sided/misguided argument. I bet you think the colonist were evil to for wanting freedom and standing up to the British. Oh my God how could they be so insensitive?

[Kels Goodman]

01:05 PM on 10/12/2010

I love how some of you take these books as gospel truth... like Howard Zinn was there or something.

[J Accuse]

11:47 PM on 10/11/2010

Who?

[Eric Kasum]

09:45 PM on 10/11/2010

This book, Lies My Teacher Told Me, was the inspiration for my article in Huff Post. It changed the way I see history and the world... Eric Kasum
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-kasum/columbus-day-a-bad-idea_b_742708.html

[woodshoe]

09:00 PM on 10/11/2010

seriously,.. this makes me want to ask;

HOW MANY millions?
http://sabotsabot.deviantart.com/art/native-north-american-genocide-61982403

[naschkatze]

05:15 PM on 10/11/2010

I'd like to spam the comment I made on the Comedy Page and say that imho Columbus Day should be turned into a holiday honoring Native Americans.

[Ramkshrestha]

04:25 PM on 10/11/2010

I wish Kapilvastu Day also be in the same height as this day related with Buddha: http://worldamity.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/kapilavastu-day-as-part-of-the-world-peace-movement/

[markusdjm]

04:03 PM on 10/11/2010

Christopher Columbus actually set foot on American soil is false. He landed on a small island in the Bahamas. He named it San Salvador. The natives called it Guanahani. This is not exactly what island proved he really was. Islands are possible Plana Cays, Samana Cay San Salvador Island. San Salvador was given the name 1925 in the belief that it was Christopher Columbus in San Salvador. Columbus Day 2010
http://usspost.com/columbus-day-2010-19407/

[Macready]

11:51 AM on 10/12/2010

yup that is what I was taught markusdjm . . Columbus never set foot on American soil . .since then I have continued to be astonished that this myth has persisted . . .

Columbus had a bad end . . in prison . . . . can't say I weep for him.

[caneca]

10:04 AM on 10/15/2010

Of course Columbus set foot in American soil. He landed in many parts of the Americas. Duhh!

[Ergon]

03:19 PM on 10/11/2010

So, when can we expect a museum to commemorate the Native Genocide in Washington D.C.?

[Adrian Zupp]

01:49 PM on 10/11/2010

Absolutely wonderful to see an article on this and to see Howard Zinn's marvelous book mentioned.

Please see my blog post about Columbus Day:
http://adrianzupp.blogspot.com/2010/10/shouldnt-we-celebrate-charles-manson.html

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

[saami]

12:42 PM on 10/11/2010

We should not have a holiday for Columbus; he brought evil to the "new world."

[Macready]

11:52 AM on 10/12/2010

ditto saami . . . Columbus Day should be abolished . . .

[c-tom]

11:47 AM on 10/11/2010

Shouldn't this be about Lief Erickson?

[isaidit]

12:27 PM on 10/11/2010

Nope. Leif Erickson out of this.

[naschkatze]

05:15 PM on 10/11/2010

Ha, ha.

[woodshoe]

08:59 PM on 10/11/2010

actually,.. the example of lief would make a much more fitting holiday.. lief seems to have visited and made so slight a footprint that it was absorbed easily into the natural world.. that is fair.

how long will it take for colombus's mark to be consumed by the natural world.. centuries i'd suspect..

lief ericson day! (and then + lets make the other 364 days into 'indigenous DE-colonization day.!')

[Thomas Bullard]

09:58 PM on 10/11/2010

Decolonize? Which western customs would you keep? Toilet paper maybe. Guess you will only be reading smoke signals and rely on oral history. I cant wait. Can we watch as each tribe goes back to torturing and murdering it's neighbors?

[DickyTrik]

10:52 AM on 10/11/2010

These are useful books, in fact I think somebody threw that Zinn book at obama's head the other day

[Ergon]

03:15 PM on 10/11/2010

At least the president reads books. Bush had SHOES thrown at him :)

[FDRbyGodDemocrat]

10:49 AM on 10/11/2010

If we're going to start judging 15th Century people by 21st Century standards, not a lot of them will come out smelling like roses.

[13champlain]

11:21 AM on 10/11/2010

agreed

[isaidit]

12:26 PM on 10/11/2010

De Las Casas judged Columbus then and there, and his verdict is very much in accord with 21st. Century Standards: "What we committed in the Indies stands out among the most unpardonable offenses against God and mankind and (this trade in Indian slaves) as one of the most unjust, evil, and cruel among them."

[Echoist]

09:59 AM on 10/11/2010

Regardless of how we all may feel about Columbus, I think it's safe to say that we all can agree on his most enduring legacy: the fact that his holiday gets us out of work and school for the day.

[Ratnok]

10:28 AM on 10/11/2010

How about the near extinction of North America's original peoples? I think that's pretty enduring legacy as well.

[BILL STEELE]

11:21 PM on 10/12/2010

Study some history before you go off on some sanctimonious tangent. Columbus never set foot on what is known as America is correct.. . .It was the Spanish who "devastated" N. America's tribes as well as the tribes themselves. Columbus lived in a different time when war was the final solution...The winner got the land, gold, food and the woman. The loser was killed outright, sacrificed to the Gods of the winner or turned into a slave. That's it, plain and simple and everyone knew what the stakes were.

"Slaves or tlacotin also constituted an important class. Aztecs could become slaves because of debts, as a criminal punishment or as war captives. A slave could have possessions and even own other slaves. However, upon becoming a slave, all of the slave's animals and excess money would go to his purchaser. Slaves could buy their liberty, and slaves could be set free if they had children with or were married to their masters. Typically, upon the death of the master, slaves who had performed outstanding services were freed. The rest of the slaves were passed on as part of an inheritance."

[JohnDewey]

08:43 PM on 10/11/2010

Nope. Those of us who are working class are often compelled to work on holidays.

Ask yourself if every single restaurant, bar, grocery store, hotel, etc. near you was closed today - if you think all of those workers chose to work today or that even a majority are getting time + a half, you're incorrect.

[BILL STEELE]

11:34 PM on 10/12/2010

It used to be that everything you mentioned, except the bars, were all closed on holidays. Manhattan used to be like a ghost town on Sundays and Holidays...You can see this in some older movies that were shot on Sundays in the city. It was the liberals, who did not like the so called "blue laws" of the time, who campaigned for businesses to open on Sundays and holidays. Any union worker who works a Sunday, not his regular work day, or holiday will be paid at least double time and a half. This schedual of pay is adjusted according to the job as some jobs are of the 24/7 type.