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In reply to the discussion: Movement To Change The Name Of Columbus Day Gaining Momentum [View all]Old Crow
(2,212 posts)... of just how atrocious Columbus's behavior in the New World was. Until recently, I wasn't.
A few highlights:
1. Forcing of native girls into sexual slavery, with girls (according to Columbus's own notes) aged 9 or 10 fetching the highest prices.
2. Chopping off of the hands of natives 14 years old or older who failed to produce a tribute of about a thimbleful of gold dust every 90 days. Columbus made the punished natives wear their severed hands around their necks while they bled to death. Approximately 10,000 natives died from hand amputation.
3. Use of large hunting dogs to tear natives limb from limb as punishment for attempted escape. Chroniclers in letters and diaries described the routine feeding of native babies and infants to the dogs as food.
Considering that Christopher Columbus never set foot in North America--only Central America and Cuba--I see no compelling reason for the United States to dedicate one day a year to the memory of this psychopath. Heck, even if he had set foot on the North American continent, I wouldn't want him honored.