Christopher Columbus

As children we ave the unique ability to belive anything we are told. Many people take advantage of that and we end up with days like Christopher Columbus Day. One of two holidays named after somebody in the United States. I have never given it much thought but James Loewen's chapter on Christopher Columbus from his book Lies My Teacher Told Me, is eye opening. Not only is Christopher Columbus not really the discoverer of the "new world", evidence shows others "discovered it before him" but he isn't the hero we are told he is. Historians try to make Christopher a relatible character much like that from a book instead of giving the facts. He enslaved, raped and killed many of the Local people he met, and is far from the hero everyone thinks he is. B and Z fall short in their explanation of Christopher. They don't take two pages to describe him or try and make him relatable but they also don't talk about the aweful things he did while he was in the "new world".