ce and diameter of the world in the
             third century B.C. Arab scientists had developed a whole discipline of geography and measurement, and in the tenth century A.D., Al Maqdisi described the earth with 360 degrees of longitude and 180 degrees of latitude. The Monastery of St. Catherine in the Sinai still has an icon - painted 500 years before Columbus - that shows Jesus ruling over a spherical earth ("Explaining the Reputation," 2001).
             The beliefs that Columbus discovered America and that he proved the world was round are two common misconceptions ("Christopher Columbus" 1998). These two things are small compared to what happened after Columbus reached America. Christopher Columbus opened the Atlantic slave trade and launched one of the greatest waves of genocide known in history.
             The Spanish monarch having invested in his excursion, but only on the condition that Columbus would repay this investment with profit by bringing back gold, spices, and other tribute from Asia. This pressing need to repay his debt underlies the frantic tone of Columbus' diaries as he raced from one Caribbean island to the next, stealing anything of value ("Explaining the Reputation," 2001). Although Indians probably would have traded their goods with the Spanish peacefully, it was once earnestly asked by Native Americans, "Why do you take by force what you can have by love?" Christopher Columbus reports in his personal diary
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