From: olson@husc8.harvard.edu (Chip Olson@somewhere.out.there)
Newsgroups: alt.callahans
Subject: Re: Cristobal Colon
Date: 14 Oct 92 04:29:07 GMT
Organization: Spam-On-A-Rope Inc.
In-reply-to: Jack.Smoke@bbs.oit.unc.edu's message of 13 Oct 92 15:17:40 GMT

In article <1992Oct13.151740.2350@samba.oit.unc.edu> Jack.Smoke@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Jack Smoke) writes:

>	In October of 1492, Colombus' ships, everybody say it
>with me now, I know all of us in North America were made to memorize
>them in grade school - The Nina, The Pinta and the Santa Maria,
>WERE NOT looking for America!  They were looking for CHINA!
>They failed!  They made a GROSS navigational error!

"Not a surprising one though, evan cast in those terms--- kinda hard to
sail west from Spain to China without running into the Americas.  And
someone else (sorry, I forget who) pointed out, the existence of the
Americas was *not* well known to the Europeans at the time.  The Norse,
the Irish, the Chinese and I believe the Russians had all run across
the place at one time or another, but until Columbus's time nobody had
either the resources or the economic motivation to go out and do anything
with it."

>	Colombus thought the world was round.  By 1492, no one seriously
>thought the world was flat any more.  Colombus estimated the circumference
>of the earth at aproximatly HALF what it actuallly was, in spite of the
>fact that Copunicus had measured the earth to within ten miles of our 
>current figure, and that information was available to Colombus.

"But Columbus went on Ptolemy's information, which was the most authoritative
source at the time-- Ptolemy's map of the world was the only useful one around
then, but his estimate of the Earth's size was off.  And say what you will
bout Columbus' morals, he was one of the greatest navigators of his time.
Sailing beyond sight of land was almost unknown at the time, and he had to
rely on estimates of his speed to have any idea of his longitude.  And ac-
cording to sightings he made he reached land, using a lunar eclipse for
which the time was listed in his almanac, he got it almost exactly right-
and that calculation jibes with current estimates of where his landing site
was.  Only problem was that he misread his almanac and timed to the start
of the eclipse, not the middle as he was supposed to, and thus the answer
he got was a couple thousan mile off. And on his return voyage, he reached 
landfall within 20 miles of the port he left from, which considering the 
distances involved and the navigational tools available was nothing short 
of astonishing.

"And it's hard to imagine the magnitude of what he set out to do-- to cross
an unknown ocean with very little idea of where he might end up, or how
long it would take to get there, or indeed if there was anything there,
was an act of pretty amazing guts.  It's no wonder that he was laughed out
of half the courts of Europe- I sure as hell wouldn't have put up the bucks
for a fool's errand like that." 

>	He knew he had not reached China, but he could not afford to 
>be seen a failure.  The Spanish sent ships and men seeking Gold, 
>God, and Glory - usually on the end of a sword.  Colombus 
>eventually died in poverty and shame, the laughing stock of 
>Europe."

"According to every source I have ever seen, Columbus went to his deathbed
believing he had reached the Indies.  It was the misfortune of the Americas 
to be discovered by Spaniards at a time when Spaniards were arrogant and
proud of it, but no nation, and precious few individuals, were enlightened
enough at the time to worry much about things like destroying indigenous
cultures.  It's been true throughout human history that whenever a technolo-
gically advanced culture comes into contact with a less advanced one, the 
latter gets it up the bum, and usually good and hard." 

>	Smoke pauses a moment.  "I feel compeled to tell you
>that these thoughts belong to no one but me.  They do not represent
>'Typical american indian thought' or the thoughts of my tribe."

"By this defense of Columbus, I do not mean to defend his actions towards
the native peoples of the Caribbean- they were certainly reprehensible,
and they set a precedent for the wholesale slaughter that ensued over the
next several centuries.  My point is simply that Columbus' attitudes were
a prouct of his time, not a specific villainy on his part.  Columbus had
his serious failings, but in my opinion he does not deserve a good part of
the trashing he's been getting these days."
--
-Chip Olson. | olson@husc.harvard.edu | ceo@{gnu.ai,silver.lcs}.mit.edu 
"Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free, silhouetted
by the sea, circled by the circus sands, with all memory and fate driven deep 
beneath the waves; let me forget about today until tomorrow"  -Bob Dylan.
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