My "Christopher Columbus" post from my old (2005) blog:

Christopher Columbus (that is his "english-version" name) sailed the ocean blue in 1492....but what else did he do?

Let me tell you...

First, he intended to find a sea-trade route to Asia by traveling across the Atlantic Ocean....not knowing that a landmass that stretched from pole to pole would get in his way. So when he spotted land, he just knew that he had hit China or India...sorry, Chris, only a few thousand miles off on that one.

His ships found land in the Bahamas, he was greeted by VERY FREINDLY Arawak Indians, who brought them food, water, and gifts. These Indians hadn't even seen metal weapons before.

The Arawaks were communal, meaning that they shared everything and had no need for battles, anger, jealousy, or greed...much different than their new friends, the Europeans.

So, naturally, Columbus and his crew took them as slaves and forced them to bring him gold, and when they didn't bring enough, he cut their hands and arms off. Others were hanged or burned to death. Some were hunted down with dogs. In two years of occupation in the Haiti and Dominican Republic area (Hispanola) over half of the original 250,000 Arawaks were dead.

In a memoir about the times, it was told that the Spaniards made the Indians carry them on their backs or in hammocks, and "thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades."

And you can only imagine what Columbus (who died of syphilis, strangely) and his men did to the poor Arawak women while their husbands were away, slaving in gold mines.

SO......Chris Columbus....here's to you....may you rot in peace.