Skip to main content

Search on Wikipedia

Search results

SO Sad! Transgender Woman Pleads For Life Before Mob Beat Her To Death. click image to read story

SO Sad! Transgender Woman Pleads For Life Before Mob Beat Her To Death. click image to read story
42-year-old Dandara dos Santos was kicked, punched, and hit with shoes and a plank of wood in front of residents in Fortaleza, Ceara state, Brazil... till death. click image to read story

Featured Post

10 Reasons Why Men Should Quit Watching Po*n

Was Christopher Columbus a Hero or Villain?

Was Christopher Columbus a Hero or Villain?

While Christopher Columbus is revered as a hero in American history books, the real story behind his journey to the New World is far more sinister.



⠀⠀⠀
From chopping off the hands of Indigenous islanders to executing his own fellow colonists, Columbus' governance was so brutal that he was arrested in 1500 and brought back to Spain in chains. ⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀
Discover more disturbing facts about Christopher Columbus that prove he was brutal even for his own time by clicking the link in our bio.

Schoolchildren are taught that Christopher Columbus wanted to find America, or in some cases that he wanted to prove that the world was round. He convinced Queen Isabella of Spain to finance the journey, and she sold her personal jewelry to do so. He bravely headed west and found the Americas and the Caribbean, making friends with Indigenous peoples along the way. He returned to Spain in glory, having discovered the New World.

What's wrong with this story? Quite a bit, actually.

The theory that the Earth was flat and that it was possible to sail off its edge was common in the Middle Ages, but it had been discredited by Columbus' time. His first New World journey did help fix one common mistake, however: it proved that the Earth was much larger than people had previously thought.

Columbus, basing his calculations on incorrect assumptions about the size of the Earth, assumed it would be possible to reach the rich markets of eastern Asia by sailing west. Had he succeeded in finding a new trade route, it would have made him a very wealthy man. Instead, he found the Caribbean, then inhabited by cultures with little in the way of gold, silver, or trade goods. Unwilling to completely abandon his calculations, Columbus made a laughingstock of himself back in Europe by claiming that the Earth was not round but shaped like a pear.

He didn't need to. Isabella and her husband Ferdinand, fresh from the conquest of Moorish kingdoms in the south of Spain, had more than enough money to send someone like Columbus sailing off to the west in three second-rate ships. He had tried to get financing from other kingdoms like England and Portugal with no success. Strung along on vague promises, Columbus hung around the Spanish court for years. In fact, he had just given up and was headed to France to try his luck there when word reached him that the Spanish king and queen had decided to finance his 1492 voyage.

The Europeans, with ships, guns, fancy clothes, and shiny trinkets, made quite an impression on the tribes of the Caribbean. Columbus made a good impression when he wanted to. For example, he made friends with a local cacique on the Island of Hispaniola named Guacanagari because he needed to leave some of his men behind.

But Columbus also captured and enslaved other Indigenous peoples. The practice of enslavement was common and legal in Europe at the time, and the trade of enslaved people was very lucrative. Columbus never forgot that his voyage was not one of exploration, but of economics. His financing came from the hope that he would find a lucrative new trade route. He did nothing of the sort: the people he met had little to trade. An opportunist, he captured Indigenous people to show that they would make good enslaved workers.

Years later, he would be devastated to learn that Queen Isabella had decided to declare the New World off-limits to enslavers.

Again, this one is half-true. At first, most observers in Spain considered his first voyage a total fiasco. He had not found a new trade route and the most valuable of his three ships, the Santa Maria, had sunk. Later, when people began to realize that the lands he had found were previously unknown, his stature grew and he was able to get funding for a second, much larger voyage of exploration and colonization.

As for discovering the Americas, many people have pointed out over the years that for something to be discovered it must first be “lost,” and the millions of people already living in the New World certainly didn’t need to be “discovered.”

But more than that, Columbus stubbornly stuck to his guns for the rest of his life. He always believed that the lands he found were the easternmost fringe of Asia and that the rich markets of Japan and India were just a little farther away. He even put forth his absurd pear-shaped Earth theory in order to make the facts fit his assumptions. It wasn’t long before everyone around him figured out that the New World was something previously unseen by Europeans, but Columbus himself went to the grave without admitting that they were right.

Since his death in 1506, Columbus’ life story has undergone many revisions and been interpreted by historians in a variety of ways. He is vilified by Indigenous rights groups today, and rightly so, yet he was once seriously considered for sainthood.

Columbus may have been a talented sailor, navigator, and ship captain. He went west without a map, trusting his instincts and calculations, and was very loyal to his patrons, the king and queen of Spain. Because of it, they rewarded him by sending him to the New World a total of four times. And yet, while Columbus might have had some admirable qualities as an explorer, most popular accounts of him today fail to highlight the significance of his crimes against Indigenous peoples.

