To prevent further rebellion, he would have the dead bodies paraded through the streets. While he was governor of what is now the Dominican Republic, Columbus killed many natives in response to their revolt, according to. The natives who weren’t sold into slavery were forced to look for gold in mines and work on plantations. Later, he sent thousands of Taino “Indians” to Spain to be sold, and many of them died during the journey. Throughout his years in the Americas, Columbus forced natives to work for the sake of profits. Indigenous people had been living there for centuries by the time he arrived in 1492 and Leif Eriksson and the Vikings beat him to it five centuries earlier.ĭuring his voyages through the Caribbean islands and the Central and South American coasts, Columbus came upon indigenous people that he labeled “Indians.”Ĭolumbus and his men enslaved many of these native people and treated them with extreme violence and brutality, according to. Not everything you learned about Christopher Columbus is trueīut Columbus wasn’t the first to discover the New World. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America/Getty Images Some New York politicians have included Columbus in this political debate. Following the recent violence in Charlottesville, many politicians, activists and citizens are calling for monuments dedicated to Confederate-era and other controversial figures to be taken down. NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 23: A 76-foot statue of explorer Christopher Columbus stands in Columbus circle on Augin New York City. Now, in response to the nationwide protests and conversation surrounding racial inequality, people have been tearing down statues of Columbus to bring awareness to the cruelty he brought upon indigenous people. The Italian explorer is even celebrated every October during a federal holiday named after him.īut the man credited for discovering the “New World” has long been considered a contentious figure in US history for his treatment of the indigenous communities he encountered and for his role in the violent colonization at their expense.ĭozens of cities and states – such as Minnesota, Alaska, Vermont and Oregon – have already replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day. Students are taught that Columbus is the one who discovered the Americas, sailing across the Atlantic in his three ships: The Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria. That rhyme has long been how American students were introduced to Christopher Columbus in elementary school. “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”

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