Sunday, September 24, 2006
Columbus
One of the great examples of historical propaganda is Christopher Columbus. The often-told hero-story of Columbus is one of my pet peeves. I'm always surprised at how tenaciously people cling to the Columbus myths. I've had people get downright mad at me for debunking the Columbus story.
The conventional story of Columbus portrays him as a visionary who courageously stood up to the forces of ignorance. The traditional telling of the story usually involves either the Spanish royals and/or the crew believing the world is flat and therefore scoffing at Columbus's plan to sail the opposite direction around the world to India. The whole thing is delivered as a moral tale about believing in yourself even if everyone else thinks you are wrong.
As nice as the moral lesson is, the real story of Columbus is rather different. For starters (and I can't believe how difficult it is to convince people of this), people in the 15th century did not believe the world is flat. Few people in human history have ever believed that. The medieval symbol of royal power was the globe, which explicitly symbolized the world. Seafarers in particular have never believed the world is flat, because when you see a ship come over the horizon, you see the mast first and then the rest of the ship rises into view, which is obviously due to the fact that the Earth is curved.
So why did poor old Columbus have such a hard time convincing the Spanish court of his plan to sail the other direction to India? It had nothing to do with shape and everything to do with size. The Greek mathematician Eratosthenes in the 3rd Century BC had ACCURATELY calculated the circumference of the Earth. Let me say that again: ACCURATELY. Other mathematicians after him had confirmed the ACCURACY of his calculations. In Columbus's time, the Vatican had officially endorsed these ACCURATE calculations of the Earth's size and everyone in nautical circles accepted them.
...Everyone, that is, except Christopher Columbus, who believed in a bunch of conspiracy-theory, wingnut calculations that FALSELY showed the Earth to be 40 per cent smaller than it ACTUALLY is.
So, put yourself in the headspace of the Spaniards, who knew the true size of the Earth, as they listened to Columbus's pitch. Imagine the globe if the Americas weren't there (since no one, especially Columbus, knew they were). Imagine sailing a rickety wooden boat from Spain non-stop across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans to India with nowhere inbetween to stop for supplies. Would you invest money in a scheme like that? Would you risk your life to slow starvation by signing up as a crew member on an expedition like that? Not bloody likely.
If things had gone exactly as Columbus had planned them, there is no doubt he would have died at sea. Lucky for him, he bumped into a continent he didn't know was there before he could starve to death.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the real story of Columbus. It is not a story of an enlightened visionary standing up against the ignorant masses. It is a story of an ignorant loon standing up to the well-informed masses.
The great moral lessons of the Columbus story are that sometimes sheer dumb luck will win out over the best information in the world and sometimes the greatest discoveries come to us from total lunatics.
posted by The Propagandist @ 3:26 PM,
8 Comments:
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At 1:06 PM,
Bathroom Hippo said...
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10 years ago I was taught Columbus was a genius. Now in college I am taught he was a filthy murderer.
Personally I think he was just an explorer who accidentally found some land, and didn't have tight control on his little army.
End of story.
I don't glorify him, and I don't demonize him. -
At 3:43 PM,
FiL said...
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My favourite Columbus story? Back in 2005 on a trip to Athens I listened for half an hour while a taxi driver constructed an elaborate but incomprehensible argument that Columbus was actually Greek.
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At 4:06 PM,
The Propagandist said...
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Hippo - yes, I've never bought into the politically correct "Columbus was a murderer" story either. Yet another example of propaganda designed to suit modern political purposes, not historical accuracy.
FiL - wow, right outta "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", eh? -
At 8:43 PM,
FiL said...
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Hmm, must admit I get a wee bit antsy when the phrase "historical accuracy" is deployed...
What tends to happen, I find, is that at different times historians emphasize different aspects, sometimes due to ideological reasons, sometimes to enhance personal reputation, and sometimes just to bring up a heretofore unconsidered angle.
Though I'm no Columbus expert, the documentary record does seem to show his governorship of the Indies was harsh and brutal. That should be recognized, as should other facets of the man and his actions. Murderer or genius? Probably both. But he was Greek for sure... ;) -
At 9:42 AM,
FiL said...
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BH, agreed- the label "murderer" is extreme, as is that of "genius." But there's an argument that in fact his illness led him to take some unpleseant decisions, e.g. enslaving a thousand Indians & sending them off to Spain. Then again, his successor as governor, Bobadilla, wasn't exactly sweetness & light...
And shouldn't that be Genoa Rules (if you believe that version or Athens Rules (if you subscribe to that view??) Tee hee... ;-) -
At 10:37 AM,
The Propagandist said...
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FiL - you are right that "historical accuracy" is a foolhardy term (my bad). History, like memory, is constantly subject to reinterpretation. As you say, history is especially prone to ideology.
I think this is what annoys me most about the Columbus story. The legend as we know it today was actually created by Washington Irving in 1828 as an explicit effort to create a foundational legend for the United States. He was set up to be an American equivalent to Romulus and Remus in ancient Rome.
The effectiveness of this campaign can be clearly seen in the violent reaction by many Americans to any effort to add depth or analysis to the historical background of Columbus and his times.
This is the aspect of human nature - both individual and collective - that both fascinates and horrifies me: our ability to fabricate stories and pretend they are true even when we know they are not. -
At 9:13 PM,
said...
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I am in love with Columbus
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At 5:34 AM,
Liam O'Brien said...
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I always got a kick out of all the yanks going on about how Columbus "discovered America." He was beaten by centuries or by Bjarni Herjólfsson c. 986AD and Leif Eiriksson c. 1000AD.
The Norse were beaten by thousands of years by the first nations. There may even have been a few other visitors in the time in between.