Columbus did not have an abundance of admirers during his time. He and other explorers brought awful diseases, such as smallpox, to which the Indigenous men and women of the New World had no defenses, and their population is estimated to have declined by as much as 90%.2 Columbus was also a heartless enslaver who took people away from their families in order to lessen his failure to find a new trade route. Many of his contemporaries despised these actions. As governor of Santo Domingo in Hispaniola, he was a despot who kept all profits for himself and his brothers and was loathed by the colonists whose lives he controlled. Attempts were made on his life and he was actually sent back to Spain in chains at one point after his third voyage.

During his fourth voyage, he and his men were stranded in Jamaica for a year when his ships rotted. No one wanted to travel there from Hispaniola to save him. He was also dishonest and selfish. After promising a reward to whoever spotted land first on his 1492 voyage, he refused to pay up when sailor Rodrigo de Triana did so, giving the reward to himself instead because he had seen a “glow” the night before.

Those who voice disdain for anti-Columbus historians may feel like the explorer's legacy is shouldering the weight of crimes that not only he committed. It is true that he was not the only person who enslaved or killed Indigenous peoples, and perhaps written histories should more explicitly acknowledge this fact. In this way, Columbus might then be more widely seen as one of several major explorers who collectively contributed to the decimation of Indigenous civilizations in the New World.
⠀⠀⠀⠀

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Video: A Thief Entered The Wrong House And Unluckily Met a Giant Dog, Crusher That almost Ended His Life.

A Thief Entered The Wrong House And Unluckily Met a Giant Dog, Crusher That almost Ended His Life.  The owner of the dog begged Crusher to temper justice with mercy but Crusher said lailai! 

“A Match Made in Hell”: How Robert Thompson and Jon Venables Became Killers When They Were Just 10 Years Old

"A match made in hell." On February 12, 1993, two 10-year-old boys named Robert Thompson and Jon Venables abducted 2-year-old James Bulger from a shopping center in England. They then blinded him with paint, pummeled him with bricks and stones, and hit him over the head with an iron bar before placing his body onto nearby train tracks — where a train would sever him in two. The youngest convicted killers in modern British history, Thompson and Venables served 8 years for the murder and were both released in 2001. But unfortunately, their story didn't end there. See the photos and go inside the disturbing full story — by clicking the link in our bio. “A Match Made in Hell”: How Robert Thompson and Jon Venables Became Killers When They Were Just 10 Years Old Robert Thompson and Jon Venables kidnapped 2-year-old James Bulger in Bootle, England, on February 12, 1993. They then tortured and murdered him, then dumped his body on railroad tracks. At first glance, Robert Thompson...

Place to touch to make her be in sex mood

From her head all the way to her toes, here are 10 of the top erog enous zones to turn her on: Her Head Have you ever been on the receiving end of a scalp massage and felt those warm fuzzy tingles from head to toe? That’s because the skin on the top of your head is loaded with nerves that are extremely sensitive to the touch. Sti mulating the scalp in the right way releases a flood of feel-good ho rmones like serotonin and oxytocin. It also increases blood flow, not just to her brain (the largest s ex org an, remember?) but all over her body.Next time you and your partner are kissing or cuddling, open your fi ngers wide and run them slowly through her hair, lightly stroking her scalp with your fi ngertips. Start behind her ears, at the base of the head, and circulate to the front, kind of like you’re lathering shampoo into your hair. Scalp massages are both soothing and sensual: They help release tension, and get her in the mood for other sti mulating activities. Her Ears ...

15 Ways To Leverage Video Technology To Build Your Business

Videos are at the forefront of easily consumed — and shared — media. Video can be used for a variety of messaging, from advertising and branding to outreach and communication, and new technology is adding more features to video messaging than ever before. While video has a variety of applications, what works for one industry or brand may very well not work for another. It takes a discerning eye to know the best way to use video to your business’ advantage. We asked members of  Forbes Technology Council  for tips on ways to leverage video technology and what you’ll need to be successful. 1. Send Custom Videos Customized videos stand out. Instead of sending customers a boring email newsletter, send a bespoke video that includes their business logo and details. These customized videos are major attention grabbers and are still novel enough that even distracted users take note. Companies like  Impossible Software  or  Sezion  provide inexpensive APIs for video ...

