The Legacy of Columbus

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Colonialism and imperialism

An analysis of the legacy of Columbus

 

Columbus "discovery of the New World" was a vital part of European colonialism. To examine the legacy of Columbus we suggest that you individually, in pair or in small groups answer questions below. 

Further readings and questions on Columbus can be found in the links above labeled "Multinational Comparison" and “The Historiography of Columbus”.




Tasks (students' view):

1 What is colonialism and imperialism?

Look in your textbook and compare definitions with what you can find on internet.

2

Colonizers and colonized, 'us' and 'the other'

Look at the images in the Swedish and the British popular history article.

a. How are colonizers and the colonized depicted in the images?

b. Relate the images to definitions of colonization and imperialism.

c. How do the images relate to headlines and captions?

d. Why can it be problematic to call Columbus’ deed a discovery?

3

Columbus and the British Empire

Read the text British text "The impact of Imperialism" and consider in what ways the history of Columbus is linked to the history of the British Empire?

4
How can you see that the article is written in England?
5

How is Columbus remembered today?

a. Google "Columbus day in Chile", "Columbus day in USA" and "Columbus day in Venzuela" to find out how this day is celebrated and criticized. What groups are celebrating and what groups are critical?

b. Make a list of Columbus' life and deeds similar to that in the article "Empire" and assess his historic effort as a positive or negative one. Use articles, textbook and internet to list different perspectives.

c. Should Columbus’ journey be celebrated or mourned in the region labeled Latin America or elsewhere?
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In order to facilitate the analysis of the material we describe below various approaches and questions that can be used in teaching. This teacher guide in green provides suggestions for ways to guide students’ active learning in history.

The text from the Swedish magazine "Columbus colony was a disaster" presents critical perspectives on Columbus and how the Spanish colonized America whereas the English text "The impact of Imperialism" can link life and deeds of Columbus in a non-direct way to imperialism, thereby highlighting historical processes - such as cause and consequence, and progress and decline.

Tasks (teachers' view):

1
What is colonialism and imperialism?

Look in your textbook and compare definitions with what you can find on internet.

When students google "colonialism" they will find the Wikipedia definition:"Colonialism is the establishment, exploitation, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a set of unequal relationships between the colonial power and the colony and between the colonists and the indigenous population."

On the same hitlist they can use Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy which link colonialism to imperialism: "Colonialism is a practice of domination, which involves the subjugation of one people to another. One of the difficulties in defining colonialism is that it is hard to distinguish it from imperialism. Frequently the two concepts are treated as synonyms. Like colonialism, imperialism also involves political and economic control over a dependent territory. The etymology of the two terms, however, provides some clues about how they differ. The term colony comes from the Latin word colonus, meaning farmer. This root reminds us that the practice of colonialism usually involved the transfer of population to a new territory, where the arrivals lived as permanent settlers while maintaining political allegiance to their country of origin. Imperialism, on the other hand, comes from the Latin term imperium, meaning to command. Thus, the term imperialism draws attention to the way that one country exercises power over another, whether through settlement, sovereignty, or indirect mechanisms of control".

2

Colonizers and colonized, 'us' and 'the other'

Look at the images in the Swedish and the British popular history article.

a. How are colonizers and the colonized depicted in the images?

b. Relate the images to definitions of colonization and imperialism.

c. How do the images relate to headlines and captions?

d. Why can it be problematic to call Columbus’ deed a discovery?

In the English article British military men are often in center and in power, while aboriginals are often depicted as troublemakers and/or submitted. However some pictures from India Jamaica have a somewhat more positive image of “the other”. The Swedish images also hold a very Eurocentric perspective with non-Europeans in the shadow or beneath the Europeans.

It is important to discuss how the image of 'the other' is maintained by the way history is written. If anyone is discovered or civilized, it means that the person or culture was unimportant and/or undeveloped; which can be interpreted as a condescending view of alien and foreign cultures, such as the American Indian cultures.

3

Columbus and the British Empire

Read the text British text "The impact of Imperialism" and consider in what ways the history of Columbus is linked to the history of the British Empire?

It is important to expose students to colonialism from a non-Eurocentric or oriental perspective. How Columbus’ legacy evolved into imperialism, where Europeans built empires and claimed to civilize the savages in the colonies, what was called “the White Man’s burden”.

4

How can you see that the article is written in England?

As a teacher, it is useful to make the students pay attention to how the choice of historical sources and presentations of history can be influenced by national and cultural interests. The verdicts may have been harder if a non-British historian would have written the text. A potential follow-up question, to the question stated above, might be whether they think Columbus and colonialism would have been described differently if the texts had other origins – e.g. a German text on imperialism. How would the Spaniards and Swedes write about colonialism do you think? T.

5

How is Columbus remembered today?

a. Google "Columbus day in Chile", "Columbus day in USA" and "Columbus day in Venzuela" to find out how this day is celebrated and criticized. What groups are celebrating and what groups are critical?

b. Make a list of Columbus' life and deeds similar to that in the article "Empire" and assess his historic effort as a positive or negative one. Use articles, textbook and internet to list different perspectives.

c. Should Columbus’ journey be celebrated or mourned in the region labeled Latin America or elsewhere?

Indigenous groups in Latin America often rally on Columbus day as a protest towards unfair power relations in the legacy of Columbus. Other groups celebrate this day in Latin America. In the US there are some critical groups but primarily the day is a celebration. There seem to be a divide between more critical left-wing groups and right-wing groups that celebrate.

This problem-oriented task around Columbus deeds should be accompanied by a critical reflection on whether we can judge people in the past on the basis of our contemporary values. Curricula and pupils’ views on history often emphasize moral lessons from the past. In contrast historians claim that it is important to judge actions based on what we know of the contemporary context. In the case of Columbus it is valuable to point out to students how European languages and perspectives became totally dominant and how we still today label the region from the language of its conquerors.


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