The Redemption of Christopher Columbus, oh what might’ve been

A couple weeks ago, I was sailing around the Library and happened upon a wonderful book titled Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card, and I thought I’d share my discovery with the civilized world! 

What’s that?  The book’s been known for decades already as it was published in 1997?  Doesn’t matter—let history show that I discovered it.  No one would’ve known of it’s existence until I came along & wrote about it here, aside from a couple hundred thousand science fiction readers, but what do they know? 

They’re not like us, they don’t count.  In fact, let’s enslave those damn nerds and ship them off to Parts Unknown! 

Okay you can see where I’m going here, and I’m not alone in my feelings about the man who is responsible for the extinction of the Taino Indians and a slave trade that lasted for centuries—ask any Native American what he thinks of Christopher Columbus. 

But I have to admit that because of this remarkable ‘what-if’ story, I’m able to see things a bit more in their historical perspective.

Set sometime in the near future, the story goes back & forth from the 15th century (where we learn of Columbus’ origins) to the present, where there is an academic organization known as ‘Pastwatch’.  Computer monitors called Tru-Sites are used to look back through time, for the study of past civilizations.  

There are people who devote their entire lives to studying one ancient society, or even one historical figure.  (A Muslim named Kemal is a celebrity Pastwatcher, an expert of ancient weather patterns who ascertained not only the origin & sinking of Atlantis, but that Noah--known by his people as Noag, and his ark of animals actually existed.) 

But this book focuses on a Pastwatcher named Tagiri, an African woman who has made it her life’s work to understand the beginnings of slavery.  Years of careful study have led her to one man:  Christopher Columbus, who was ultimately responsible for the African & American continents colonization by Europe, and the death and enslavement of millions of their native peoples for several centuries.

So when it’s discovered that scientists may be able to do more than just observe past events, and actually travel backwards in time, Tagiri wants to devise a way to prevent Columbus “discovery of America”. 

Her colleagues are shocked; aren’t you afraid of how it will alter our present?

Tagiri says “History is not our prelude; we can’t justify the pain & suffering of people in the past because everything turned out well by the time we came along.  When we believed we could not go back in time & make changes, we could be excused for shedding a tear for them & going on with our happy lives.  But once we know we can go back & help, if we let their suffering go on, this is no golden age we live in.”  

Wow!  She makes a good argument.  And as the story progresses, Tagiri wonders two things: what really compelled Columbus to make that historical voyage in the first place, and why is Pastwatch allowing her to proceed with her plans to stop him?  The answers to both are startling.

I don’t know what they teach about Christopher Columbus in classrooms today.  I’m from the generation that learned he was a great explorer, looking only for a faster route to the Far East for gold & spices when he discovered the New World instead. 

In fact, when he arrived & the Tainos Indians befriended him, Columbus wrote this about them in his report to Queen Isabella:  "So peaceable, are these people, that I swear to your Majesties there is not in the world a better nation. They love their neighbors as themselves, and their discourse is ever sweet and gentle, and accompanied with a smile; and though it is true that they are naked, their manners are decorous and praiseworthy."

Columbus then declared them the property of Spain, ordered their enslavement & began shipping them back to Europe.  The ones who were allowed to remain were forced to mine for gold—and tortured & murdered if they resisted. 

In 4 years, a hundred thousand Tainos were dead.

Where was I going with this?  I was planning to say something in this so-called explorer’s defense, but it’s lost on me.