“Such inhumanities and barbarisms were committed in my sight as no age can parallel,” he wrote. There are also accounts of suckling infants being lifted from their mother’s breasts by Spaniards, only to be dashed headfirst into large rocks.īartolome De Las Casas, a former slave owner who became Bishop of Chiapas, described these exploits. Several accounts of cruelty and murder include Spaniards testing the sharpness of blades on Native people by cutting them in half, beheading them in contests and throwing Natives into vats of boiling soap. Finally we came to an agreement in such manner that I can tell you that she seemed to have been brought up in a school of harlots.” But seeing that (to tell you the end of it all), I took a rope and thrashed her well, for which she raised such unheard of screams that you would not have believed your ears. I wanted to put my desire into execution but she did not want it and treated me with her finger nails in such a manner that I wished I had never begun. “While I was in the boat I captured a very beautiful Carib woman, whom the said Lord Admiral gave to me, and with whom, having taken her into my cabin, she being naked according to their custom, I conceived desire to take pleasure. This is supported by a reported close friend of Columbus, Michele de Cuneo who wrote the first disturbing account of a relation between himself and a Native female gift given to him by Columbus. With 1,200 more soldiers at his disposal, rape and pillaging became rampant as well as tolerated by Columbus. On Columbus’s first trip to the Caribbean, he later returned to Spain and left behind 39 men who went ahead and helped themselves to Native women. The cannibal story is taught as fact in some of today’s schools. Columbus, who had otherwise described the Natives as gentle people wrote “(they are) evil and I believe they are from the island of Caribe, and that they eat men.” He also described them as “savage cannibals, with dog-like noses that drink the blood of their victims.” With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”Īfter several months in the Caribbean, on January 13, 1493, two Natives were murdered during trading. They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features. They willingly traded everything they owned. brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things. When Columbus first saw the Native Arawaks that came to greet him and his crew he spoke with a peaceful and admiring tone. “As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.” Columbus painted a horrible picture of peaceful Natives Impressed with the friendliness of the Native people, Columbus seized control of the land in the name of Spain. Soon after arriving, Columbus wrecked the Santa Maria and the Arawaks worked for hours to save the crew and cargo. Upon arrival, Columbus and his expedition of weapon-laden Spaniards met the Arawaks, Tainos and Lucayans-all friendly, according to Columbus’ writings. Columbus quite literally landed in what is now known as the Bahamas and later Hispaniola, present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic. We mean Columbus didn’t land on the higher 48-ever. We’re not talking about the Leif Ericson Viking explorer story. Columbus never landed on American soil - not in 1492, not ever Though another sailor saw the land in October 1492, Columbus retracted the reward he had previously offered because he claimed he had seen a dim light in the west. On the way-Christopher Columbus stole a sailor’s rewardĪfter obtaining funding for his explorations to reach Asia from the seizure and sale of properties from Spanish Jews and Muslims by order of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Columbus headed out to explore a new world with money and ships.īrimming with the excitement of discovering new land, Columbus offered a reward of 10,000 maravedis or about $540 (a sailor’s yearly salary) for the first person to discover such land. In an attempt to further thwart the celebration of this “holiday,” we at ICTMN have outlined eight misnomers and bloody, greedy, sexually perverse and horrendous atrocities committed by Columbus and his men.
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