Christopher Columbus Research (Vicky)

Shiyue Jiang

English 1110.01, MWF 10:20AM-11:15AM

Instructor: Cathy Ryan

Assignment: Christopher Columbus Research

March 10, 2017

 

  1. Bartosik-Velez, E. The Legacy of Christopher Columbus in the Americas: New Nations and a Transatlantic Discourse of Empire.Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2014. Project MUSE,

https://muse-jhu-edu.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/book/32653

Note: “Christopher Columbus introduced the Old World to the New World and thereby

changed the course of history and marked the beginning of modernity.” This book

introduced how important Christopher Columbus for the New World.

Abstract: This is a book published in 2014 by Elise Bartosik-Velez. This book explained that the reason why the capital named by Columbus and relationship between the new world and classic empires.

  1. Burpee, L. J. “Columbus and His Voyages.” University of Toronto Quarterly, vol. 12 no. 1, 1942, pp. 124-127. Project MUSE,

https://muse-jhu-edu.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/article/550872/pdf

 

Note: “The first chapters of this very substantial book are devoted to Columbus’ early life in Genoa, his adventures as a seaman on the Mediterranean, his years in Portugal, contemporary accounts of the man, his appearance and character, his failure to interest the King of Portugal in his great enterprise of finding a western route to the Indies, and his removal to Spain in the hope that he might be more successful with Ferdinand and Isabella.”

Abstract: This is an article talked about Christopher Columbus early life and his adventures

 

  1. Carey, H. M. “The imaginative landscape of Christopher Columbus (review).” Parergon, vol. 11 no. 1, 1993, pp. 144-146. Project MUSE,

doi:10.1353/pgn.1993.0047

 

Note: “The figure of Christopher Columbus has become so associated with his encounter with the Americas that it has become difficult to extricate him from N e w World culture. H e has become an honorary American and a representative of the frontier, Utopian, tragic and heroic age his voyages initiated. Like Christ, he marks with his life the end of one era and the inauguration of another. “

Abstract: This is an article described the mental world of Columbus and his attitude to the world. And the author talked about the question that was Columbus a fool or knave.

  1. Bauer, R. “The Tropics of Empire. Why Columbus Sailed South to the Indies (review).” MLN, vol. 124 no. 2, 2009, pp. 538-541. Project MUSE,

doi:10.1353/mln.0.0131

Note: “In his first chapter, Wey Gómez attends to the close connection between geography and politics in the “world machine” of scholastic and early modern European cosmography.” “Chapter 2 focuses on the scientific debates conducted after Columbus’s arrival in Spain in the committees appointed by the Catholic Monarchs during the late 1480s in order to assess Columbus’s proposal for an Atlantic voyage.”

 

Abstract: This article contains about why Columbus sailed to south, importance of latitude and relationship between geography and politics.

  1. Pope, P. “The Race to the New World: Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, and a Lost History of Discovery (review).” The Canadian Historical Review, vol. 93 no. 4, 2012, pp. 671-673. Project MUSE,

doi:10.1353/can.2012.0066

Note: “This is a fast-paced narrative of transatlantic exploration in the 1490s, using the political and diplomatic context to connect Columbus and Cabot professionally in ways not previously noticed or, at least, not previously emphasized. “

Abstract: This paper talked career of Columbus from a diplomatic view in a simplified way.

Christopher Columbus Research (Colin Cheng)

Cheng Zhiwen(Colin)

English 1110.01, MWF 10:20–—11:15

Professor: Cathy Ryan

Assignment: Christopher Columbus Research

March 22th, 2017

 

1.William, F. Keegan. “Columbus, Hero or Spanish Colonization?” UFL. EDU. Web. 10 March 2017. < https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/caribarch/columbus.htm>.

 

Notes:  “A century ago Columbus was a hero who was feted in the Columbian world expositions as a man whose single-minded pursuit of his goals was to be emulated. Today he is being reviled as a symbol of European expansionism, the forbearer of institutionalized racism and genocide who bears ultimate responsibility for everything from the destruction of rainforests to the depletion of the ozone layer. Impressive accomplishments for someone who died five centuries ago.”

 

Abstract: This passage illustrates that Columbus was regarded as a hero at the times when he discovered the new world; however, he is considered as a negative leader who lead to the start of Spanish colonization and racism.

