Christopher Columbus
"They willingly traded everything they owned…They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features…They do not bear arms and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance…They have no iron…Their spears are made of cane…They would make fine servants…With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."
~ Christopher Columbus writing in his diary upon landing in Hispaniola, from A People’s History of the United States
Fuck him.
via Curate
Though the first recorded celebration of Columbus occurred in New York City 1792, during a 300th anniversary celebration of his landing in the New World, Columbus Day did not become a federal holiday until 1971, courtesy of President Richard M. Nixon. ...
