1 00:00:06,817 --> 00:00:09,773 Many people in the United States and Latin America 2 00:00:09,773 --> 00:00:14,540 have grown up celebrating the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's voyage, 3 00:00:14,540 --> 00:00:18,336 but was he an intrepid explorer who brought two worlds together 4 00:00:18,336 --> 00:00:22,611 or a ruthless exploiter who brought colonialism and slavery? 5 00:00:22,611 --> 00:00:26,252 And did he even discover America at all? 6 00:00:26,252 --> 00:00:32,472 It's time to put Columbus on the stand in History vs. Christopher Columbus. 7 00:00:32,472 --> 00:00:34,123 "Order, order in the court. 8 00:00:34,123 --> 00:00:36,614 Wait, am I even supposed to be at work today?" 9 00:00:36,614 --> 00:00:37,989 Cough 10 00:00:37,989 --> 00:00:39,380 "Yes, your Honor. 11 00:00:39,380 --> 00:00:43,910 From 1792, Columbus Day was celebrated in many parts of the United States 12 00:00:43,910 --> 00:00:47,245 on October 12th, the actual anniversary date. 13 00:00:47,245 --> 00:00:51,170 But although it was declared an official holiday in 1934, 14 00:00:51,170 --> 00:00:54,783 individual states aren't required to observe it. 15 00:00:54,783 --> 00:00:57,394 Only 23 states close public services, 16 00:00:57,394 --> 00:01:01,135 and more states are moving away from it completely." 17 00:01:01,135 --> 00:01:02,075 Cough 18 00:01:02,075 --> 00:01:03,329 "What a pity. 19 00:01:03,329 --> 00:01:06,233 In the 70s, we even moved it to the second Monday in October 20 00:01:06,233 --> 00:01:08,875 so people could get a nice three-day weekend, 21 00:01:08,875 --> 00:01:12,008 but I guess you folks just hate celebrations." 22 00:01:12,008 --> 00:01:14,207 "Uh, what are we celebrating again?" 23 00:01:14,207 --> 00:01:17,104 "Come on, Your Honor, we all learned it in school. 24 00:01:17,104 --> 00:01:20,635 Christopher Columbus convinced the King of Spain to send him on a mission 25 00:01:20,635 --> 00:01:23,147 to find a better trade route to India, 26 00:01:23,147 --> 00:01:27,540 not by going East over land but sailing West around the globe. 27 00:01:27,540 --> 00:01:31,269 Everyone said it was crazy because they still thought the world was flat, 28 00:01:31,269 --> 00:01:32,968 but he knew better. 29 00:01:32,968 --> 00:01:36,308 And when in 1492 he sailed the ocean blue, 30 00:01:36,308 --> 00:01:38,423 he found something better than India: 31 00:01:38,423 --> 00:01:40,593 a whole new continent." 32 00:01:40,593 --> 00:01:42,200 "What rubbish. 33 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,794 First of all, educated people knew the world was round since Aristotle. 34 00:01:46,794 --> 00:01:49,814 Secondly, Columbus didn't discover anything. 35 00:01:49,814 --> 00:01:52,867 There were already people living here for millennia. 36 00:01:52,867 --> 00:01:55,272 And he wasn't even the first European to visit. 37 00:01:55,272 --> 00:01:59,561 The Norse had settled Newfoundland almost 500 years before." 38 00:01:59,561 --> 00:02:02,737 "You don't say, so how come we're not all wearing those cow helmets?" 39 00:02:02,737 --> 00:02:05,385 "Actually, they didn't really wear those either." 40 00:02:05,385 --> 00:02:06,978 Cough 41 00:02:06,978 --> 00:02:09,818 "Who cares what some Vikings did way back when? 42 00:02:09,818 --> 00:02:13,268 Those settlements didn't last, but Columbus's did. 43 00:02:13,268 --> 00:02:16,411 And the news he brought back to Europe spread far and wide, 44 00:02:16,411 --> 00:02:20,442 inspiring all the explorers and settlers who came after. 