Reason for the Season Pt 1
Let's start at the very beginning.
Once upon a time there was a little Italian man named Christopher Columbus. Christopher was an educated man and, like educated people of the time, knew that the earth is round. One day, he thought to himself, "Why do we sail around Africa with it's terrifying tree people when we could sail the other direction and go directly to the Asias?"
Christopher asked this question of many powerful and wealthy people but they all laughed at him. But when he told the King and Queen of Spain, they didn't laugh. The King and Queen of Spain had just finished a war and had an overabundance of soldiers who didn't know the war was over. They caused problems and worried the King and Queen of Spain.
The King and Queen of Spain saw that Christopher was offering them a wonderful opportunity. At best they would have glory and praise if the ships they sent reached the Asias. At worst they could reduce the population of rabble-rousers and the People of Spain would feel safer.
The soldiers were afraid. They said, "King and Queen of Spain, we won you your thrones. Do not send us on this expedition; the earth is flat and surely we will die."
The King and Queen of Spain said, "Do not worry; the earth is round. We have studied this matter and found it to be so. When you reach the Asias you will be wealthy beyond measure. We only send you because you are the best."
So the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria left Spain. And they sailed. And sailed. And sailed.
The soldiers began to worry that the King and Queen of Spain were wrong and decided they needed to turn back before they met the monsters at the Edge of the World. Before they could mutiny though, the look-out in the crow's nest called, "Land, ho!"
The men were all excited when they heard this. They had been on the boats for so long.
They were surprised when the landed and such dark people came out to meet them! They said to each other, "Surely we have landed in the Indias! No matter, we will trade for spices and go home the usual way so that we do not starve."
They soon learned that they were not in the Indias or anywhere near the Asias. They had found a New World! And it made them all very wealthy, just like the King and Queen of Spain had told them it would.
___
Morbid children's book for you. Just to clarify, THAT is what everyone is so upset about. You can ask any anthropologist; the second the Europeans stepped foot on Hispaniola, small pox spread. There were more people living in the Mississippi River Valley than there were in Europe before the small pox epidemic. Roughly one third of the native peoples died from it.
If it makes you feel better, the Spaniards saw women for the first time in months, boinked, and took syphilis back to Europe with them.
Once upon a time there was a little Italian man named Christopher Columbus. Christopher was an educated man and, like educated people of the time, knew that the earth is round. One day, he thought to himself, "Why do we sail around Africa with it's terrifying tree people when we could sail the other direction and go directly to the Asias?"
Christopher asked this question of many powerful and wealthy people but they all laughed at him. But when he told the King and Queen of Spain, they didn't laugh. The King and Queen of Spain had just finished a war and had an overabundance of soldiers who didn't know the war was over. They caused problems and worried the King and Queen of Spain.
The King and Queen of Spain saw that Christopher was offering them a wonderful opportunity. At best they would have glory and praise if the ships they sent reached the Asias. At worst they could reduce the population of rabble-rousers and the People of Spain would feel safer.
The soldiers were afraid. They said, "King and Queen of Spain, we won you your thrones. Do not send us on this expedition; the earth is flat and surely we will die."
The King and Queen of Spain said, "Do not worry; the earth is round. We have studied this matter and found it to be so. When you reach the Asias you will be wealthy beyond measure. We only send you because you are the best."
So the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria left Spain. And they sailed. And sailed. And sailed.
The soldiers began to worry that the King and Queen of Spain were wrong and decided they needed to turn back before they met the monsters at the Edge of the World. Before they could mutiny though, the look-out in the crow's nest called, "Land, ho!"
The men were all excited when they heard this. They had been on the boats for so long.
They were surprised when the landed and such dark people came out to meet them! They said to each other, "Surely we have landed in the Indias! No matter, we will trade for spices and go home the usual way so that we do not starve."
They soon learned that they were not in the Indias or anywhere near the Asias. They had found a New World! And it made them all very wealthy, just like the King and Queen of Spain had told them it would.
___
Morbid children's book for you. Just to clarify, THAT is what everyone is so upset about. You can ask any anthropologist; the second the Europeans stepped foot on Hispaniola, small pox spread. There were more people living in the Mississippi River Valley than there were in Europe before the small pox epidemic. Roughly one third of the native peoples died from it.
If it makes you feel better, the Spaniards saw women for the first time in months, boinked, and took syphilis back to Europe with them.