Although I am born and raised in Toronto, as a fellow Italian I wanted to say Happy Columbus day to all Italian-Americans and Americans in general. Enjoy the celebration and God bless everyone!
Double
Today was a good day.
EJAXXX - Today was a good day.
Every day is my man. Life is great.
screw you ya pasta eatin' greaseball. it's Squanto day for me.
buvaiser - screw you ya pasta eatin' greaseball. it's Squanto day for me.
Easy there gangster. No need to take your frustrations with life out on others. Things will pick up for you.
Happy rape and murder the natives day!
Here, read all about your hero
http://www.ditext.com/zinn/zinn1.html
HexRei - Happy rape and murder the natives day!
Here, read all about your hero
http://www.ditext.com/zinn/zinn1.html
So I guess you don't like anyone that's white. That's too bad. This thread wasn't to pretend he was a perfect man. However because of him you live in the country you do, and because of the Roman Empire your life is structured the way it is.
Derick - Columbus or the Pope?
hmmm...
Italy's greatest acheivers.
The current pope is not Italian, and neither was the last one.
Happy 'enslave and rob the natives and convert them to Christianity' day!!
Mr Pulla -HexRei - Happy rape and murder the natives day!
Here, read all about your hero
http://www.ditext.com/zinn/zinn1.html
So I guess you don't like anyone that's white. That's too bad. This thread wasn't to pretend he was a perfect man. However because of him you live in the country you do, and because of the Roman Empire your life is structured the way it is.
What does being white have to do with it? There were non-whites all over europe, asia, and africa so your comment isn't even relevant.
I don't think he should have a national holiday dedicated to someone who did the things he did, and I don't like the way he is portrayed (i.e. softballed to the point of fabrication) by our public education system.
The most relevant point about this day is - How can you discover something that already had people in it and had already been visited by others???
Derick - Columbus or the Pope?
hmmm...
Italy's greatest acheivers.
You're forgetting Benito Mussolini
HexRei -Mr Pulla -HexRei - Happy rape and murder the natives day!
Here, read all about your hero
http://www.ditext.com/zinn/zinn1.html
So I guess you don't like anyone that's white. That's too bad. This thread wasn't to pretend he was a perfect man. However because of him you live in the country you do, and because of the Roman Empire your life is structured the way it is.
What does being white have to do with it? There were non-whites all over europe, asia, and africa so your comment isn't even relevant.
I don't think he should have a national holiday dedicated to someone who did the things he did, and I don't like the way he is portrayed (i.e. softballed to the point of fabrication) by our public education system.
Some people have tried to blame Columbus personally for this warfare. To me, this is a bit like personally blaming Abraham Lincoln for the Civil War. The causes of war are often large social forces, usually beyond the control of any individual. I believe that is true in this case. And it is also true that Columbus personally killed some Native Americans during this war (although thousands, and perhaps even hundreds, would be a gross exaggeration). But most people in most societies (including Native American societies) view killing in wartime as acceptable; few would claim that it is morally equivalent to murder, much less genocide.
The second important charge generally made against Columbus was his alleged role in the slave trade. Again, this has been overstated by many. In Spain of this period, slavery was legal under certain circumstances: the person had to be a prisoner of war awaiting ransom. In effect, such a person had a monetary value equal to his expected ransom, and therefore it made sense (to a 15th century Spaniard, anyway) that such an "asset" could be bought or sold. (This system of ransoming prisoners of war was actually a huge improvement over the previous ethic of "take no prisoners".)
Therefore, when the Spanish took a number of Native Americans as prisoners on Hispaniola, Columbus saw an opportunity for profit. In 1496, he sent 300 of these prisoners to Spain, to be sold as slaves. The Spanish Sovereigns (King Fernando and Queen Isabel) very properly objected to this, since there was obviously no chance that such prisoners could ever be ransomed. They promptly sent these prisoners back to Hispaniola, and Columbus made no further ventures in the slave trade.
My point about white people was that the Natives were treated unfairly by many people and groups, as were other minorities. The point of this thread was that despite his faults and lack of morals, the man was an innovator and did accomplish good things as well.