[xm177e2]

at the hands of greedy capitalist crusaders hell-bent on eradicating all vestiges of the native populous in their quest for gold, silver and souls

Columbus was not a nice guy, he WAS a greedy, petty, cruel jerk whose actions led to the genocide of the people on that island.

This is not to say the Indians were any better or worse, I really don't know if everything said about them in this article is true, it's very difficult to know how they used to live when all of the evidence has been destroyed.

The West was not always as civilized as it is today, Columbus was a man of his time.

I celebrate the discovery of America, and the promise it's held for the world, but I don't celebrate Christopher Columbus.

[Marduk]

"This is not to say the Indians were any better or worse, I really don't know if everything said about them in this article is true, it's very difficult to know how they used to live when all of the evidence has been destroyed."

The Aztecs sacrificed (read murdered) 40,000 Indians of subjugated tribes every year.

How could Cortes, with less than 500 men have conquered the Aztec Empire, whose capital, Tenochtitlan, had a population of 1 million? He was able to pull it off because the Indians that were subjugated by the Aztecs joined the forces of Cortes.

[GROUCHOTWO]

You write as though you knew Columbus personally. If what you say is true, please cite your sources.

[martian_22]

***Columbus was a man of his time***

This small statement puts a lot of things into perspective.
The times, they may be a changin' but human nature remains the same.

[Let's Roll]

"...it's very difficult to know how they used to live when all of the evidence has been destroyed."

"All" the evidence? To take just one case - what about the human sacrifice practiced by the Mayans or was it the Aztecs? Oh, let me guess, like the Holocaust, I bet that never happened either? Revisionism is so boring.

[ladyinred]

And just how do you know this? Did you read it in your history books at school lately? Or is something you just feel? I am seriously curious, where did this knowledge you have come from anyway?
The new "history" is foreign to me, and I think I would like to keep it that way. Our heritage is important to me, and many other Americans who find they cannot be PC and have heroes anymore.