at Columbus was not the wonderful hero American schoolchildren are taught to believe he was.
What is also true is that Columbus took hundreds of Indians slaves and sent them back to Spain, where most of them were sold and subsequently died. What is also true is that in his quest for gold Columbus had the hands cut off any Indian who did not return with his or her quota. And what is also true is that on one island alone, Hispaniola, an entire race of people was wiped off the face of the earth in a mere forty years of Spanish administration (Bigelow 255).
Columbus and his fellow Europeans "discovered" the land and acted as if they owned what they discovered and could do whatever they wanted to do with it. They believed that they were superior to the "Indians," that their religion was superior, that their civilization was superior, and so they had the God-given right to do whatever they wanted with the people, with the land, and with
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