a few years' worth of Columbus / Columbus Day topics:
I remember fondly the emails we sent to our rep and deblahblahblah letting them know that the Columbus Statue would not go gently into that good night.
If they tried to take it down, MANY, MANY Americans of Italian descent, would have showed up.
And we’re FAGtifa.
He finally shut his mouth about it.
Wow! Thank you for all the links.
Regardng Myths 1 and 7, Columbus wanted to prove you could get to the Far East by sailing west. If I remember correctly he spent some time in Ireland and found debris washed ashore that he felt came from the west and was not found in Europe. This is part of what convinced him to make the trip. Also he probably knew that Portuguese fishermen had been fishing in the Grand Banks off New England for a number of years. So far as his religious nature, Isabella and Ferdinand had just driven the Mores out of Granada and Spain, and as an Italian he certainly knew that they would be encouraged to finance his additional voyages if this would enable them to pursue their goal of restoring Christianity in places where it had been lost. So, good diplomacy and good religion.
PS: Thanks for another fine list of links.