After just two classes of U.S History, I've already gotten about 100 pages to
read, about 40 pages are from the book called "Lies My Teacher Told
Me", and about 60 pages are assigned from the textbook. After reading how
Columbus and rest of the Spaniards did to the Indians (forcing them to convert
to Christianity, enslaved the Indians, the way they treated Indian women [sex
slaves] ) and the fact that Columbus's voyage was not the first but the last
"discovery" of the Americas, and most important, Columbus's purpose
from the beginning was not to explore or trade, but conquest and exploitation.
should this day really be celebrated? Columbus, who claimed everything he saw
right off the boat?
P.S: The book is fascinating, I was shocked by many of facts that the author
had mentioned.
Well you are part of the society that profited from that. Also, I'm selfish in
that I don't want to loose a day off of work. Half of my ancestors were native
americans, but I don't harbor any ill will. Anglo saxons have done this
wherever they have went. How do you think a people from a tiny island off the
coast of europe colonized half the planet. You don't get into that position by
being nice. When we first got to Hawaii, we introduced diseases that dropped
the population from over a million to less than two hundred thousand. We also
forced our religion onto them. There is nothing you can do to make up for it,
and you or I didn't do it. The actual truths about our history are really
interesting. Unfortunately, they are covering up (aka spinning) things even
now. What are you supposed to do about it?
My subjective opinion is that Columbus should never have been celebrated into
holiday. Like you said, his exploration was not that for the advancement of
science but for conquer and exploitation.
The problem is I don't think most people care about that but that they can take
day off on Columbus Day.
Tyranny has always been the custom of America, why not celebrate the founding of
a country that took indian land and claimed it as own? I don't celebrate much
any more, nor have I celebrated Columbus day ever, but at least there is a day
that remembers the horrors America committed and recorded in history. I'm still
finding old books with "nigger" in them at my local junior college's
library that we as a community of students share amongst each other. A lot of
history has been whitewashed, only a handful of books actually describe every
detail without regard for censorship.
His "rediscovery" of the Americas should be celebrated for the way in
which it changed the course of human events. Though the Vikings were the first
to land in Nova Scotia around the year 1000, and some even suggest that the
Chinese were the first to reach the Americas, none of them had the transforming
impact upon the human way of life across the world that Columbus's voyages did.
Regardless of his intentions, the results was the opening of two vast new
continents to a Europe that was at the juncture of a technological and social
revolution. e.g the Renaissance. The critical time in which Columbus's voyage
took place allowed it to provide the impetus for greater advances from Europe to
be exported around the world.
The most important impact was the colonization of the Americas by Europe. It was
this fact in which Columbus's voyage transformed the world. Once the age of the
conquistadors passed to the age of sustained colonialism, the Americas fueled
much of the developments of European history, from the development of new
economies based on new resources found in the Americas to escalating rivalries
among European states due to colonial tensions. Colonialism in the Americas also
helped to develop European domination of Africa with the need for slaves.
Colonies helped European states solidify even more into nation states, which in
turn helped fuel European events and conflicts even after the age of colonialism
ended. European history changed course after Columbus in ways they would not
have if he had not stumbled upon these road blocks on the way to Asia.
Columbus should be remembered not for what he himself did - they were not very
enlightened, to be sure - but for what Europe did as a result of his
voyages.
Edit: the holiday should thus be something like "Columbus's voyaged changed
the world day"
I know we can't change history, but at least let us know the facts. textbooks
omit so much facts, it's ridiculous. Like Helen Keller being a socialist, our
president Woodrow Wilson (three words to describe this dude - racists,
anticommunism and anti-classless political system), and also did you know that
U.S invaded Russia? I go to school to learn, but now I feel like I'm being
fooled and also loosing respect for so many "heroes" of the U.S.
Quote by muyojoeWell you are part of the
society that profited from that. Also, I'm selfish in that I don't want to
loose a day off of work. Half of my ancestors were native americans, but I
don't harbor any ill will. Anglo saxons have done this wherever they have went.