 

  1. Joyce, Appleby. “Christopher Columbus Unleashed Curiosity.” UCLA Newsroom. Web. 10 March 2017.

<http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/columbus-unleashed-curiosity-248979>

 

Notes: “The day in 1492 when Columbus ran into a cluster of islands blocking his way to India is celebrated throughout Latin America and in Spain. It is now fixed in the United States as the second Monday in October, and Americans too have long commemorated the event, both embracing and vilifying the explorer.”

 

Abstract: This article illustrates about the Columbian exchange that diseases were exchange from old world to the new, and new world to the old. There it discuss the curiosity of Columbus and what his action has caused to.

 

3.

William, F. Keegan. “One small step for a man.” UFL. EDU. Web. 10 March 2017

<https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/caribarch/columbus.htm>

 

Notes: “To read Columbus’s daily log (diario de a bordo) you would think that his small fleet was never very far from land. For 32 days after leaving Gomera in the Canary Islands on September 9th, the diario makes repeated reference to signs of land. Sailing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, more than 1,000 miles from the nearest land, Columbus observed “river weed” (sargassum seaweed), a live crab “not found more than 80 leagues (240 miles) from land,” a booby or gannet, birds that “do not depart more than 20 leagues from land,” and “a large cloud mass, which is a sign of being near land.” But it was not until two hours after midnight, the 12th of October, that land finally did appear.”

 

  1. Eric Kasum. “Columbus Day? True Legacy: Cruelty and Slavery.” The Huffington Post.

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com>

 

Notes:  “Once again, it’s time to celebrate Columbus Day. Yet, the stunning truth is: If Christopher Columbus were alive today, he would be put on trial for crimes against humanity. Columbus’ reign of terror, as documented by noted historians, was so bloody, his legacy so unspeakably cruel, that Columbus makes a modern villain like Saddam Hussein look like a pale codfish.”

 

Abstracts: This passage exclaims that Columbus is the forebear for numerous negative things happened in today like racism and slavery. The author writes againsts Columbus that he is neither the first in Europe to discover America nor a hero as people would regard.

 

  1. Sweet, Leonard I. “Christopher Columbus and the millennial vision of the New World.” The Catholic historical review 72.3 (1986): 369-382.

Notes: “Christopher Columbus is one of history’s more elusive figures. In spite of recent scholarship which depicts Columbus as a figure of transition, with one foot planted firmly in the medieval world and the other in the modern world, a stubborn aura of mystery surrounds his personality and psychology.  “

Abstract: The fragment of the book points out that Columbus had great reward on letting people to dream about world outside and take medieval journey into mysticism, dreams, visions, poetry, monasticism, crusading ideology, prophecies, messianic illusions, apocalypticism, and millennialism. However, some scholars ignore Columbus.

 

Cheng Zhiwen(Colin)

English 1110.01, MWF 10:20–—11:15

Professor: Cathy Ryan

Assignment: Christopher Columbus Research

March 22th, 2017

 

1.William, F. Keegan. “Columbus, Hero or Spanish Colonization?” UFL. EDU. Web. 10 March 2017. < https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/caribarch/columbus.htm>.

 

Notes:  “A century ago Columbus was a hero who was feted in the Columbian world expositions as a man whose single-minded pursuit of his goals was to be emulated. Today he is being reviled as a symbol of European expansionism, the forbearer of institutionalized racism and genocide who bears ultimate responsibility for everything from the destruction of rainforests to the depletion of the ozone layer. Impressive accomplishments for someone who died five centuries ago.”

 

Abstract: This passage illustrates that Columbus was regarded as a hero at the times when he discovered the new world; however, he is considered as a negative leader who lead to the start of Spanish colonization and racism.

 

  1. Joyce, Appleby. “Christopher Columbus Unleashed Curiosity.” UCLA Newsroom. Web. 10 March 2017.

<http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/columbus-unleashed-curiosity-248979>

 

Notes: “The day in 1492 when Columbus ran into a cluster of islands blocking his way to India is celebrated throughout Latin America and in Spain. It is now fixed in the United States as the second Monday in October, and Americans too have long commemorated the event, both embracing and vilifying the explorer.”

 

Abstract: This article illustrates about the Columbian exchange that diseases were exchange from old world to the new, and new world to the old. There it discuss the curiosity of Columbus and what his action has caused to.

