The duality of history

It is common today for people to deride Columbus Day. How can we celebrate a holiday for a man who started the annihilation of the indigenous population of the Americas? How can we laud a man who found this continent by accident and who was not even the first European to land in the Americas??


Christopher Columbus was a greedy, murderous, incompetent if you believe some.To others he was a forward thinking adventurist. Which is true?


Since I have read almost nothing of the man, I am going to refrain from making a judgment until I have read more about him. But I do think this debate illustrates the complexity of history.

Both sides claim that their assessment is the truth. He was a Villain. No, he was a Hero. Which is true?

Speaking from a purely historical perspective, I would say that both are. Columbus was both hero and villain. He was Batman and The Joker rolled into one. I say this because his acts both hurt and benefited men.

Our nation would not be here if not for Columbus' journey to the Caribbean and Central and South America. His act woke Europeans up to the bounty that lay in the lands of the "New World". Hundreds of millions would benefit greatly from the exploitation of those fertile lands.Columbus deserves our adulation for bringing the Americas to the attention of the Europeans.

But just as millions of lives would profit from the "discovery" of these lands, millions more would find only pain and suffering. Tens of millions of Indians died as the result of disease,slavery, and war. Millions of Africans would suffer as the result of slavery and its side effects.Many a life was lost in the conquest and exploitation of the Americas.Columbus was partially responsible for this epic human tragedy

Both opinions are factually sound. Both are based on reasonable logic. To argue against either is to risk being labeled inhuman or a hypocrite.

How can anyone with an ounce of humanity excuse what happened to the indigenous peoples? But equally true is the fact that we who are sitting here discussing this today are beneficiaries of his "discovery". The largess can we enjoy as Americans can be traced back to Columbus's voyage to the new world.

It suffices to say that no easy judgment can be made of such an epoch defining event as Columbus's discovery of the Americas. It was both good and bad. It was of great detriment and benefit to humanity. Such a terrifically wicked event it was.