Theory of Knowledge
History: Who is correct?
Columbus Day honors plundering pillagers
By Andrew Hall, The Lantern, October 6, 2000
On October 12, 1492, the Taino, a small tribe of Bahamas Arawaks swam into the clear blue waters of the Caribbean Sea to get a closer look at the strange giant of a boat that approached their native land. When Christopher Columbus stepped ashore, he introduced the Western World to the Native Americans.
In his journal and future accounts, Columbus wrote of the generosity and the hospitality of the Arawaks “who are so naïve and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone.”
To the Europeans, the lifestyle of the Arawaks was strange. The Arawaks had no concept of marriage. According to Bartolome de las Casas, a young priest who participated in the conquest of Cuba, the Arawak “men and women alike choose their mates and leave them as they please, without offense, jealousy or anger.”
The Arawaks had no shame for their bodies. They wore no clothing and according to Casas, “look upon total nakedness with as much casualness as we look upon a man’s head or at his hands.” The Arawaks lived in large communal buildings housing as many as 600 people. They had no sense of commerce. They had no sense of ownership; what belonged to one, belonged to all.
And when Columbus reached the shores of the Arawak island, he showed his gratitude to the Arawaks and introduced them to the Western World in much the same way Cortes did to the Aztecs and Pizarro to the Incas. He planted a Spanish flag, claimed the island for Spain and according to his own journal, “took the natives by force.” Setting a precedent that Western explorers, settlers and conquerors would follow for centuries to come, Columbus enslaved the Arawaks.
With what would follow under Columbus‚ command could only be labeled as genocide. In his second book, Casas spoke at great length of the cruelty of the Spaniards telling how the Spaniards “grew more conceited every day.” Refusing to walk, the Spaniards “rode the backs of Indians and thought nothing of knifing Indians by the tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades.”
The Spaniards set a gold quota for each of the Arawaks. Every three months, any of the Arawaks failing to produce their quota would bleed to death after the loss of their hands.
Many Arawaks fled, but the Spaniards would hunt them down and kill them. Some tried to resist, but they could offer no answer to the Spanish muskets, swords, armor and horses. With no options left, mass suicides began among the Arawaks. Infants were killed so to be spared the Spanish cruelty.
By 1515, perhaps 50,000 of the original three million Arawaks remained. By 1550, 500 were left. By 1650 all of the Arawaks and their descendants had been eradicated. The Spanish had destroyed an entire race; a race of peaceful, selfless people.
So on this upcoming Columbus Day, I encourage you to celebrate the European invasion of the Americas in an appropriate manner. Plant a flag with your name on it in your neighbors yard. Justifying your actions as God’s work, rape, murder and pillage. Find some Native Americans and ride them to class. And should anyone show you the slightest generosity, kill his family.