CHAPTER 1: Christopher Columbus and the 1492 Encounter

I don't know who this Indian is,
A bow within his hand,
But he is hiding by a tree
And watching white men land.
They may be gods-they may be fiends-
They certainly look rum.
He wonders who on earth they are
And why on earth they've come.
- STEPHEN VINCENT BENET

The most common factor throughout the textbooks, both old and new, was the glorification of Christopher Columbus. Columbus' destructive actions are almost completely omitted from textbooks. Christopher Columbus was, on one hand, a visionary and a determined man whose bravery in following little-travelled paths and exploring land previously unknown to his people cannot be denied. On the other hand, he was a man driven by greed and blind devotion to his God. The problem this presents is that America has made Columbus into a national hero, and heroes do not possess these latter qualities, qualities which led Columbus to enslave, torture, and murder Indians. It would be very difficult to revoke the "hero" status we have granted to Columbus: our nation's capital is the District of Columbia; countless American cities, streets, parks, rivers, and schools are named for Columbus; more monuments and statues have been erected in his honor than for any other secular hero in the world (Sale 5); and every October 12 we celebrate the national holiday called Columbus Day. So when our children look up at us and ask "Why do we celebrate Columbus Day?" no one, including textbook authors, wants to say, "Because he was cruel to the Indians and a terrible colonial governor who was instrumental in the failure of the first Spanish settlement in America." First contact between Columbus and the natives that he encountered, therefore, is carefully tailored in textbooks to avoid addressing this issue.

The people who greeted Columbus as he first set foot on land in the Americas were the Taíno peoples. Every textbook explains how Columbus named the inhabitants "Indians" because he thought he had reached the Indies, but in many cases this is as much as they mention. Some describe Columbus' first impression of the natives in a few brief words. But the accounts of first contact generally stop there, if they go that far. The fact that Columbus had extensive contact with the Indians throughout his four visits is absent from the textbooks, undoubtedly due to the type of contact it was. Columbus snatched an Indian as a slave from the first island he reached, and more from other islands he subsequently visited. One textbook, The United States: Past to Present, mentions these Indians, but portrays them as being there of their own free will: "For the next three months, Columbus and his Arawak guides sailed around the Caribbean Sea" (32). America! America! also refers to Columbus' slaves as "guides." However, Columbus mentions in his log that the Indians he had with him while exploring the other islands tried to escape several times. If they were merely guides, and not slaves, they would have no reason to escape. Many of the textbooks later talk of the cruelty of the Spanish explorers that followed Columbus, but Columbus himself remains unaccountable.

Three of the 20 textbooks I examined, The American Nation, America! America!, and A History of US: The First Americans, dared to say something negative in relation to Columbus. A History of US: The First Americans only holds Columbus responsible for slavery, but Hakim does prompt the student to think about Columbus' unheroic actions:

Columbus had many good qualities, and yet he made slaves of the Indians. You will read about many good people in history who did terrible things to other people. Usually, they believed they were doing good. They meant to do good. Many people told them that they really were doing good. Does that excuse them? Does it make a difference to the victim? Is it right to force others to think as you do? Is it possible? (88-9)

The American Nation does the best job of confronting the implications of Columbus' actions. First, it discusses "A Tragic Pattern" when discussing first contact:

Columbus first landed in the Americas on a small Caribbean island. Friendly relations with the Taínos, the Native Americans he met there, did not last. Columbus and the Europeans who followed him had little respect for Native American culture. They claimed Taíno lands for themselves. They forced Taínos to work in gold mines, on ranches, or in Spanish households. . . Within 100 years of Columbus' arrival, the Taíno population had been destroyed. The Taínos' experience with Europeans set a pattern that was repeated again and again throughout the Americas. (54)

A student "activity" that accompanies this section compels the students to think about the native view of the encounter by asking the students to list five questions they would ask the Taínos about their encounter with Christopher Columbus, and then it asks them to write a paragraph about how the students think their lives would be different if the encounter had never occurred. Later in the chapter, The American Nation presents a section entitled "Columbus: Hero or Villain?" and is the only textbook to confront this question directly:

For years, Columbus has been remembered as the bold sea captain who "discovered America." In one sense, he deserves that honor. Europeans knew nothing of the Americas before Columbus brought them news of this "new world." Today, we recognize that other people "discovered" America long before Columbus. Still, his daring journey brought the peoples of Europe, Africa, and the Americas into lasting contact for the first time in history.

