Christopher Columbus, no saint, was product of his time (Commentary)

Staten Island Advance By Staten Island Advance Staten Island Advance
on December 31, 2013 at 7:02 AM, updated December 31, 2013 at 7:11 AM


Christopher Columbus was not a saint, and he committed many sins, none of which any rational person (myself included) would ever condone. Nor would anyone ever condone the horrendous acts perpetrated by the millions of Spanish, Dutch, French, and English adventurers, explorers, pioneers, and even missionaries of Columbus' era and thereafter. Nevertheless, I believe The Advance did a disservice to its readers by prominently featuring and portraying as fact its cover story "Goodbye, Columbus: Celebrated cultural icon is not the hero he appears to be" in the Perspective section of the October 13th Sunday Advance.

Sadly, the facts were "MIA."

Since the late 1980s/early 1990s, revisionists have made Columbus a scapegoat for perceived European sins intentionally committed in the Americas by non-Native Americans since 1492.

Those who oppose the celebration of Columbus Day, an official federal holiday, blame Columbus — and only Columbus — for acts of genocide, the continued suffering of indigenous people, the slave trade in the entire western hemisphere, the United States' governmental policy of Manifest Destiny, and the erosion of rights of indigenous peoples throughout the Americas.

To blame Columbus for any of these, though, is to exonerate the policies, groups, and individuals who practiced slavery and committed heinous crimes against humanity, including the Spanish, Dutch, French, English, and U.S. governments, Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers, the Confederate States of America, the Ku Klux Klan, and the U.S. military officers and soldiers who massacred Native Americans at places like Sand Creek and Wounded Knee.


Place blame on those who deserve it, not on Christopher Columbus.

References to a "profitable slave trade" are undoubtedly the nexus of the characterization of Columbus as "evil."

The article would have the reader believe that entire history of slavery in the "new world" started with Columbus, when it was already a practice of the indigenous populations.

Contrary to the expressed opinions of those who demonize Columbus and Columbus Day, he did not introduce slavery to the Americas.

Slavery already existed in the Americas, especially in Central America, at the time of Columbus' arrival. Spanish explorer Cortez provided ample descriptions of what he found in the Mexico City of the Aztecs.

Slave trading was a major part of the economy of the Ute Native American tribes, according to Colorado historian Virginia McConnell Simmons in her book "The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico."

Captives from battle were sold into slavery in places like Taos for horses and hides.

Slavery was a universal institution in the world, lacking opposition until the mid-16th and early 17th centuries

Was Columbus any different than the millions of afore-mentioned adventurers, explorers, slave traders, pioneers, and missionaries who vanquished, subjugated, exploited, and murdered indigenous people?

According to the article, he apparently was, and still is.

The so-called "horrifyingly graphic report" by Francisco de Bobadilla, who was ordered to investigate charges of brutality against Columbus, came from a man who was not a competent, reliable, or objective reporter of what happened in the "new world" under Columbus.

De Bobadilla was considered a Columbus usurper and a liar.

Bartolomé de las Casas, whom the article described as "a priest who looked into the atrocities," was even worse than de Bobadilla. His propensity to exaggerate was well-known.

De las Casas did not become an "advocate for the rights of indigenous people" until much later in his life.

Born in 1484, de las Casas did not arrive in Hispaniola with his father until 1502, when they immediately became owners of indigenous slaves.

On June 29, 1502, Columbus arrived in Santo Domingo on his fourth voyage, but was not allowed to disembark.

He wound up sailing to what are now Jamaica, Panama, Honduras, and Costa Rica, but he never set foot on Hispaniola before returning to Spain in 1504.

Thus, de las Casas never even met Columbus, nor did he ever witness any atrocities attributed to him. It was not until the 1530s that de las Casas wrote abstracts of Columbus' journals.

Most astoundingly, de las Casas, actually advocated the use of African slaves instead of natives in the "new world" colonies.

This gave rise gave rise to criticisms leveled at him as being partly responsible for the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade.


Columbus Day was first proclaimed a national holiday by President Benjamin Harrison in 1892, 400 years after Columbus's first voyage.






OK, so Columbus was not the first European to set foot on American soil, as the Vikings had voyaged to the "Americas" about 500 years previously.

However, the Vikings left nothing behind in "Vinland," except some rotting timbers from their vessels.

Columbus was a fearless and dedicated explorer whose voyages changed the world for better and for worse.

Many people have allowed his personal, human faults and foibles to overshadow his phenomenal achievements as an explorer, but he remains a hero in the eyes of millions of people all over the world.

Whether by luck or by design, Christopher Columbus is directly responsible for the existence of modern-day America — and for this he has earned his place in history.

Columbus opened the door to whole new continents to the Europeans, and initiated European colonization of the "new world."

He left behind the legacy of Western civilization and its core values of reason, science, technology, progress, capitalism, individual rights, law, and the pursuit of individual happiness.

Credit for much of what I have written goes to the following individuals:

Dr. William J. Connell, Joseph M. and Geraldine C. La Motta Chair in Italian Studies at Seton Hall University Dr. Dona De Sanctis, Editor-in-chief, Italian America Magazine-Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), the oldest and largest national organization in the U.S. for men and women of Italian herit Mr. David A. Sprecace, Esq., Former President of the Denver Columbus Day Parade Committee


A naturalized U.S. citizen, born in Italy, Salvatore J. Turchio spent 35 years in higher education — 26 years as a college dean and eight as an adjunct instructor of the Italian language and culture. He has been a Staten Island resident for most of his life and is currently the State Third Vice President of the New Jersey Grand Lodge, Order Sons of Italy in America. He lives in South Beach.