It is clear that time has a way of fashioning history to be something not necessarily untruthful but much more glamorous than the reality.

I don’t like Christopher Columbus because he is a serial killer. He is the Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy of the 1400s. He enslaved, killed and butchered millions of Indians in the New World. I read about other serial killers before, but nothing worse than this guy. This Christopher Columbus guy is so evil and so pig-brain that all he cared about is gold and land. Yes , he stole the lands from the Indians, took their properties from them and sold them into slavery. He is also a damn blasted liar as Burning Spear would say. He and his merry men would torture the poor Indians, and after the Indians died. They (Indians) were fed to the animals. Christopher Columbus is certainly reincarnated from a pig, because he is so greedy. Also Lord Columbus hanged the twelve Indians over the fire and tied another twelve to then stake in front of as huge bonfire. Lord Columbus is possessed by the Devil and he worked for the Devil and he talked to the Devil. Also Columbus cut the hands and feet of the nIndians until their feet bled.

Too bad that much of that story isn’t taught, then. And as far as Adolf Hitler Day goes, if Germany had won WWII you bet they’d have one. If the South had won the Civil War I doubt we’d remember Lincoln’s birthday. History is always written by the victors, which is a morally neutral idea – simply human nature.

I (can’t speak for the other commenter) am blaming the actual atrocities that CC committed on him. The later ones that happened may have been influenced by him, but are not directly his fault.

He financed his voyage with debt. Part of the stipulation was that he would have to pay back his loan using profits gathered along the way. Because of the debt he frantically jumped island to island, plundering along the way.

He started what would later become the Atlantic Slave Trade within a year of landing on Hispaniola. However, he ran into a problem. He couldn’t fit every native on a ship. So, with his determination and ingenuity, he instead put them to work on plantations.

His “posse” beat, raped, tortured, and killed natives. The bodies were then used as dog food. They wound hang natives 13 at a time (the 12 apostles and Jesus Christ), wrap straw around their bodies, and burn them alive. They took babies and smashed them against rocks.

Estimated population when he arrived: 3,000,000 (via Bartolome de Las Casas. 20th century historians have estimated as high as 8,500,000)
Estimated population when CC left: 100,000
Estimated population in 1550: 0

Once they had whittled the population to 0, they turned to other places for slaves. As we know, Africa was next.

Using your Dalton example, this would be akin to Dalton using test nuclear bombs on third world countries. After killing a few hundred thousand people he would come back to the USA with a perfected technology and we would honor him with a “John Dalton Day.”

The only other Federal holiday that celebrates someone on the basis of name is Martin Luther King Jr Day. Kind of disturbing that a man who virtually started the Atlantic Slave Trade and started a wave of genocide is celebrated just the same as a civil rights leader.

For the record, I am not attacking either of you. I am attacking the revisionist history that our schools teach.

Example: I walk into your house and see your brand new plasma TV. In order to steal it I have to beat you up, kick your dog, and stomp on your child’s teddy. By all accounts, I am a bad man. If you apply a revisionist history to this story: I was wandering around and discovered a brand new plasma TV in the vicinity of other people. Being the most worthy, I claimed it first.

Sorry for the graphic nature of some of the points. I think they will drive the point home a little better to anyone who thinks CC was just an average explorer.

Would you feel the same way if Germany had a “Heinrich Himmler” or “Adolf Hitler” day and gospelized the merits of the holiday to school children using revisionist history and cute cartoons?

I am not saying, nor did I say, anything about his abuse of natives to be inspirational. I spoke of his drive to succeed and the conditions he was under when he achieved them. You can’t tell me that is not an accomplishment.

I am sorry, I do not find columbus inspiring.