Organizing Victories - International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Christopher Columbus And
The Age of Discovery
C W;l\ neither the fir:--! Europc~ln to ... CI fool on North
I\merican soil. nOr wa ... hi~ ch'covcr} of i.I .,mall group 01
i,land, in the Caribbean or greater ,.glllfiC:lI1ce th:1Il the hundred
... of ... cit.:ntit1c Lind geographic di:-.covcrie-.., bei ng i.1I1110U IlCed
th roughout the 151h and 16th cent uries. Yl:! at SOO yenr:-- ol d thi :-.
year. tll r.: legacy of Christopher Co lumbu'l livt· ... on like that 01
few other men in hi"tory.
A, carl} ", Ihe I Olh and Illh ceOllu ­
fie..,. Vi~ing ... Inlveled from theirholllc ..
in Scandinavia 10 Iceland. Greenland
:lnd the l1urthern reaches of orth
America. According 10 Ilmvard Un i­
vcr..,ity hi\10riilll Jolm H. Parry. "There
I" ,,1'0 ... ome evidence (O the effect
llmt fi ... ht.!mlcn from the we~lern pan
01 England may have ~ighlcd !'lome
pan of nurrhcrn j\jorl l1 America al
about the ~i l1lle tin\e as ColurnbllS'
liNt voyag.e.· · But what Parry ilnd mO~1
hl .. t ori~,"", credit Colurnbu'>: with i ... 1I0t
ju t vl-,lIing nev. land ... , but with open­
II1g the door to trade with thai [1£"\\
lantl. creallng pcrmrmcnt European
:-,t;lllcmclIl ... there. and with being. r~ ­
\pon\ihlc for profo und cha n gc~ 011
bOlh ,ide .. of the Atlamic.
The DiHerent
Legacies of Columbus
Many hi:-'Illria n ... and ~o c i a l crili c:..
argue loday Ihal Columbus broughl a
gre .. deal of hann and ,ufferillg 10
bmh the m('ric.,,, and 10 Europe a\ ~I
rc ~u(t 01"111''11 voyag('~, Many morc POilU
nUl that Nalive American. had "di...-
covered" North America thous'.IIlds
IIf ycar~ bcrorc Columbu'\ i~ credi ted
\\ ilh doing .. 0. And to ignore Ihi!
di .. t'a ..\!. I.:"{ploi lation and ,Iav~ry
Columbus' three ships
on the first voyage
across the Atlantic.
\\ Im:h followed Columbu, to America
amI Ihen back 10 Europe would be
\\ rong. Il nwcvcr. to dwell on thi ... 'ti de
of Columbus legacy would be 10 mi"
Ihe greal n e:'l~ of his vision, and the truly
magni fi cent con~cqLlc n cc~ of hi~
~\ctio n~ ,
l nli!..c hh. own fi~1 voyage. and the
voyages of olhers before hllll. olul11-
bu't' .. ccond voyage to America in '49
sailed with Ihe expre,>:s purpose of"
,,-,wblishing permanent e lll el11enl~ in
Ihe t\"1!\V \Vorld. 'Whert: hi ~ fin,1 \Ioyage
\.'Olhl .... led of Ihree: shi p .. and :lpproxl-
Christopher Columbus.
Columbus arrive.s in the New World.
matel) 90 mcn-mo ... tl y ~ailor!-.. hi!ot ... ce·
ond voyage compri,cd of 17 ,hip, and
ovCr 1.000 mcn- pric.,t!l. farmcr!) and
~oldiero;,;, They sCllleL! on Ihe i ... land of
Hispaniola. and founded Ihe ci lY of
Santo Domingo.
Coillmbu~' ultimate gO:11 wa.'" 10 find
a \\ eSlward pa:;, ... agc to the Oricnl. MOM
educaled men and women of Col urnbu~'
rime agreed thaI the world wn~
round, and the lund which fvlarco Polo
had reached by !raveling caS! frolll
Europe. could be reached by InLVcling
WC\l. BUI the quc\lion remained . how
IR EW . I OU ~ I'"II .;o 1 BER 1992