ANOTHER VIEW OF COLUMBUS
ANOTHER VIEW OF COLUMBUS
By Priscilla Ahlgren
Copyright Milwaukee Journal
Published October 6, 1991
When Mary Holder asked her eighth-graders at Audubon Middle
School [in Milwaukee, WI] what they knew about Christoper Columbus,
they recited a time-honored list of the explorer's accomplishments.
"He sailed the ocean blue," "discovered America" and "proved the
world was round," they offered.
But by the end of the lesson last week, Holder had the students
questioning some of what they had learned in earlier grades. She had
introduced the view of Columbus that speaks to his dark side: his
obsession with god and his enslavement and murder of natives.
That kind of experience is being repeated throughout Wisconsin
this month as hundreds of fifth-, eighth-, and 11th-grade teachers
take up Columbus in American history classes.
Beginning Saturday, the 499th anniversary of the day Columbus
reached the West Indies, various commemorative commissions will start
yearlong observations of the 500th anniversary of his arrival in the
New World. But as Oct. 12, 1992 approaches, controversy swirls over
which view of the explorer is correct: Columbus the brave visionary,
whose daring voyage led to the civilization of two great continents?
Or Columbus the ruthless, greedy imperialist, who slaughtered a
people, plundered their land and destroyed their culture?
Meanwhile, historians continue to argue over whether Columbus
really deserves credit for having been the first to set foot in the
New World. Last week, two Chinese researchers weighed in with
evidence that the ancient Chinese came upon the New World more than
800 years before Columbus landed.
And here in Wisconsin, a proposal to rename US Highway 151 in
honor of Columbus has been assailed as an affront to American
Indians.
Even use of the word "discover" in connection with Columbus is
being reassessed. The revisionists say Columbus' mission more
accurately should be termed an "invasion."
As the controversy spills over into the schools, teachers such as
Mary Holder are being asked to reconsider what and how they should
teach about Columbus.
Bill Bigelow, a history teacher from Portland, Ore., says
teachers need to correct historical inaccuracies in order to teach
the truth about Columbus. But that also means teaching students to
examine what he calls the Columbus "myth" with a critical eye.
"What troubles me even more than the historical inaccuracies is
the fact that we've been teaching the Columbus story from only one
perspective," said Bigelow, who was in Milwaukee last week running
"Rethinking Columbus" workshops for about 150 Milwaukee Public
Schools teachers.
Cynthia Ellwood, director of curriculum and instruction for
Milwaukee Public Schools, told teachers in Bigelow's workshops that
his view should not be interpreted as "the company line." She said
he had been invited to offer a perspective that was different from
that offered in most textbooks.
"Just as we're asking students to begin to think critically,
we're asking you to do the same," she told teachers.
Bigelow says there's much to criticize. He points out that the
vast majority of textbooks and biographies about Columbus written for
children "get you to root for Columbus."
The books portray Columbus as handsome, brave and smart; as an
accomplished sailor who was born to lead; as persistent and eloquent
enough to persuade Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to
finance his voyage; and as a commander strong enough to put down
repeated threats of mutiny by his ignorant, rowdy, ugly crewmen.
If that weren't enough, many children's books found in public
libraries suggest that Columbus had God on his side.
Meanwhile, the Indians Columbus encounters in the New World are
portrayed as ignorant, backward pagans. Columbus, by Ingri and Edgar
Parin D'Aulaire, describes the natives Columbus encountered on the
islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe as "wild."
"They were cannibals who ate their enemies," says one illustrated
passage from the book, which was published in 1955 and was available
last week on the shelves of the children's section at the Shorewood
Public Library.
Bigelow says there is no historical evidence to substantiate that
claim. Beyond that, there are serious omissions that have served
over the years to perpetuate the myth that Columbus was a flat-out
hero.
Few texts or children's books, for example, ever talk about
Columbus' second and third voyages to the New World. It was on those
trips that Columbus forced the natives to bring him gold and tortured
and killed those who did not. He also rounded up and kidnapped
hundreds of natives, whom he transported back to Spain on slave
ships.
Bigelow said the impending quincentenary had helped to shed light
on the Columbus myth.
"His record is much more out there on the table now," said
Bigelow, who is on leave from his job as a teacher at Portland's
Jefferson High School to run the Rethinking Columbus Project for the
Network of Educators on Central America. The project is being paid
for by the Unitarian Church.
In his workshops, Bigelow encourages teachers to get their
students thinking about Columbus in new ways. Start with the word
"discover," he said.
