Opinion/Conley: A defense of Columbus and Native Americans

Patrick T. Conley is Rhode Island's historian laureate.

Christopher Columbus, whose memorial statuary in the United States is exceeded only by Lincoln and Washington, is lately encountering very rough seas. A recent casualty of this unhistorical hysteria is Providence’s famed statue of Columbus that stood since 1893 in the city’s Elmwood neighborhood.

This notable piece of art was crafted by the internationally renowned Gorham silverware company – one of Providence’s “Five Industrial Wonders of the World,” from the design of French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi who also crafted the Statue of Liberty. It was a focal point of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, a mammoth fair that celebrated the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s first voyage to the New World.

Those historically misinformed vandals around America who tear down statues of Christopher Columbus on the mistaken belief that this deeply religious, intrepid explorer personally sought to enslave Native Americans have a huge task before them.

Historians have shown that Columbus was inspired to find a western transatlantic route to the Orient not only to satisfy his navigational theory and obtain riches for the Spanish Crown but primarily to fund a new crusade to reclaim Jerusalem (the Holy Land) from the Muslims.

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Thinking he had made landfall in the East Indies southeast of China, Columbus called the natives he encountered “Indians.” Being a zealous Catholic named Christopher, he eagerly sought their conversion to Christianity and their “salvation” rather than their enslavement. Some Native Americans such as the Arawak responded positively to these religious overtures; others, such as the Carib, forcefully resisted them. When battles occurred, defeated Caribs were transported to Spain as captives.

Enslavement of an enemy was common practice at that time in Europe, Asia, Africa, and among most Native American tribes. Even papal pronouncements, such as the 1462 address of Pope Pius II, permitted enslavement of those captured in a “just war,” which the pope then proceeded to define.

The Caribs, for whom the sea is named, got their revenge against the Europeans three decades later in 1528 by killing Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano. This unfortunate navigator had gotten a much more cordial welcome from local Native Americans when he visited Narragansett Bay in 1524 — a voyage that eventually gave Rhode Island its name. Verrazzano described our natives as “the most beautiful and have the most civil customs that we have found on this voyage ... and their manner is sweet and gentle.”

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In America, the names and presence of Columbus and Columbia are ubiquitous. Many cities, counties, and rivers are named in his honor along with the District of Columbia. There is even a federal holiday on the second Monday of October to celebrate his achievement and his Italian heritage. He is an icon to Italian-Americans. Also notable are the Knights of Columbus, a huge million-member Roman Catholic fraternal order. They need to be more vigorous in defending their patron and should not remain silent knights.

Although Columbus was a harsh and imperious commander, he did not commit nor would he condone the centuries of inequity and injustice that followed his voyages. He should not be the scapegoat for the incessant tragedies that followed his death in 1506 at the age of 54. To do so would be to use the “post hoc ergo propter hoc” fallacy, or translated, “after this, therefore because of this.” Columbus' detractors assert that because maltreatment of the Native Americans followed the voyages of Columbus, these voyages directly caused that ongoing disastrous result.

Despite my defense of Columbus, few Rhode Islanders have honored, financially supported, and sympathized with Native Americans more than my wife Gail and I. However, we know that trashing Columbus, the daring navigator, does nothing to atone for the sins against them.

For those, like us, who understandably support an Indigenous Peoples Day, I believe America should celebrate it on Thanksgiving to commemorate that rare moment in 1621 when natives and colonists united in peace and prayer.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Conley: A defense of Columbus and Native Americans