 

3.

William, F. Keegan. “One small step for a man.” UFL. EDU. Web. 10 March 2017

<https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/caribarch/columbus.htm>

 

Notes: “To read Columbus’s daily log (diario de a bordo) you would think that his small fleet was never very far from land. For 32 days after leaving Gomera in the Canary Islands on September 9th, the diario makes repeated reference to signs of land. Sailing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, more than 1,000 miles from the nearest land, Columbus observed “river weed” (sargassum seaweed), a live crab “not found more than 80 leagues (240 miles) from land,” a booby or gannet, birds that “do not depart more than 20 leagues from land,” and “a large cloud mass, which is a sign of being near land.” But it was not until two hours after midnight, the 12th of October, that land finally did appear.”

 

  1. Eric Kasum. “Columbus Day? True Legacy: Cruelty and Slavery.” The Huffington Post.

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com>

 

Notes:  “Once again, it’s time to celebrate Columbus Day. Yet, the stunning truth is: If Christopher Columbus were alive today, he would be put on trial for crimes against humanity. Columbus’ reign of terror, as documented by noted historians, was so bloody, his legacy so unspeakably cruel, that Columbus makes a modern villain like Saddam Hussein look like a pale codfish.”

 

Abstracts: This passage exclaims that Columbus is the forebear for numerous negative things happened in today like racism and slavery. The author writes againsts Columbus that he is neither the first in Europe to discover America nor a hero as people would regard.

 

  1. Sweet, Leonard I. “Christopher Columbus and the millennial vision of the New World.” The Catholic historical review 72.3 (1986): 369-382.

Notes: “Christopher Columbus is one of history’s more elusive figures. In spite of recent scholarship which depicts Columbus as a figure of transition, with one foot planted firmly in the medieval world and the other in the modern world, a stubborn aura of mystery surrounds his personality and psychology.  “

Abstract: The fragment of the book points out that Columbus had great reward on letting people to dream about world outside and take medieval journey into mysticism, dreams, visions, poetry, monasticism, crusading ideology, prophecies, messianic illusions, apocalypticism, and millennialism. However, some scholars ignore Columbus.

 

Christopher Columbus Research(Yijia Wu)

Yijia Wu(Miller)

English 1110.01, MWF 10:20–—11:15

Professor: Cathy Ryan

Assignment: Christopher Columbus Research

March 10th, 2017

1. Appleby, Joyce. ”Christopher Columbus unleashed curiosity.” UCLA.EDU. Web. 16 Oct 2013. <http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/columbus-unleashed-curiosity-248979>

Note: “Over the two centuries that followed Columbus’ initial voyage, robust questioning about the nature of the world turned an inward society outward, fueling an inquisitiveness that would eventually carry Europeans around the world.”

Abstract: This passage discuss about Columbus’s contribution to the Uncharted Era.

2.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.

Note: “It is not difficult to discover that the reality was quite different. Columbus probably was born in Genoa. He did go to sea at a young age and educated himself in geography, astronomy, and navigation. He did plead for royal support and Court advisors did scoff. They, like other educated people of the time, understood that the earth is round, but were correct in thinking that Asia was too far from Europe to reach by sailing west. The crewmen were right to fear they might never see land again. Columbus did yearn for the glory of discovery but also for gold, and lots of it.”

Abstract: This passage talk about the life of Columbus in general and several great events of him.

3.MAYERS, KATHRYN M. “Christopher Columbus’s Naming in the Diarios of the Four Voyages (1492-1504): A Discourse of Negotiation.” Hispanofila, no. 176, Jan. 2016, pp. 216-218. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/hsf.2016.0017.

Note: “Christopher Columbus’s Naming breaks new ground. The study demonstrates clearly how the names produced through Columbus’s continual effort to negotiate between American, Asian, and European landscapes, visions, and nomenclatures produced a hybrid, transoceanic landscape that has gone unrecognized in theories that have thus far seen imperial naming as an act that annihilated and then invented over a tabula rasa a new (European) world order.”

Abstract: This passage mainly talk about the specific voyage that Columbus took.