"Think about it," he said. "It appears neutral, but it's
completely loaded with all kinds of cultural bias."
Donelle Johnson, a fourth-grade teacher at Elm Elementary School,
got the idea across Friday when she "discovered" a key hanging on a
braided cord around the neck of 11-year-old Jerome Smith.
"Look what I discovered," she said, taking the key and hanging it
around her neck. "Now it's mine."
Jerome and his classmates had some problems with that.
"But I had it first," Jerome protested.
Erik Lund, 8, agreed.
"He had the key made, and paid money for it," Erik said. "You
don't have any right to take it."
Johnson pointed out that she was bigger than Jerome, and the
person in charge of the classroom.
"But you didn't have his permission," said Eugennia Hobson, 10.
END
THE TRUTHS BEHIND COLUMBUS MYTH
It's true that in 1492 Columbus sailed three ships across the
Atlantic Ocean for the glory of Spain. In the West Indies, he
encountered natives, to whom he gave trinkets. When he returned to
Spain, he took some of the natives with him.
But historians also have documented other, lesser-known facts
about Columbus and his expeditions, according to history teacher Bill
Bigelow, who has been urging other teachers to demythologize the
Columbus story. For instance:
--Contrary to what decades of American schoolchildren have been
taught, Columbus did not sail west in hopes of proving that the Earth
was round. Virtually all educated people of the late 15th century
already knew that.
--Columbus' motives weren't purely patriotic. He negotiated for
himself a ten percent cut of any profits.
--Determined to find gold on his second and third voyages, Columbus
ordered that natives older than 14 bring him a set amount of gold
dust every three months. Those who did not had their hands chopped
off.
--Columbus kidnapped hundreds of natives and took them back to Spain
in what has been called the beginning of the slave trade.
Rethinking Schools (An Urban Educational Journal) is proud to present
a special edition of its newspaper to help teachers, students, and
parents provide a critical, pro-Native perspective on the Columbus
quincentenary. Published in collaboration with the Network of
Educators on Central America, "Rethinking Columbus" offers 96 pages
of resources and teaching ideas for kindergarten through college.
One copy: $4.00 plus $2.00 postage/handling. Mail to:
Rethinking Schools
1001 E. Keefe Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53212
(414) 964-9646
(Bulk pricing for dealers, distributors and
bookstores is available. Call or write for info)
By Priscilla Ahlgren
Copyright Milwaukee Journal
Published October 6, 1991
When Mary Holder asked her eighth-graders at Audubon Middle
School [in Milwaukee, WI] what they knew about Christoper Columbus,
they recited a time-honored list of the explorer's accomplishments.
"He sailed the ocean blue," "discovered America" and "proved the
world was round," they offered.
But by the end of the lesson last week, Holder had the students
questioning some of what they had learned in earlier grades. She had
introduced the view of Columbus that speaks to his dark side: his
obsession with god and his enslavement and murder of natives.
That kind of experience is being repeated throughout Wisconsin
this month as hundreds of fifth-, eighth-, and 11th-grade teachers
take up Columbus in American history classes.
Beginning Saturday, the 499th anniversary of the day Columbus
reached the West Indies, various commemorative commissions will start
yearlong observations of the 500th anniversary of his arrival in the
New World. But as Oct. 12, 1992 approaches, controversy swirls over
which view of the explorer is correct: Columbus the brave visionary,
whose daring voyage led to the civilization of two great continents?
Or Columbus the ruthless, greedy imperialist, who slaughtered a
people, plundered their land and destroyed their culture?
Meanwhile, historians continue to argue over whether Columbus
really deserves credit for having been the first to set foot in the
New World. Last week, two Chinese researchers weighed in with
evidence that the ancient Chinese came upon the New World more than
800 years before Columbus landed.
And here in Wisconsin, a proposal to rename US Highway 151 in
honor of Columbus has been assailed as an affront to American
Indians.
Even use of the word "discover" in connection with Columbus is
being reassessed. The revisionists say Columbus' mission more
accurately should be termed an "invasion."
As the controversy spills over into the schools, teachers such as
Mary Holder are being asked to reconsider what and how they should
teach about Columbus.
Bill Bigelow, a history teacher from Portland, Ore., says
teachers need to correct historical inaccuracies in order to teach
the truth about Columbus. But that also means teaching students to
examine what he calls the Columbus "myth" with a critical eye.
"What troubles me even more than the historical inaccuracies is
the fact that we've been teaching the Columbus story from only one
perspective," said Bigelow, who was in Milwaukee last week running
"Rethinking Columbus" workshops for about 150 Milwaukee Public
Schools teachers.
