Who Was Columbus
Christopher Columbus may have "Sailed the Ocean Blue in 1492," over 500years ago, but only in recent years have books been written about theexplorer that cover any new territory (pun intended) concerning personalinformation on this explorer. For the most part, he has remained a remotefigure without much depth and understanding. As Carla Phillips and WilliamPhillips said in Christopher Columbus in United States History: Biographyas Projection, "His exploits have assumed mythic proportions, but there hasbeen little attempt to probe beyond the myth." In fact, of the hundreds ofbooks written on Columbus, nearly all are positive and many of them rehashthe same information that has been in textbooks for decades and decades. In another one of their books, The Worlds of Christopher Columbus,the Phillips historian team adds that it was really not until the fourthcentenary that "Columbus's life found its first great American debunker,"through the writings of Justin Winsor. Instead of trying to cut downColumbus through religious prejudice, slanted information or characterdefamation, Winsor based his information on the documentary record andunbiased scholarship. He noted that Columbus was everything from
And, in manycases, these facts do not speak well of Columbus. Koning blames writers such as SamuelEliot Morrison, who revered Columbus, for putting blinders on when it cameto the plundering, death and destruction. Columbus may appear as the scoundrel, but he was only a reflection of theexpansion obsessed world around him. -3- Rather than being very blatant and saying, "I told you so," Koninglets the facts that he has acquired speak for themselves. Because ofhis strong ego, it comes as no surprise that Columbus only shows his goodside in his log. Columbus just happened to be the person with the right resolve and resumewho was at the right place at the right time-as Koning noted, if it had notbeen him, there were many other others lining up. As the Phillips say, "Columbushad a strong sense of his own worth, rarely admitting any personal failingsand tending to blame any and all misfortunes on the actions of others. However, Koning concludes,nothing Columbus did on the seas made up for the atrocities on land. (This is a perfect exampleof the psychological theory of "cognitive dissonance," where people find itdifficult to change their original opinions, regardless of what informationto the contrary they receive. In this same context, Koning compares what the Spanish did throughColumbus in their travels to their 20th century American counterparts inVietnam when they resisted Western intrusion. As noted, there has been a great dealwritten in a positive vein-even until this day. By relying so much on this adventurer's personalcommentaries, earlier biographers "introduced a bias into their own works. Even if the Portuguese had been the first, he admits, their treatment ofthe natives would not have been much different. ) On the other hand, Hans Koning, who is known for taking a politicalstance on issues and slants his book toward a more radical readership, hashelped turned the tide with his less complimentary works.
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Acceptance Essays
