At the beginning of the year in one of our Social Studies classes, I posed a question about whether not Europeans study Christopher Columbus and if they do, what are they taught? Over the last few weeks I have had the opportunity to talk with some European natives from various countries, all of which confirmed the same thing. In Europe, educators teach Christopher Columbus like we do here. They learn the wonders of and glories of Christopher Columbus and his legend.
In some regards I'm surprised, but at the same time I'm not. I guess I assumed if anything there would be a switch in focus, but according to my informal research there isn't. Interesting!
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I am not surprised after hearing that the European natives that you spoke with were only taught about what you describe as "the wonders and glories of Christopher Columbus." Such an influential country as Spain in the fifteenth century would never want to lead others to believe that they had put their continued trust and funding into an unsuccessful (Columus never found a new route to India) and immoral (cruelty to the native people) undertaking. If I were European, I would simply write "discovered America" too! What great implications that has
I agree with what Beth said. I think that if any country was going to glorify Columbus it would be Europe. They would not want to admit that Columbus really did not succeed in his trip and on top of that he killed many of those who already lived here. As Beth said, having the title of "discovering America" is great for a country. I would think that if any country would tell the truth it would be the U.S. since it was the people who were here that were killed. As we all know however, this was not the case because the Europeans conquered the Native Americans and dominated the society.
I agree that it is not surprising that students in Europe would learn about Columbus in such a positive light. Columbus was a European, so they have probably always learned that he was a hero, making this trek across the world and really discovering new lands. The Europeans were credited with finding new lands, and I am sure they were very proud of their accomplishments, in their mind. I do wonder, though, if anyone in Europe, like here, is resisting teaching Columbus as this hero who discovered America. It seems more unlikely there, since that is where he came from, but I wonder if any teachers there are in controversy about what to teach to their students. I would be curious to find out if there are any teachers who are against teaching this so positively in their classrooms. I am sure they are also very "proud" of Columbus, and may not want to admit that there were already people there, but they do know this, so it would be interesting to find out if any teachers over there have anything different to say on this issue in the classrooms.
In response to Samantha - I believe that there are probably many European teachers facing the dilemma of what to teach their students about Columbus. Granted, they are speaking against a "great leader" who emerged from their continent, but I suppose it would be similar to American teachers saying, "Well wait, Lincoln 'freed' the slaves, but let's dig deeper and look where he really stood on the issue." (much like what we did in class with the quotes) Just because a country glorifies someone doesn't necessarily mean they automatically deserve the praise. Why does our country think this person is great? What did they really do? How did they impact people? Teachers everywhere should push their students for critical examination of history, rather than an egocentric, "our-country-rocks" approach.
I think that if anyone would glorify Christohper Columbus, it would be the Europeans. He did, after all, discovered that the world was not flat and that North America was between Europe and Asia. Columbus did a lot for Europe, and because the Native Americans were associated with the United States, it seems as if it is something that would be left out when teaching about Columbus.
Like everyone else I am not surprised to hear that Columbus is taught as the person who “discovered” America. He has done many great things for Europe it seems like they added this wrongful discovery to the list. I wouldn’t expect Europe to teach students the truth of Columbus after everything that I have learned. I would, however, expect the United States to stand up for its land and the first people to settle here. I wonder when the it was first taught or mentioned that Columbus did not discover American and that he and his followers mistreated the Native Americans and separated them from their land and tribal areas. I have discussed this with my parents and they have always learned the “amazing aspects” of Columbus. Not the negative side that is seems to be just coming out now. Is this truth just beginning to surface or has it been making its way into the schools slowly? Do you all think that Europe will eventually teach the truths about Columbus and the discovery of America?
I agree with Melissa completely. Columbus was seen a huge influence on European life and exploration. There would be no reason in European’s mind to not glorify him. Since there was not clear definition or what Columbus actually “did” with American…. Discover? Explore? Has always been associated with a positive outlook. Yet, teachers from around the world are obviously having the troubles teaching the “correct” information about this man. So what do we do now? Form a global correction to education on one specific historical event?
I was not surprised at all that Europeans are taught the same information about Columbus as Americans do. It would make sense that Europeans would want to talk about Columbus like he was a great explorer. If I was a European I would like to know Columbus was a great man who discovered a new country. It wouldn't sound good if I was an European and went around all proud that Columbus mistreated the Indians and was only after gold. I agree with Melissa when she says that the Europeans would glorify Columbus. As Americans we shouldn't glorify because of what he did to the Indians. I would be very shocked if any European teachers taught the truth about Columbus.
As everyone else has said, I am also not surprised to read this about Columbus. I think any country tries to glorify anything they do to make it sound better. If you look at our involvement in the middle east, many people there would like to see the Americans gone. We, just like Columbus, were not invited. We say we are "liberating" Iraq, but it seems to me that we are just meddling in their business just like Columbus did to the natives. I guess there are always two versions of every story, and the glorified version just happens to be the one that is always heard.
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