How do you think a people from a tiny island off the coast of europe colonized
half the planet. You don't get into that position by being nice. When we first
got to Hawaii, we introduced diseases that dropped the population from over a
million to less than two hundred thousand. We also forced our religion onto
them. There is nothing you can do to make up for it, and you or I didn't do it.
The actual truths about our history are really interesting. Unfortunately,
they are covering up (aka spinning) things even now. What are you supposed to
do about it?
I wrote it, but it is a bunch of bull. I've been outside working, and this is
bugging me. Part of what I said is true, but part isn't. It is true that none
of us did this, and that anything you do won't make it up to those that were
victimized. The one thing that can be done, is that they could teach the truth
in schools. The fact that the truth isn't taught is enough to say that people
are still being victimized by these things. "Whitewashing" the facts
(an amusing term to use) is dishonest and dishonesty prevents us all from
carrying on and healing racial and social divisions in our country. (Thanks for
letting me vent.)
We celebrate/acknowledge a lot of things that were formed on blood. We certainly
didn't just ask Britain to leave us alone one day and they obliged. Our country
is what it is because we fought for it.
Concerning Columbus, I don't think we should celebrate Columbus Day. Columbus
wasn't the original founder of America, and it's misleading to many youngsters
-- and adults -- who don't know better. This, above everything else, should be
why we don't celebrate it.
Okay, I think a lot of people here have some serious misconceptions about
Christopher Columbus. As part of my ancient literature studies, I've read his
journals. Actually, Columbus was very respectful of other races and customs, and
, believe me, his mission was one of exlporation, not conquest. He wanted to
protect the new land he had found. His men mutinied against him, and ended up
wrecking everything. If you read his journal, the last entry is something like,
"It's all gotten out of my hands. The men have ruined something beautiful
and pure and I am not strong enough to stop them. I never meant for this to
happen. May they forgive me. May God forgive me."
It's a modern fad in history to hate on Columbus, but people that have actually
researched him can tell you the truth. After having read his journals, I can
tell you that, yes, the man deserves his own holiday. I used to hate him. I now
consider him one of my heroes.
October 13, 1492
(first part was his initial impression of the Arawaks) then he moves on to
"I was very attentive to them, and strove to learn if they had any gold.
Seeing some of them with little bits of metal hanging at their noses, I gathered
from them by signs that by going southward or steering round the island in that
direction, there would be found a king who possessed great cups full of
gold." and he ended with "I could conquer the whole of them with
fifty men and govern them as I pleased."
Yes, I have indeed read that part. I've read the whole thing. Quite
contradictory quotes indeed, don't you think? Oh, wait. He said, "I
could". Last time I checked, that's not the same thing as "I
should" or "I will". I often have thoughts like this. "I
could steal everything in that store and get away scot free." "Man, I
bet I could kick that kid's ass before he even knows what's going on."
"My rent would get paid a lot easier if I broke into that atm." I
write some of them in my journal. I don't act on them. That's what defines us as
human and moral creatures...the ability to differentiate between thought and
deed, and think before we act.
Quote by SketchDR10I know we can't
change history, but at least let us know the facts.
textbooks omit so much facts, it's ridiculous. Like Helen Keller being
a socialist, our president Woodrow Wilson (three words to describe this
dude - racists, anticommunism and anti-classless political system), and
also did you know that U.S invaded Russia? I go to school to learn, but
now I feel like I'm being fooled and also loosing respect for so many
"heroes" of the U.S.
Woodrow Wilson discussions Please bring forth the quote, remember that the time
has changed, a lot of words which are appropriate then, such as the word
"nigger", is not so politically correct now.
anti-communism? heck, is that wrong?
anti-classless society? is that wrong?
And when did US invade Russia besides the argument about Alaska
Please dont take it personally, but the history is written by the victors.
Woodrow Wilson is the MOST racist president of the U.S in the last 100 years.
You seem really interested, or rather surprised, why don't you get the book and
read it. The book had received: Winner of the 1996 American Book Award, the
Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship, and AESA
Critics Choice Award. Quite reliable don't you think?