4. Shean, Jack. “Christopher Columbus.” PSU.EDU. Web. 16, Oct 2015. <http://sites.psu.edu/jshean/2015/10/16/christopher-columbus/>

Note: “Columbus proposed the idea of sending an expedition west instead of south in an effort to reach Asia by circumnavigating the earth. Contrary to popular belief most European’s knew the world wasn’t flat. So Columbus’ round world theory was not at all revolutionary.” Demonstrating that Columbus has different perspective when comparing to others, which is a gift.

Abstract: This passage’s idea is about Columbus’s life in general.

5. Columbus, Christopher. “Columbus reports on his first voyage, 1493” Web. <https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/exploration/resources/columbus-reports-his-first-voyage-1493>

Note: “In the island, which I have said before was called Hispana, there are very lofty and beautiful mountains, great farms, groves and fields, most fertile both for cultivation and for pasturage, and well adapted for constructing buildings. The convenience of the harbors in this island, and the excellence of the rivers, in volume and salubrity, surpass human belief, unless on should see them.” This is the first fortune and experience of taking a long voyage when Columbus was still a young captain.

Abstract: This passage mainly discuss Columbus’s first voyage.

Christopher Columbus Research–Ruiqi Cao

Ruiqi Cao

English 1110.02, Mon 10:20—11:15AM

Instructor: Cathy Ryan

Assignment: Christopher Columbus Research

March 10th 2017

 

1.“Where did Columbus really set foot on the New World? Theories and sites—site. One small step for a man” Christopher at the Florida Museum of Natural History by William F. Keegan ,October 6, 1991

Source: https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/caribarch/columbus.htm/

Note: “The answers lay in the quality of the evidence. The only detailed information concerning Columbus’s first voyage is contained in his diario. Columbus presented the original to Queen Isabel who had a copy made for Columbus. The whereabouts of the original are unknown, and all trace of the copy disappeared in 1545. What has survived is a copy made by Bartolomé de las Casas — a thirdhand manuscript handwritten in sixteenth-century Spanish that has numerous erasures, unusual spellings, brief illegible passages, and notes in the margins. The ambiguities, errors, and omissions in this manuscript have been compounded in modern-language translations.”

Abstract: This passage written by William F. Keegan is mainly talking about the where was the real place that Columbus set his foot on the new world. The author used history, legend, long term debate and computer technology to explain and support his hypothesis. He came out the idea that Columbus visited four native village and spent three days at there. Using the archaeological evidence, he finally believed that Island Guanahani and then renamed is as San Salvador is the place Columbus first set his foot on.

  1. “Columbus in history”

source: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/columbus/col3.html

Notes: Christopher Columbus was literally in the right place (Spain) at the right time (the dawning Age of Discovery) to set his place in history. America was the right place at the right time to appropriate, simplify, and mould Columbus to reflect the image of an independent and growing America. Columbus is found throughout American popular culture, national commemorations and memory, and prominently in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. Randolph Roger’s massive bronze Columbus Doors express this vision of Columbus, the ultimate visual expression of America’s self-identity as embodied in the explorer. He “emerged from the shadows, reincarnated not so much as a man and historical figure as he was a myth and symbol. He came to epitomize the explorer and discoverer, the man of vision and audacity, the hero who overcame opposition and adversity to change history.”

Abstract: Combining the opinion of history, the author used his perspective analysis Christopher Columbus. As the saying, “We arouse and arrange our memories to suit our physical needs.” We used multiply history records of Christopher Columbus fit the experience and actions of Columbus.More importantly, the author mentioned a critical and interesting point — Columbus’ first democratic experience in modern times. He argues that Christopher, as a great explorer, was particularly resonant for the new public.

 

  1. “Christopher Columbus suffered From a Fatal Form of Arthritis” May 06, 2005 university of Maryland medical center

source: http://umm.edu/news-and-events/news-releases/2005/christopher-columbus-suffered-from-a-fatal-form-of-arthritis

Notes: According to historical records, Columbus’ first sign of illness began abruptly at age 41 with an attack of “the gout” during a violent storm on his return from the first of four voyages of discovery. In subsequent years, he suffered from what is believed to be influenza, other fevers, bleeding from the eyes, and recurrent and prolonged attacks of the suspected gout. “Columbus doesn’t embody the stereotypical portly man inclined toward rich foods and alcohol, too much of which can lead to gout,” says Dr. Arnett.