Native Americans, however, paid heavily for Columbus's voyage. Columbus and the Europeans who came after him forced native peoples to work in mines or on farms raising sugar cane and cotton. Over the next 50 years, hundreds of thousands of Caribbean Indians died from harsh working conditions and European diseases.

"Discovery" also cost Native Americans their lands. Starting with Columbus, Europeans justified seizing Indian lands. Some believed they had the right to take the lands because Indians were not Christians.

For better or worse, the rise of powerful nations in Europe signaled a new era for the Americas. Curious Europeans wanted to know more about the lands across the Atlantic. They saw the Americas as a place where they could trade and grow rich. Once Columbus reached the Americas, nothing could stop the flood of explorers and settlers that followed him. (68-70)

While this section does not villainize Columbus, it makes students think about the effect his arrival had on the Americas, and lets the students decide how they want to feel about Columbus. An activity that follows this section asks the students to write an editorial on their opinion of whether or not Americans should celebrate Columbus' birthday. America! America! does not challenge the student to reflect on Columbus' actions, as the previous two books do, but the author does not glorify Columbus, and admits that he did more than enslave the Indians. The following excerpt underestimates the population, a common problem in historical accounts, but otherwise the account is accurate:

Columbus tried to make use of the Indians by requiring them to bring him gold and work for his colonies. Those who refused or were not able to meet his demands were either killed or sent to Europe as slaves. Although there had been over 300,000 natives in the West Indies in 1493, there were none left by 1540. (65)

Punishments worse than what is described above were inflicted on the natives who did not live up to Columbus' expectations, but the fact that any textbook linked Columbus with unjust activities is unusual.

Some textbooks do not mention Columbus having contact with natives at all. In Liberty and Union (1972), an excerpt from Columbus' log tells of him seeing the natives, but nothing more:

Friday, 12th of October. - The vessels were hove to [stopped], waiting for daylight; and on Friday they arrived at a small island . . . called, in the language of the Indians, Guanahani. Presently they saw naked people. The admiral went on shore in the armed boat, and Martin Alonso Pinzon [the Pinta's captain], and Vicente Yañez, his brother, who was the captain of the Nina. The Admiral took the royal standard, and the captains went with two banners of the green cross, . . . with an F and a Y [for Ferdinand and Ysabel] and a crown over each letter, one on one side of the cross and the one on the other. Having landed, they saw trees very green, and much water, and fruits of diverse kinds. The Admiral called to the two captains, and to the others who leaped on shore . . . and said that they should bear faithful testimony that he . . . had taken . . . possession of the said island for the King and for the Queen. . . . (27)

The second sentence of this excerpt is the only time the Indians are mentioned in this chapter of this textbook. Apparently the authors felt that a detailed description of the Spanish flag and the island's fauna was more important than the island's inhabitants. This was a choice made by the authors because Columbus did give detailed accounts of his impression of the natives in his log. A History of US: The First Americans uses several primary sources to extensively illustrate first contact between Columbus and the natives. First, Hakim quotes from Columbus' log:

They remained so much our friends that it was a marvel; . . .they came swimming to the ships' boats, and brought us parrots and cotton thread . . . and many other things, and in exchange we gave them little glass beads. . . . Finally, they exchanged with us everything they had, with good will. (70)

Secondly, a letter Columbus wrote to Luis de Santangel, Treasurer of Aragon, Spain is cited in a section called "From Columbus's Pen":

. . . [The Indians] are well-made men of commanding stature, they appear extraordinarily timid. The only arms they have are sticks of cane, cut when in seed, with a sharpened stick at the end, and they are afraid to use these. Often I have sent two or three men ashore to some town to converse with them, and the natives come out in great numbers, and as soon as they saw our men arrive, fled without a moment's delay although I protected them from injury.