The part about Russia, they did invaded some parts but got kicked out by
Russians. The textbooks didn't mention it, because the U.S didn't succeed the
invasion.
o lol
how am I surprised, you see, why dont you just bring a quote from woodrow wilson
that exemplify his racist ideas and explain why and in what way are they racist.
Remember the segregation did not become illegal till Brown vs Board of
Education, so it is PERFECTLY OKAY for him to segregate people based on color.
The military did it during the second world war, would you say that Eisenhower
is a racist too?
And how ironic, the book wins the the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for
Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship, that is just a little too much, right?,
dont you think so
I am aware of the issue about woodrow wilson, I just dont think it is
racism
You see, people get so sensitive about this issue that almost anything bad is a
racist comment,
Do I need quotes? Wilson has been president of Princeton, the only major
northern university that refused to admit blacks. his administration submitted
a legislative program intended to limit the civil rights of African American,
but Congress would not pass it. He appointed southern whites to offices
traditionally reserved for blacks, he effectively closed the Democratic Party to
African Americans for another two decades, he ordered that white and black
workers in federal government jobs be segregated from one another, black federal
employees in Southern cities protested the order, Mr. Wilson had them fired. He
also vetoed a biil that would have abolished the Espionage and Sedition acts,
and personally vetoed a clause on racial equality.
Quote: The part about Russia, they
did invaded some parts but got kicked out by Russians. The textbooks didn't
mention it, because the U.S didn't succeed the
invasion.
When exactly was that? And exactly where would that "some parts" be?
Please enlighten us, as this would be part of the largest "cover up"
ever by both the Russian and the American
governments.
You'd think that the Russians would gloat with "we kicked the Americans'
butt."
Again, you are missing the point
Segregation is legal at that time, so there is nothing wrong with segregating
people with colors.
Quote by youHe appointed southern whites to
offices traditionally reserved for blacks
now if an office is reserved for blacks, that is illegal, right, that is called
affirmative action which should be abolished. No office is reserved for one
color
Quote by youHe also vetoed a biil that would
have abolished the Espionage and Sedition acts, and personally vetoed a clause
on racial equality.
You people are killing me, you think I'm the one who wrote the book here? All I
asked was whether or not Columbus Day should be celebrated. I withdraw, what do
I know anyway, it's all from the book I read about over the past two days. I
really didn't mean to start all this...
Okay, so I found this thing online regarding this book. I will assume that
everything in the questions in the following is part of the book, which the
author argues has been left out of the American classroom:
Quote: But shouldn’t
students learn all aspects of our history? Instead of being spared the
unpleasantness of racial violence, shouldn’t they learn that over a
three-year period in the 1860s, an average of one African-American per day was
murdered in Hinds County, Mississippi? Shouldn’t American students learn
that president Woodrow Wilson was a vicious racist and that the Federal
government, which was integrated when he took over, had been purged of African
Americans by the time he left office? Shouldn’t they learn about the
government’s kidnapping and deportation of thousands of
Mexican-Americans – including many who had been born in the United
States – in the 1930s? Shouldn’t they learn about the
concentration camps in which Japanese Americans were confined during World War
II? Shouldn’t they learn about Paul Robeson, perhaps the most talented
performing artist in American history, whose acting and singing career was
prematurely ended by McCarthyism? Shouldn’t they learn that
America’s foreign policy during the 20th century consisted of violently
overthrowing the government of any country that refused to bow to U.S. corporate
interests? Shouldn’t they learn that the CIA, acting on behalf of the
United Fruit Company, hunted down and murdered one of the century’s most
important revolutionaries, Che Guevara, in 1967?
Well, so I guess I went to some weird school, because I learned all of that 2
years ago.
it is okay
however I should say that I do not understand how you come to the conclusion
about woodrow wilson being anticommunist, and why is that wrong? Dont you think
the downfall of USSR tell you anything?
also why is against classless society wrong? It is good that we have different
classes based on your economic status, while politically everyone is about the
same.
And also you should be aware that be careful about where you pick your sources
from, I would imagine I could write a book bashing white people, and I would
probably win a scholarship here and there, and Jesse Jackson would heil me as
god. but do you think my book really has any credibility?