Abstract: In this passage, the author used medical perspective anaylsis the death of Christopher Columbus. In his opinion, the death of Columbus is caused by several factors. He talked about each factor separately and make it convincing by using his critical thinking and logic.  Firstly, a serious form of arthritis  left him crippled with high fevers. Secondly, there are some genetic problem with him. Finally, the lack of medicine is another contributor to his death.

  1. Columbus Day: American Holocaust and Slave Trader By Roy Cook

Source: http://www.americanindiansource.com/columbusday.html

Note: “On April 17, 1492, before his first voyage to the Americas, Columbus negotiated a business contract with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, entitling him to 10% of all profits.” “Beyond profits, Columbus sought to convert native people to Catholicism. In the prologue to his journal of the first voyage”

Abstract:  this passage illustrated the dark side of Christopher Columbus. There is no perfect person. Even as a hero, he will be intrigued by profit and interests. Roy believed that Christopher has human nature – selfish. He is not a god and also made many mistakes during his era such as using slaves. In his perspective, the public should use a critical thinking to evaluate him instead of blindly praising him.

5. The four explorations of Christopher Columbus by Francisco Lopez de Gomara

March 8th , 2017

Note: The first vovage:“Only 90 men made the first voyage of discovery from Palos Spain. The ships were quite tiny by modern standards — no longer than a tennis court, and less than 30 feet wide. ”

The Second voyage: “Christopher Columbus departed Spain on September 25, 1493, on his second voyage to the New World. 17 assorted vessels and over 1200 men made up “The Grand Fleet” in an attempt to establish a permanent Spanish colony.

The third voyage: “Columbus left the port of Sanlucar in southern Spain on May 30, 1498 with six ships. Leaving the Canary Islands on June 19, the fleet split into two squadrons: three ships to sail directly for Hispaniola with supplies for the colonists, and the other three to explore further south.”

The forth voyage “”Columbus made his fourth voyage from Spain to the Americas in 1502. He was such a sure navigator by then that the 3500-mile voyage took a mere 21 days.”

Abstract: This article specifically describes four voyage with numerous details. It greatly challenges the common sense that finding the “new world” is completed. Furthermore, it illustrated that every voyage encountered several problems.

Christopher Columbus Research/James

Yuepeng Chen
English 1110.01, MWF 10:20AM-11:15AM
Instructor: Cathy Ryan
Assignment: Christopher Columbus Research
March 10, 2017
1. D’Souza, D. (1995). The “Crimes” of Christopher Columbus. OA (http://www. firstthings. com/ftissues/ft9511/dsouza. html).
Note: “The multiculturalists are equally unanimous that Columbus, as the prototypical Western white male, carried across the Atlantic racist prejudices against the native peoples.” Columbus had discriminate against local Indian people so he leaded the crime of killing Indian people.
2. Schuman, H., Schwartz, B., & d’Arcy, H. (2005). Elite Revisionists and Popular Beliefs Christopher Columbus, Hero or Villain?. Public Opinion Quarterly, 69(1), 2-29.
Note: “At the same time, the percentage of Americans who reject traditional beliefs about Columbus is also small and is divided between those who simply acknowledge the priority of Indians as the “First Americans” and those who go further to view Columbus as a villain.” Although most of American people see Columbus as a national hero, some of them has started to discover the truth of him without common sense and has some opposite opinion against official view.
3. Larner, J. P. (1993). North American Hero? Christopher Columbus 1702-2002. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 137(1), 46-63.
Note: “As to Columbus’s character, Irving-perhaps anachronistically-found Columbus most guilty in his plan enslave the Carib Indians, yet in the end allots him heroic status.” Columbus noticed his crime in the end of his life. However, the truth that he did harm to Indian people and slaves can not be ignored.
4. Tinker, G. E. & Freeland, M. (2008). Thief, Slave Trader, Murderer: Christopher Columbus and Caribbean Population Decline. Wicazo Sa Review 23(1), 25-50. University of Minnesota Press. Retrieved March 9, 2017, from Project MUSE database.
Note: “If columbus day is a celebration of the european colonization of the Americas, it must just as equally be a celebration of the killing of Indian people through that history.” As a national holiday in the US, the memorable activity should also remind people the crime of Columbus at the same time.
5. Pelta, K. (1991). Discovering Christopher Columbus (1st ed.). Minneapolis: Lerner Publications.
Note: “Earlier writers tended to gloss over this darker side of Columbus. And they all but ignored the feelings of the people who were so shamefully mistreated by Columbus and the Spanish settlers and soldiers who invaded their lands. Modern historians try to tell the whole story-including the point of view of the Indians.” Nowadays, more and more historians stand out and face the truth of Columbus and query the previous writers’ beautify of Columbus.