Cynthia Ellwood, director of curriculum and instruction for
Milwaukee Public Schools, told teachers in Bigelow's workshops that
his view should not be interpreted as "the company line." She said
he had been invited to offer a perspective that was different from
that offered in most textbooks.
"Just as we're asking students to begin to think critically,
we're asking you to do the same," she told teachers.
Bigelow says there's much to criticize. He points out that the
vast majority of textbooks and biographies about Columbus written for
children "get you to root for Columbus."
The books portray Columbus as handsome, brave and smart; as an
accomplished sailor who was born to lead; as persistent and eloquent
enough to persuade Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to
finance his voyage; and as a commander strong enough to put down
repeated threats of mutiny by his ignorant, rowdy, ugly crewmen.
If that weren't enough, many children's books found in public
libraries suggest that Columbus had God on his side.
Meanwhile, the Indians Columbus encounters in the New World are
portrayed as ignorant, backward pagans. Columbus, by Ingri and Edgar
Parin D'Aulaire, describes the natives Columbus encountered on the
islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe as "wild."
"They were cannibals who ate their enemies," says one illustrated
passage from the book, which was published in 1955 and was available
last week on the shelves of the children's section at the Shorewood
Public Library.
Bigelow says there is no historical evidence to substantiate that
claim. Beyond that, there are serious omissions that have served
over the years to perpetuate the myth that Columbus was a flat-out
hero.
Few texts or children's books, for example, ever talk about
Columbus' second and third voyages to the New World. It was on those
trips that Columbus forced the natives to bring him gold and tortured
and killed those who did not. He also rounded up and kidnapped
hundreds of natives, whom he transported back to Spain on slave
ships.
Bigelow said the impending quincentenary had helped to shed light
on the Columbus myth.
"His record is much more out there on the table now," said
Bigelow, who is on leave from his job as a teacher at Portland's
Jefferson High School to run the Rethinking Columbus Project for the
Network of Educators on Central America. The project is being paid
for by the Unitarian Church.
In his workshops, Bigelow encourages teachers to get their
students thinking about Columbus in new ways. Start with the word
"discover," he said.
"Think about it," he said. "It appears neutral, but it's
completely loaded with all kinds of cultural bias."
Donelle Johnson, a fourth-grade teacher at Elm Elementary School,
got the idea across Friday when she "discovered" a key hanging on a
braided cord around the neck of 11-year-old Jerome Smith.
"Look what I discovered," she said, taking the key and hanging it
around her neck. "Now it's mine."
Jerome and his classmates had some problems with that.
"But I had it first," Jerome protested.
Erik Lund, 8, agreed.
"He had the key made, and paid money for it," Erik said. "You
don't have any right to take it."
Johnson pointed out that she was bigger than Jerome, and the
person in charge of the classroom.
"But you didn't have his permission," said Eugennia Hobson, 10.
END
THE TRUTHS BEHIND COLUMBUS MYTH
It's true that in 1492 Columbus sailed three ships across the
Atlantic Ocean for the glory of Spain. In the West Indies, he
encountered natives, to whom he gave trinkets. When he returned to
Spain, he took some of the natives with him.
But historians also have documented other, lesser-known facts
about Columbus and his expeditions, according to history teacher Bill
Bigelow, who has been urging other teachers to demythologize the
Columbus story. For instance:
--Contrary to what decades of American schoolchildren have been
taught, Columbus did not sail west in hopes of proving that the Earth
was round. Virtually all educated people of the late 15th century
already knew that.
--Columbus' motives weren't purely patriotic. He negotiated for
himself a ten percent cut of any profits.
--Determined to find gold on his second and third voyages, Columbus
ordered that natives older than 14 bring him a set amount of gold
dust every three months. Those who did not had their hands chopped
off.
--Columbus kidnapped hundreds of natives and took them back to Spain
in what has been called the beginning of the slave trade.
Rethinking Schools (An Urban Educational Journal) is proud to present
a special edition of its newspaper to help teachers, students, and
parents provide a critical, pro-Native perspective on the Columbus
quincentenary. Published in collaboration with the Network of
Educators on Central America, "Rethinking Columbus" offers 96 pages
of resources and teaching ideas for kindergarten through college.
One copy: $4.00 plus $2.00 postage/handling. Mail to:
Rethinking Schools
1001 E. Keefe Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53212
(414) 964-9646
(Bulk pricing for dealers, distributors and
bookstores is available. Call or write for info)
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