The Columbus Myth: Power and Ideology in Picturebooks about Christopher Columbus

The Columbus Myth: Power and Ideology in Picturebooks about Christopher Columbus

Summary: This article is about how what is taught to children in school about Columbus and how it is far from the actual truth. It describes many instances which shows the villain side of Christopher Columbus. It describes how much of the narrative was biased since Columbus told of the great things he did himself. Records from others sometimes tell otherwise.

Quote: He punished natives who failed to fulfill his unrealistic gold quotas by chopping off their hands (p. 83). He used vicious dogs and torture on those who resisted (p. 78).

Explanation: This showed he was cruel to the natives and worked them for his own gain.

Quote: While estimates vary (understandably), Columbus’s impact on the native population was clearly massive: ‘‘In 1492, there were some 300,000 native islanders yet by 1548 fewer than 500 remained’’ (Ingber, 1992, p. 243).

Explanation: He sold many into slavery and almost eliminated the indigenous population

Citation:

Desai, Christina. “The Columbus Myth: Power and Ideology in Picturebooks about Christopher Columbus.” Children’s Literature in Education, vol 45, no 3, Sept 2014, pp. 179-196. EBSCOhost doi:10.1007/s10583-014-9216-0.

Connor Gregory