10 BIZARRE UNSOLVED CRIMES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Most of the crime thrillers of the world are inspired by reality. For crime thriller addicts, it can be interesting to know that many such crimes have been unresolved. These are the crimes where all investigations were futile, and the police could hardly provide an explanation. In this listicle, we’ve detailed 10 such bizarre  unsolved crimes  from around the world. 1. The Setagaya Family Massacre took place in Tokyo, Japan, where four members were assassinated, and the murderer stayed in the house for several hours, leaving much DNA evidence – yet, the killer remained unidentified.  On 31 December 2000, Mikio Miyazawa, along with his wife and two children, were murdered in their Setagaya-based home in western Tokyo. Mikio’s son Rei was strangled in his sleep while the rest of the family members were stabbed to death.  What’s shocking is that this murderer remained inside the house for several hours after these assassinations. The murderer used the home computer, pr...

11 Most Important Things In Relationship

There are many things more important in a relationship than love. There will be times when you don't love your partner with everything you have. And no matter how much you love them, there are just some people you shouldn't be with. I know. Before you get mad at me, you should know that I'm a total romantic. I eat sappy love poems for breakfast and I still tear up a little when my wife brings me flowers (or pizza), which is still all the time. But I've also seen some things and done some things that gave me a much more realistic (and less exciting) view on love. I worked in a women's shelter as a Domestic Violence Victim Advocate and at Planned Parenthood, as a Family Planning Assistant and Certified Responsible Sexuality Educator. Working with love and relationships and couples were my life. And every time someone said, "but I love them" as the sole reason why they should be together, my life got a whole lot more complicated. Hear me out, and I think ...

14 Ways To Spot A Gold Digger

A gold digger is a person who is primarily interested in their partner’s money and what it can do for them. You’ll notice that gold diggers often push their partners for expensive gifts, loans, and allowances. They usually feel entitled to the best that life has to offer without working for it. If you are looking for a genuine romantic connection, it’s a good idea to watch out for gold diggers and avoid them.  1. Check out their employment status. Many gold diggers do not have jobs or work in lower-level positions until they attract someone who can serve as their “meal ticket.” When you start dating someone, ask about their job and see what they envision for their future career. If they give you vague answers or laugh it off, then it could be a problem. 2. Be concerned if they reject inexpensive gifts. The thought is what should count when exchanging gifts. If you suspect your partner is a gold digger, you could try to give them a thoughtful, but inexpensive, present....

How My Brother Slept With A Ghost

This is the story of my brother who almost slept with a ghost. It was a Christmas period, a day before Christmas (watch night of Christmas).I accompany My brother  to delta state polytechnic otefe oghara to pay for his school accommodation. It was getting dark i told him(my brother) that it was not good to spend the night in otefe oghara,but he insisted and told me that  he must spend the night  with a lady before travelling back home. I left him there and went home. Since it was a Christmas period all the girls were on their best, and they were all preparing for the Christmas celebration. also it was this period that most adult and teenage girls are in need of money.My brother used this means as an advantage so he went out in search of lady to spend the night with. He actually actually met some ladies but they were not is taste. my brother began the search from 7.pm till 11.pm in the night still in search for a lady.the night was cold and everybody were indoors it was to...

Ira Einhorn was A counterculture Icon of 1960s Philadelphia -- Then He Brutally Murdered His Girlfriend

Ira Einhorn was A counterculture Icon of 1960s Philadelphia -- Then He Brutally Murdered His Girlfriend  Ira Einhorn was a celebrated environmental activist and a radical voice in the anti-establishment movements of the 1960s and 1970s. But his messages of peace and love clearly didn't extend to his girlfriend of five years, Holly Maddux. When Maddux broke up with him in 1977, Einhorn threatened to throw her belongings into the street if she didn't come to pick them up. After Maddux went to retrieve her items, she mysteriously vanished. ⁠ ⁠ Then, about 18 months later, Einhorn's downstairs neighbor complained of a foul-smelling liquid dripping from the ceiling. Police soon found Maddux's badly beaten and partially mummified body in a trunk in Einhorn's closet. Not long after the grisly discovery, Einhorn fled to Europe, where he got married, settled down in a converted windmill in France, and evaded capture for 17 years. When he was eventually extradited and finally...

A group of German soldiers captured by Polish resistance fighters in warsaw Poland, in August, 1944

A group of German soldiers captured by Polish resistance fighters in warsaw Poland, in August, 1944 The 1944 Warsaw uprising was the single largest military effort undertaken by resistance forces to oppose German occupation during World War II. Soldiers from the Kiliński Battalion of the Polish Home Army take a German prisoner during the period  In the end, German troops destroyed the majority of Warsaw during and immediately after the uprising. Among the demolished buildings was the Royal Castle. On August 1, 1944, the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa, AK), a non-Communist underground resistance movement, initiated the Warsaw uprising to liberate the city from the German occupation and reclaim Polish independence. The impetus for the military action was the ongoing retreat of the German forces from Poland, followed by the appearance of the Soviet Red Army View This Term in the Glossary along the east bank of the Vistula River. By October 2, 1944, the Germans had suppressed the upri...