Well think about this, if a white person goes on a killing rampage of black
people, he would be labeled as KKK or something, racist. If a black person goes
on a killing rampage of white people, what would the society label him? probably
just a drunk psycho. You see, there are more instances of racisms towards white
than there is towards black. You will understand what I mean when you are in
college, note the funding a black organzation would get, as opposed to an
organization made up by white people, (they would be labeled as racist)
Example, Michigan U affirmative action case, a group which is for the
abolishment of affirmative action did not get any funding from the university,
their requests for posting their opinions on the Michigan U newspaper are always
rejected, while the groups that are for affirmative action got lots of Michigan
U funding and always have a voice on the newspaper. WHY?
It is okay for black people to form groups that are blacks only, however it is
not the case for white people, or they would be called racist
You will see instances like these across all college campuses and when you apply
to college, if you are asian, such as me as opposed to if you are a black
student. You would realize the preferential treatment they got
simply put im not a scholar or anything but i dont celebrate a day of somones
demise. if we celebrate that lety celebrate when hitler started the war, or when
slave were first lead to this country. americans celebrate all the wrong thinks
because our forfathers liked that stuff. but as we grow older as a country lies
will be revealed that all this men were not as good as they are patrayed in our
books. like i said im not a scholar but i do know right from wrong. no calombus
day for me. sorry MAdlion
After just two classes of U.S History, I've already gotten about 100 pages to read, about 40 pages are from the book called "Lies My Teacher Told Me", and about 60 pages are assigned from the textbook. After reading how Columbus and rest of the Spaniards did to the Indians (forcing them to convert to Christianity, enslaved the Indians, the way they treated Indian women [sex slaves] ) and the fact that Columbus's voyage was not the first but the last "discovery" of the Americas, and most important, Columbus's purpose from the beginning was not to explore or trade, but conquest and exploitation. should this day really be celebrated? Columbus, who claimed everything he saw right off the boat?
P.S: The book is fascinating, I was shocked by many of facts that the author had mentioned.
Well you are part of the society that profited from that. Also, I'm selfish in that I don't want to loose a day off of work. Half of my ancestors were native americans, but I don't harbor any ill will. Anglo saxons have done this wherever they have went. How do you think a people from a tiny island off the coast of europe colonized half the planet. You don't get into that position by being nice. When we first got to Hawaii, we introduced diseases that dropped the population from over a million to less than two hundred thousand. We also forced our religion onto them. There is nothing you can do to make up for it, and you or I didn't do it. The actual truths about our history are really interesting. Unfortunately, they are covering up (aka spinning) things even now. What are you supposed to do about it?
My subjective opinion is that Columbus should never have been celebrated into holiday. Like you said, his exploration was not that for the advancement of science but for conquer and exploitation.
The problem is I don't think most people care about that but that they can take day off on Columbus Day.
Tyranny has always been the custom of America, why not celebrate the founding of a country that took indian land and claimed it as own? I don't celebrate much any more, nor have I celebrated Columbus day ever, but at least there is a day that remembers the horrors America committed and recorded in history. I'm still finding old books with "nigger" in them at my local junior college's library that we as a community of students share amongst each other. A lot of history has been whitewashed, only a handful of books actually describe every detail without regard for censorship.
His "rediscovery" of the Americas should be celebrated for the way in which it changed the course of human events. Though the Vikings were the first to land in Nova Scotia around the year 1000, and some even suggest that the Chinese were the first to reach the Americas, none of them had the transforming impact upon the human way of life across the world that Columbus's voyages did. Regardless of his intentions, the results was the opening of two vast new continents to a Europe that was at the juncture of a technological and social revolution. e.g the Renaissance. The critical time in which Columbus's voyage took place allowed it to provide the impetus for greater advances from Europe to be exported around the world.
