One of the most surprising discoveries I made during a recent trip to the Iberian Peninsula was how warmly Christopher Columbus continues to be embraced in Spain. I saw monuments and statues erected in his honor in Barcelona, Valencia, Huelva and Seville, the last of those cities also being where the man who made four trans-Atlantic crossings from Spain to the New World from 1492 to 1504 is entombed.
I say surprising because the Italian-born explorer has been getting such a bad rap in recent years in New York City, which is a mere 50 miles from my Connecticut home. And it seems as if a month does not go by without some vandal defacing one of the five statues of Columbus in town or a City Council member demanding that any homage to him be removed.
Seeing so many tributes to Columbus in Spain prompted me to dig a bit deeper into his life and times upon my return home and learn more about the good and bad of the man.
The rationale for such actions is that Columbus was an immoral brute who treated the indigenous people whom he encountered in the New World with such disdain that he should not be celebrated in any way, shape or form.
I understand some of the outrage. But the world was not exactly “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” back then, and the late 15th century was a pretty tough time in human history. Consider, for example, the Spanish Inquisition, which was in full cry a half millennium ago. Initiated by Columbus’ sponsors, Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II, it led to the killing of thousands of so-called heretics in their homeland and the forced conversion or deportation of many, many more.
It is also worth remembering that life on those Caribbean isles where Columbus first visited was no day at the beach, either, with intertribal wars and kidnappings being fairly frequent occurrences and slavery a common practice, to say nothing of the virgins whom spiritual leaders sacrificed as offerings to their gods.
Now, I am by no means in favor of glossing over the evil that Columbus clearly perpetrated and think it is important for us to discuss and learn about such things. But we also need to acknowledge the seminal role he played in the development of the New World and appreciate that the man whom the Spanish call Cristóbal Colón was in many ways the world’s first globalist.
It seems to be something worth considering as we recognize Columbus Day in America today.
John Steinbreder
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Top: Monument to Columbus in the port of Barcelona
CESC MAYMO, GETTY IMAGES