. . . they are so unsuspicious and so generous with what they possess, and no one who had not seem it would believe it.

. . . in the first isle I discovered, I took by force some of the natives, that from them we might gain some information of what there was in these parts; and so it was that we immediately understood each other, either by words or signs. (71)

One other currently used textbook, A More Perfect Union, includes this letter, in its entirety, in an appendix of famous historical documents. The only previously used textbook to include Columbus' first impression of the natives, also from an excerpt from the letter to de Santangel, is Our Country's History (1983). Hakim not only presents excerpts from the letter, but she makes the reader wonder what the natives must have thought of Columbus, which none of the other textbooks do:

The Taínos are peaceful fisherfolk. They welcome the voyagers who have come in bright ships and brought shining beads that seem to capture the sunshine. But what must be in the Indians' minds when they first see these men? Do they think it strange that they wear heavy clothing in a warm land? (Columbus says they wear nothing at all.) Are they surprised that the strangers have skin the color of melons, or that one-a black man from Africa-is dark as chocolate? (Columbus says they are handsome and that their skin is brown, their hair straight.) Do the smells of the seafarers bother them? (The Europeans do not bathe.) Whatever they think, the swords that Columbus and his men carry help convince the natives to do as the strangers wish. Besides, they want to please. The Taíno are generous and intelligent people. Columbus says they learn Spanish words quickly. They also communicate through sign language. (70)

In many of the other textbooks, first contact is seldom described in more than a paragraph or two, such as in The United States: Its Past, Purpose, and Promise (1988):

On October 12, 1492, Columbus landed on an island in the Caribbean Sea, off the coast of North America. He named the island San Salvador. Columbus thought he had discovered an island in the Indies. So he called the people he found there "Indians." But he had actually discovered America-by accident. (9)

One account in an older textbook, Living in the United States (1966), is quite belittling: "The Spaniards looked for a King. They found only brown natives in crude huts" (46). However, most of the older textbooks simply do not mention first contact with the Indians.

This standard coverage of first contact is not unique to older textbooks, but also is typical of currently used textbooks. This is the account in America: Yesterday and Today (1991):

By October 12, 1492, after two months at sea, Columbus's crew was ready to turn back. Land was discovered just in time. Columbus and his crew landed on an island. Historians are not sure whether the island was San Salvador, Samana Cay, or another island in the Bahamas-islands that are part of the West Indies. Confident that he was in the Indies, Columbus called the people he met Indians. (76-77)

Indians, in connection with Columbus, are only mentioned one more time in the chapter:

On every trip Columbus thought he was visiting Asia. He still hoped to return to Spain with a shipload of gold, silk, and spices. Instead he returned with Indians he had taken as slaves, new kinds of animals and birds, and tobacco, which was unknown in Europe at the time. (78)

The problem with omitting the contact between Columbus and the Indians lies in the fact that accounts of Indian violence against the Europeans are not omitted. The textbooks have no problem portraying Indian attacks upon the Europeans. Throughout the descriptions of early colonization in the Americas we see negative reference to the Indians, such as in Exploring Our Country: "The Indians were not friendly. . . " (44); "The Indians would not let them settle" (44); "often they were led the wrong way by their Indian guides" (44); ". . . a fort for protection against the Indians" (72); "On one of these trading expeditions the Indians attacked the party and killed all but Smith" (72); ". . . the Indians attacked the settlement" (73). This is not to say that Indians did not attack the colonists at times, for they did. However, when descriptions of the first contacts, in which the Europeans treated the Indians with the utmost cruelty, are left out, the student does not understand the actions of the Indians during later contact with the colonists. The textbooks make it appear as if the Indians were inherently violent. This pattern is prevalent throughout all the textbooks, old and new.

