Trickle Down Brutality
Now that Columbus Day has passed, errrr, I mean Indigenous People's Day .... I'd like to opine on the historical subjugation of people in the history of mankind. Yes, I am defending Christopher Columbus.
History has happened, been recorded, retold, rewritten and revised to suit every political, national, ethnic, racial and social point of view to the point where we have no fucking idea exactly what happened during many important periods, including when white travelers landed on the shores of the new world. Not all explorers ventured into the unknown on missions to rape and pillage. And the conquering of lands and people was not invented by white guys in fancy pants from Europe, it's been constant since the dawn of mankind, conquest is prehistoric. Humanity is inhumane.
Some historians portray Mayans as peaceful yet there is archaeological evidence of fortified temples, weapons, warlords and captives. The Maya fought wars more than 3000 years before Euros showed up.
The the 13th century nomadic Aztecs fought as mercenaries in wars between other mesoamerican tribes until they decided to take over the Mexican Valley through military conquest. They dominated tribes who once expelled them, 100 years before Cortes the killer arrived.
In 1438, half a century before Columbus, Inca leader Pachacuti expanded his empire more than one thousand miles taking the majority of the Andes mountain range. Some rulers accepted empirical control peacefully, others were invaded. When the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century the Incas were in the midst of a civil war. The empire was divided, they fought three years and reunited under Emperor Atahualpa.
Yes, the arrival of sailing ships marked the end of life as they knew it, but white Europeans did not introduce warfare, plunder and captivity to the indigenous, we just had better technology and tactics. Conquest of lands and people, inhumane treatment of captives, rape and genocide have been part of human history long before it was recorded. It happened in every part of the world, new and old.
Atilla the Hun dominated a region from The Rhine to the Aral Sea, greater than Europe, through invasion with brutal force. Ghengis Khan never lead a horde of Mongol diplomats negotiating peace with neighboring tribes. The Mongols ransacked Eurasia and systemically murdered inhabitants. The Mongols were then defeated by the Ottoman Turks. One of the reasons European explorers sailed west to America was the loss of the Silk Road to China which was under Ottoman control.
I'm not saying this bloodshed is warranted. There is no justification for pillage, enslavement and killing of the aboriginal. The truth is, victims of conquest have often been the oppressors in previous occupations. Shit rolls downhill and weaker societies have been swallowed up by militaristic neighbors since the dawn of mankind. They in turn have been routed and removed from their lands, trickle down brutality. Just because Columbus arrived by ship from the other side of an ocean does not make his exploration and the eventual colonization any more inhumane than what happened previously in the new world. By land or by sea the invasion and overthrow is illegal or immoral on some level.
Okay, I'm rambling.
When I was a boy we learned lessons of adventure and exploration with Columbus as a main figure and in the eyes of Italians a hero. In Providence there's a great tradition in celebrating Columbus Day but all that's become politically incorrect because defenders of indians have repainted him a monster, a killer of civilizations. I wonder what accounts of brutality are attributed directly to Columbus the man, did he murder a family, order a village burned or are his 'crimes' listed under general atrocities? He did take captives back to Spain and avenged the killing of Spaniards on Hispanola, hardly genocide. He was just a man of his time.
Maybe the Italians, and my grade school textbook, treat Columbus and his contemporary European explorers with too much reverence. But I suspect John Cabot, Giovanni de Verrazzano and Amerigo Vespucci did not leave their homeland with the intention of mass murder. I equally suspect revised accounts of Columbus being brutal barbarian are too harsh. It is accurate to say these early adventurers were followed by men like Hernan Cortes who was in fact a conquistador hell bent on what they do, conquest. I choose to not indict the first explorers for the crimes of men who followed them. They sailed in search of trade routes, not genocide, but instead discovered and explored lands.
I'm not downplaying or excusing the crimes of men and governments against natives of this land, I'm merely choosing to not blame Christopher Columbus for the massacre at Wounded Knee. His journey proved catastrophic for aboriginal civilizations throughout the Americas who perished at the hands of future men. This was not the intent of his venture.
The men who claimed and conquered lands for king and crown saw a buffet of riches, just as Incan conquerer Pachacuti and Aztec emperor Tezozomec did. What goes around comes around and inhumanity has no ethnic or racial boundaries.
When you put Columbus' journey and discovery in perspective you might cut him a little slack.