The most important impact was the colonization of the Americas by Europe. It was this fact in which Columbus's voyage transformed the world. Once the age of the conquistadors passed to the age of sustained colonialism, the Americas fueled much of the developments of European history, from the development of new economies based on new resources found in the Americas to escalating rivalries among European states due to colonial tensions. Colonialism in the Americas also helped to develop European domination of Africa with the need for slaves. Colonies helped European states solidify even more into nation states, which in turn helped fuel European events and conflicts even after the age of colonialism ended. European history changed course after Columbus in ways they would not have if he had not stumbled upon these road blocks on the way to Asia.
Columbus should be remembered not for what he himself did - they were not very enlightened, to be sure - but for what Europe did as a result of his voyages.
Edit: the holiday should thus be something like "Columbus's voyaged changed the world day"
I know we can't change history, but at least let us know the facts. textbooks omit so much facts, it's ridiculous. Like Helen Keller being a socialist, our president Woodrow Wilson (three words to describe this dude - racists, anticommunism and anti-classless political system), and also did you know that U.S invaded Russia? I go to school to learn, but now I feel like I'm being fooled and also loosing respect for so many "heroes" of the U.S.
I just gota say yess because it means another day off from school.
I wrote it, but it is a bunch of bull. I've been outside working, and this is bugging me. Part of what I said is true, but part isn't. It is true that none of us did this, and that anything you do won't make it up to those that were victimized. The one thing that can be done, is that they could teach the truth in schools. The fact that the truth isn't taught is enough to say that people are still being victimized by these things. "Whitewashing" the facts (an amusing term to use) is dishonest and dishonesty prevents us all from carrying on and healing racial and social divisions in our country. (Thanks for letting me vent.)
We celebrate/acknowledge a lot of things that were formed on blood. We certainly didn't just ask Britain to leave us alone one day and they obliged. Our country is what it is because we fought for it.
Concerning Columbus, I don't think we should celebrate Columbus Day. Columbus wasn't the original founder of America, and it's misleading to many youngsters -- and adults -- who don't know better. This, above everything else, should be why we don't celebrate it.
Okay, I think a lot of people here have some serious misconceptions about Christopher Columbus. As part of my ancient literature studies, I've read his journals. Actually, Columbus was very respectful of other races and customs, and , believe me, his mission was one of exlporation, not conquest. He wanted to protect the new land he had found. His men mutinied against him, and ended up wrecking everything. If you read his journal, the last entry is something like, "It's all gotten out of my hands. The men have ruined something beautiful and pure and I am not strong enough to stop them. I never meant for this to happen. May they forgive me. May God forgive me."
It's a modern fad in history to hate on Columbus, but people that have actually researched him can tell you the truth. After having read his journals, I can tell you that, yes, the man deserves his own holiday. I used to hate him. I now consider him one of my heroes.
from his journal? Then I'm sure you've read this
October 13, 1492
(first part was his initial impression of the Arawaks) then he moves on to "I was very attentive to them, and strove to learn if they had any gold. Seeing some of them with little bits of metal hanging at their noses, I gathered from them by signs that by going southward or steering round the island in that direction, there would be found a king who possessed great cups full of gold." and he ended with "I could conquer the whole of them with fifty men and govern them as I pleased."
Yes, I have indeed read that part. I've read the whole thing. Quite contradictory quotes indeed, don't you think? Oh, wait. He said, "I could". Last time I checked, that's not the same thing as "I should" or "I will". I often have thoughts like this. "I could steal everything in that store and get away scot free." "Man, I bet I could kick that kid's ass before he even knows what's going on." "My rent would get paid a lot easier if I broke into that atm." I write some of them in my journal. I don't act on them. That's what defines us as human and moral creatures...the ability to differentiate between thought and deed, and think before we act.
Woodrow Wilson discussions Please bring forth the quote, remember that the time has changed, a lot of words which are appropriate then, such as the word "nigger", is not so politically correct now.
anti-communism? heck, is that wrong?
anti-classless society? is that wrong?
And when did US invade Russia besides the argument about Alaska
Please dont take it personally, but the history is written by the victors.
Woodrow Wilson is the MOST racist president of the U.S in the last 100 years. You seem really interested, or rather surprised, why don't you get the book and read it. The book had received: Winner of the 1996 American Book Award, the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship, and AESA Critics Choice Award. Quite reliable don't you think?