Several of the older textbooks, in addition to omitting accurate portrayals of first contact, take it upon themselves to answer the question of why we celebrate Columbus Day before the children have a chance to ask it. In Exploring Our Country, the authors cite Columbus' determination in their answer, in addition to the fact that he "discovered" America:

What is our reason for honoring Columbus? Is it because he discovered America? Or do we also honor him because he was a man with a great idea, who refused to give up when others said, "No, it can't be done!" What do you think? (35)

In Liberty and Union, the authors focus more on the consequences of his voyage:

Why do we honor Columbus? As you already know, Columbus was not the first European to reach the Americas. He had not discovered a westward route to the riches of the East nor had he reached the shores of Asia. But to use the words of a distinguished historian, he "was the first effective discoverer of America for Europe, because he was the first to do anything with it. . . " Columbus commanded an expedition that not only reached islands in the Caribbean but returned to Spain. The report of what he had found caused Spain to send more ships and more men to the New World. (27)

Only a Eurocentric version of history could view this as a cause for celebration. The people that the Spanish sent back to the Americas on those ships were warriors of the nation which had just devoted several hundred years to religious warfare. In the world that Columbus left:

Those out of favor with the powerful-particularly those who were believed to be un-Christian-were tortured and killed in the most ingenious of fashions: on the gallows, at the stake, on the rack-while others were crushed, beheaded, flayed alive, or drawn and quartered. (Stannard 62)

Now that the Crusades had come to an end in Europe, the soldiers were anxious to find new territory in which to spread their religion. When these soldiers reached the Americas, the Indians took the place of the Muslims and Jews. Bartolomé de Las Casas, the priest who is known as "defender of the Indians" and documented much Spanish cruelty, records an incident he witnessed:

The Spaniards found pleasure in inventing all kinds of odd cruelties, the more cruel the better, with which to spill human blood. They built a long gibbet, low enough for the toes to touch the ground and prevent strangling, and hanged thirteen [natives] at a time in honor of Christ Our Saviour and the twelve Apostles. When the Indians were thus still alive and hanging, the Spaniards tested their strength and their blades against them, ripping chests open with one blow and exposing entrails, and there were those who did worse. Then, straw was wrapped around their torn bodies and they were burned alive. One man caught two children about two years old, pierced their throats with a dagger, then hurled them down a precipice. (Las Casas 121)

Although we should not tell our young children these gruesome details, the point is that to the natives, the consequences of Columbus' reports back to Europe about his discovery were not a cause for celebration.

In addition to omitting accounts of Spanish cruelty, some of the older textbooks even suggest that the Spanish were the innocent ones, such as in Exploring Our Country:

We remember that Spain's first colony in the New World was started by Columbus on the island of Hispaniola. This first Spanish colony was not successful. Finally, the settlers decided they must look for a new location. . . . So a new location was found for the town. More colonists came over from Spain with more animals and supplies. Unfriendly Indians were killed or driven away. (43)

This account implies that the Spanish had to kill or expel the Indians because the Indians were unfriendly, not the other way around. There are no previous descriptions of Spanish cruelty to explain why the Indians the colonists encountered were unfriendly. Columbus encountered friendly Indians upon his first landing, but his consequent cruel treatment of these friendly Indians taught the Indians that being friendly to Europeans could be deadly.