Christopher Columbus Research (Meina Zhou)

Meina Zhou_ Christopher Columbus Research-vqkt25

 

Meina Zhou

English 1110.01, Monday 10:20-11:15AM

Instructor: Cathy Ryan

Assignment: Christopher Columbus Research

March 9, 2017

 

1.Whitney, DeWitt. “Christopher Columbus: Hero or Murderer?” Central Virginia Community College. Web. 9 March. 2017.

<http://campuspages.cvcc.vccs.edu/polis/2003/nonfiction/whitney%20dewitt.amlit.htm>.

Note: “Columbus apparently believed it was his right to pass the captured women out to his men, and they, in turn, believed they did not need to ask for the women’s consent. The statement makes it seem like Columbus thought it was not wrong to rape women, and we can also know Columbus and his men could be a very cruel group of people who engaged in horrific activities.

Abstract: The author discussed if Christopher Columbus was a hero or a murderer. Despite the great contribution that Columbus made. The writer also listed several facts to show the negative impact that he brought to the Native Americans. For example, he raped women and children, he killed innocent people, and he didn’t even manage to complete his initial goal of finding a commercially viable route to Asia by traversing the western oceans. Therefore, in the end, the author believes that Christopher Columbus was in no way a hero.

 

2.Nathan, Nunn. “Slavery and Spanish Colonization.” UH.EDU. Web. 9 March. 2017.

<http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3569>.

Note: “Christopher Columbus believed that Indians would serve as a slave labor force for Europeans…Thus Columbus initiated the African slave trade, which originally moved from the New World to the Old, rather than the reverse.” Here Several factors show that it was Christopher Columbus who brought the African slave trade. However, the African slave trade would be an indispensable part of European settlement and development of the New World.

Abstract: This article talked about the positive side of the African slave trade. Although the African slave trade was a cruel event that made by Christopher Columbus, it also had economic benefits for both the countries of Europe and the colonies of the Americas.

 

3.Phillips, Jr, William D.; Phillips, Carla Rahn (1992). “The worlds of Christopher Columbus.” Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-35097-2. Retrieved 2016-02-28. Web. 9 March. 2017.

<http://worldhistorypratt.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/5/1/22519320/columbus.pdf>

Note: “Columbus himself never lost confidence in his own star. He was sure that he was divinely sent, and that his mission was to open the way to the Indies, for the religious advancement of mankind.” We can easily tell Columbus personality from this sentence. Columbus is presented as a model to strive for, an ambitious and intelligent gentleman traveler.

Abstract: This is a PDF file of a book written by Phillips and Phillips. They presented many of the positive aspects of Columbus — a great financier and salesman, a man who pulled himself up from a blue-collar family background and became one of the most well-known figures in American history and an individual who attempted to spread the word of God throughout the New World.

 

4.William, Bigelow. “Once Upon a Genocide: Christopher Columbus in Children’s Literature.” OSU.EDU. Web. 9 March. 2017.

<http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/stable/pdf/41411570.pdf>.

Note: “Columbus’s devout Christianity is a theme in all the books – and is never questioned. The most insistent of these, and the worst of the lot in almost every respect, is Sean J. Dolan’s Christopher Columbus: The Intrepid Mariner (1989).” “The reader is practically strangled by Columbus’s halo.” Here we are given one of many examples of the author’s frustration with the fact that historical events are often misrepresented. Columbus represented as a good person with strong Christian motives, but in the reality, that’s not true.

Abstract: This is a PDF file of a book written by William Bigelow. The author uses Columbus as a focal point to examine the flaws of today’s educational system. Children in schools today are practically painted an angelic depiction of Columbus, regardless of the cruel acts committed during his expeditions. The article explores many injustices such as racism, and other social issues. It makes the claim that children are wrongfully taught to praise the actions of Columbus, due to the positive outcomes of his voyage. The ultimate objective of this article is to suggest alternative teaching methods which encourage independent thinking, rather than one-sided opinions.