The part about Russia, they did invaded some parts but got kicked out by Russians. The textbooks didn't mention it, because the U.S didn't succeed the invasion.
o lol
how am I surprised, you see, why dont you just bring a quote from woodrow wilson that exemplify his racist ideas and explain why and in what way are they racist. Remember the segregation did not become illegal till Brown vs Board of Education, so it is PERFECTLY OKAY for him to segregate people based on color. The military did it during the second world war, would you say that Eisenhower is a racist too?
And how ironic, the book wins the the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship, that is just a little too much, right?, dont you think so
I am aware of the issue about woodrow wilson, I just dont think it is racism
You see, people get so sensitive about this issue that almost anything bad is a racist comment,
Do I need quotes? Wilson has been president of Princeton, the only major northern university that refused to admit blacks. his administration submitted a legislative program intended to limit the civil rights of African American, but Congress would not pass it. He appointed southern whites to offices traditionally reserved for blacks, he effectively closed the Democratic Party to African Americans for another two decades, he ordered that white and black workers in federal government jobs be segregated from one another, black federal employees in Southern cities protested the order, Mr. Wilson had them fired. He also vetoed a biil that would have abolished the Espionage and Sedition acts, and personally vetoed a clause on racial equality.
this is totally off topic...
When exactly was that? And exactly where would that "some parts" be? Please enlighten us, as this would be part of the largest "cover up" ever by both the Russian and the American governments.
You'd think that the Russians would gloat with "we kicked the Americans' butt."
Again, you are missing the point
Segregation is legal at that time, so there is nothing wrong with segregating people with colors.
now if an office is reserved for blacks, that is illegal, right, that is called affirmative action which should be abolished. No office is reserved for one color
So, that doesnt quite prove he is a racist right?
You people are killing me, you think I'm the one who wrote the book here? All I asked was whether or not Columbus Day should be celebrated. I withdraw, what do I know anyway, it's all from the book I read about over the past two days. I really didn't mean to start all this...
Okay, so I found this thing online regarding this book. I will assume that everything in the questions in the following is part of the book, which the author argues has been left out of the American classroom:
Well, so I guess I went to some weird school, because I learned all of that 2 years ago.
it is okay
however I should say that I do not understand how you come to the conclusion about woodrow wilson being anticommunist, and why is that wrong? Dont you think the downfall of USSR tell you anything?
also why is against classless society wrong? It is good that we have different classes based on your economic status, while politically everyone is about the same.
And also you should be aware that be careful about where you pick your sources from, I would imagine I could write a book bashing white people, and I would probably win a scholarship here and there, and Jesse Jackson would heil me as god. but do you think my book really has any credibility?
Well think about this, if a white person goes on a killing rampage of black people, he would be labeled as KKK or something, racist. If a black person goes on a killing rampage of white people, what would the society label him? probably just a drunk psycho. You see, there are more instances of racisms towards white than there is towards black. You will understand what I mean when you are in college, note the funding a black organzation would get, as opposed to an organization made up by white people, (they would be labeled as racist)
Example, Michigan U affirmative action case, a group which is for the abolishment of affirmative action did not get any funding from the university, their requests for posting their opinions on the Michigan U newspaper are always rejected, while the groups that are for affirmative action got lots of Michigan U funding and always have a voice on the newspaper. WHY?
It is okay for black people to form groups that are blacks only, however it is not the case for white people, or they would be called racist
You will see instances like these across all college campuses and when you apply to college, if you are asian, such as me as opposed to if you are a black student. You would realize the preferential treatment they got
^ I know what you mean, last year we kind of had a discussion about this stuff, then we even had a class debate, which didn't go so well.
simply put im not a scholar or anything but i dont celebrate a day of somones demise. if we celebrate that lety celebrate when hitler started the war, or when slave were first lead to this country. americans celebrate all the wrong thinks because our forfathers liked that stuff. but as we grow older as a country lies will be revealed that all this men were not as good as they are patrayed in our books. like i said im not a scholar but i do know right from wrong. no calombus day for me. sorry MAdlion