The currently used textbooks hint at Spanish cruelty, but they are not much better than the older textbooks. Most of them do not mention Spanish cruelty in descriptions of the first contacts, except occasionally under sections covering Bartolomé de Las Casas. In America: Yesterday and Today the subject appears in a one-page biography on Las Casas:

Las Casas decided he would do all he could to help Indians still in slavery. He tried to convince other wealthy Spaniards in the New World that making slaves of the Indians was wrong. . . In 1515 Las Casas sailed to Spain to try to convince the king that it was wrong to enslave the Indians. The king of Spain listened to Las Casas and sent him to South America to try out his ideas. Las Casas taught the South American Indians Spanish ways but did not make them slaves. However, slave traders from nearby islands attacked the Indians and carried many away. As a result, the Indians distrusted all Europeans, including Las Casas. Several years later, Las Casas traveled to Central America. Again he tried to befriend the Indians and teach them his religion. This time he succeeded. The once war-like Indians became good friends of the Spanish. During the 1550s, Indian slavery was finally ended. In 1566, Las Casas died in peace at age 92, knowing he had succeeded in helping the Indians. (92)

And everyone lived happily ever after. At least that is what this section would make the reader believe, that Las Casas stopped all cruelty against the Indians. This is a pattern in many of the textbooks. In The United States: Its History and Neighbors, the account of Las Casas' efforts ends, "the king of Spain listened to Las Casas. In 1542 the king ruled that Indians could not be made slaves. In 1550 the king ordered that all conquests of Indian peoples be stopped" (148). That is how the section ends, as if conquests of the Indians actually did stop in the year 1550, when in fact they continued into modern times.

	Exploring Our Country	Living in the Americas	Living in the United States	Five Centuries in America	Liberty and Union	America! America!	The American People	America Past and Present	Our Country's History	The US: Its Past, Purpose and Promise
first sighting of land	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N
Royal standard	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N
contact with TaÍno Indians	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	N	Y	N	N
named "Indians"	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Columbus' slaves	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
slave trade	N	N	N	N	N	Y	N	N	N	N
hero's welcome	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	N	N	N
Isabela settlement	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Amerigo Vespucci	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Hernando Cortés	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Indian allies	N	N	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N
Tenochtitlán	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N
Quetzalcoatl	N	N	N	N	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N
Montezuma	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N
Ponce de León	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Francisco Pizarro	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N
Atahualpa	N	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N
Vasco Núñez de Balboa	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y
Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N
Ferdinand Magellan	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
John Cabot	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Giovanni da Verrazano	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y
Francisco Vazquez de Coronado	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Hernando de Soto	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Panfilo de Narvaez	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Estevancio	N	N	N	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	N
Jacques Cartier	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
Marquette & Joliet	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N
de La Salle	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y
Samuel Champlain	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
fur trade	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y
Henry Hudson	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Francisco Kino Eusebio	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Sir Francis Drake	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N
missionaries	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Bartolomé de Las Casas	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N
encomienda system	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N

Fig. 7

	America: Yesterday & Today	Exploring America's Heritage	The US: Past to Present	America Will Be	The US & Its Neighbors	The US: Its History & Neighbors	America: People & the Dream	The American Nation	A More Perfect Union	A History of US
first sighting of land	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Royal standard	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y
contact with TaÍno Indians	N	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y
named "Indians"	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Columbus' slaves	N	N	N	Y	N	N	N	N	N	Y
slave trade	Y	N	N	N	N	N	Y	N	N	Y
hero's welcome	N	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	N	N	Y
Isabela settlement	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	N	Y
Amerigo Vespucci	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y
Hernando Cortés	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Indian allies	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y
Tenochtitlán	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y
Quetzalcoatl	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y
Montezuma	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Ponce de León	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Francisco Pizarro	N	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Atahualpa	N	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Vasco Núñez de Balboa	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y
Ferdinand Magellan	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y
John Cabot	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Giovanni da Verrazano	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Francisco Vazquez de Coronado	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y
Hernando de Soto	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Panfilo de Narvaez	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	Y	N	Y
Estevancio	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	N	N
Jacques Cartier	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Marquette & Joliet	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
de La Salle	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y
Samuel Champlain	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N
fur trade	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Henry Hudson	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Francisco Kino Eusebio	N	N	N	N	N	N	Y	Y	N	Y
Sir Francis Drake	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y
missionaries	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Bartolomé de Las Casas	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y
encomienda system	N	N	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	N	N

Fig. 8

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