Leftist lies to the contrary notwithstanding, Columbus was a great explorer who heralded the Age of Discovery, the rise of Western Civilization, and the birth of America.
Columbus Day (today) is still a federal holiday. Yet, few Americans understand why we honor Christopher Columbus.
Moreover, to the extent people are familiar with the great Italian explorer, it is through the politically correct lens of modern-day progressivism, which sees Columbus as an avatar of colonialism, white supremacy, genocide, and Christian European privilege
None of this is true, of course. These are malicious lies fabricated by leftists to impugn and discredit Western Civilization, so that they can remake the West in their own radical, woke image.
Debunking Leftist Lies. In truth, as Jarrett Stepman observes, historians like Carol Delaney have debunked the leftists lies about Columbus:
Rather than cruel, Columbus was mostly benign in his interaction with native populations. While deprivations did occur, Columbus was quick to punish those under his command who committed unjust acts against local populations.
“Columbus strictly told the crew not to do things like maraud, or rape, and instead to treat the native people with respect,” Delaney said.
“There are many examples in his writings where he gave instructions to this effect. Most of the time when injustices occurred, Columbus wasn’t even there. There were terrible diseases that got communicated to the natives, but he can’t be blamed for that.”
The Age of Exploration. The truth is: we recognize and honor Columbus because he was a great explorer, who heralded what historians call the Age of Exploration or the Age of Discovery, which led, in turn, to the establishment of the new world, aka America.
As the late great historian Samuel Eliot Morison explained in one of his many magisterial works of history, Christopher Columbus: The Voyage of Discovery 1492:
Five hundred years ago an obscure Genoese mariner sailing in the service of Their Catholic Majesties, the Sovereigns of Spain, made the single greatest voyage of discovery the world has ever known.
The consequences of the First Voyage of Columbus were so momentous that even today they are difficult to grasp.
From that voyage stemmed not only a great Age of Exploration that would shortly transform other men’s understanding of the planet on which they lived, but indeed the entire history of the United States, of Canada and of all the nations of the Central and South America.
It is no wonder that October 12 is celebrated annually throughout the length and bread of the Western Hemisphere.
Samuel Eliot Morison. Morrison’s works of scholarship are highly impressive and dwarf those of any modern-day historian. The man won two Pulitzer Prizes: first for Admiral of the Ocean Sea, a 1942 biography of Columbus, and A Sailor’s Biography, a 1959 biography of John Paul Jones.
When World War II broke out, Morison, then a professor of history at Harvard, volunteered to serve for the express purpose of writing an operational history of the wartime Navy.
He was commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy Reserve, called to active duty, and permitted to go where he wanted when he wanted to fulfill his mission.
Morison’s skill as a sailor who had retraced Columbus’s voyages made him conversant with ships and navigation. Consequently, he was welcomed by the operational Navy and saw combat multiple times on vessels large and small. He subsequently published a 15-volume History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II.
Clearly, if anyone is in a position to evaluate Columbus”s achievements as an explorer and a navigator—and and what these achievements mean for Western Civilization—it is Samuel Eliot Morison. Here is what he wrote about Columbus:
We are right in so honoring him, because no other sailor had the persistence, the knowledge, and the sheer guts to sail thousands of miles into the unknown ocean until he found land. This was the most spectacular and most far-reaching geographical discovery in recorded human history.
Moreover, apart from the magnitude of his achievement, Columbus was a highly interesting character. Born at the crossroads between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, he showed the qualities of both eras.
He had the firm religious faith, the a-priori reasoning and the close communion with the Unseen typical of the early Christian centuries.
Yet he also had the scientific curiosity, the zest for life, the feeling for beauty and the striving for novelty that we associate with the advancement of learning. And he was one of the greatest seamen of all time.
In short, we Americans owe a debt of gratitude to Christopher Columbus. His courage, derring-do, Christian faith, and commitment to progress and exploration gave rise to the new world and the pride of place we now call America.
Western civilization, moreover, grew, prospered and developed in large part because of his efforts and the efforts of other great explorers.
Let us hope and pray that we Americans never forget this; and that, generations from now, our posterity will continue to recognize and honor Christopher Columbus and the Age of Discovery.
Feature photo credit: Renowned historian Samuel Eliot Morison (L) and the great Italian explorer Christopher Columbus (R), courtesy of Harvard Magazine and the Knights of Columbus, respectively.