45 00:02:20,442 --> 00:02:23,541 Without him, none of us would be here today." 46 00:02:23,541 --> 00:02:29,067 "And because of him, millions of Native Americans aren't here today. 47 00:02:29,067 --> 00:02:31,837 Do you know what Columbus did in the colonies he founded? 48 00:02:31,837 --> 00:02:34,822 He took the very first natives he met prisoner 49 00:02:34,822 --> 00:02:40,571 and wrote in his journal about how easily he could conquer and enslave all of them." 50 00:02:40,571 --> 00:02:44,514 "Oh, come on. Everyone was fighting each other back then. 51 00:02:44,514 --> 00:02:46,448 Didn't the natives even tell Columbus 52 00:02:46,448 --> 00:02:50,062 about other tribes raiding and taking captives?" 53 00:02:50,062 --> 00:02:52,837 "Yes, but tribal warfare was sporadic and limited. 54 00:02:52,837 --> 00:02:56,241 It certainly didn't wipe out 90% of the population." 55 00:02:56,241 --> 00:02:59,949 "Hmm. Why is celebrating this Columbus so important to you, anyway?" 56 00:02:59,949 --> 00:03:03,042 "Your Honor, Columbus's voyage was an inspiration 57 00:03:03,042 --> 00:03:08,288 to struggling people all across Europe, symbolizing freedom and new beginnings. 58 00:03:08,288 --> 00:03:11,450 And his discovery gave our grandparents and great-grandparents 59 00:03:11,450 --> 00:03:15,967 the chance to come here and build better lives for their children. 60 00:03:15,967 --> 00:03:19,346 Don't we deserve a hero to remind everyone that our country 61 00:03:19,346 --> 00:03:22,925 was build on the struggles of immigrants?" 62 00:03:22,925 --> 00:03:24,997 "And what about the struggles of Native Americans 63 00:03:24,997 --> 00:03:28,372 who were nearly wiped out and forced into reservations 64 00:03:28,372 --> 00:03:32,685 and whose descendants still suffer from poverty and discrimination? 65 00:03:32,685 --> 00:03:36,520 How can you make a hero out of a man who caused so much suffering?" 66 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:41,290 "That's history. You can't judge a guy in the 15th century by modern standards. 67 00:03:41,290 --> 00:03:43,075 People back then even thought spreading 68 00:03:43,075 --> 00:03:47,391 Christianity and civilization across the world was a moral duty." 69 00:03:47,391 --> 00:03:50,262 "Actually, he was pretty bad, even by old standards. 70 00:03:50,262 --> 00:03:53,430 While governing Hispaniola, he tortured and mutilated 71 00:03:53,430 --> 00:03:56,333 natives who didn't bring him enough gold 72 00:03:56,333 --> 00:03:59,895 and sold girls as young as nine into sexual slavery, 73 00:03:59,895 --> 00:04:02,951 and he was brutal even to the other colonists he ruled, 74 00:04:02,951 --> 00:04:07,059 to the point that he was removed from power and thrown in jail. 75 00:04:07,059 --> 00:04:09,313 When the missionary, Bartolomé de las Casas, 76 00:04:09,313 --> 00:04:11,097 visited the island, he wrote, 77 00:04:11,097 --> 00:04:16,837 'From 1494 to 1508, over 3,000,000 people had perished 78 00:04:16,837 --> 00:04:23,447 from war, slavery and the mines. Who in future generations will believe this?'" 79 00:04:23,447 --> 00:04:26,086 "Well, I'm not sure I believe those numbers." 80 00:04:26,086 --> 00:04:29,398 "Say, aren't there other ways the holiday is celebrated?" 81 00:04:29,398 --> 00:04:31,278 "In some Latin American countries, 82 00:04:31,278 --> 00:04:35,730 the celebrate the same date under different names, such as Día de la Raza. 83 00:04:35,730 --> 00:04:39,437 In these places, it's more a celebration of the native and mixed cultures 84 00:04:39,437 --> 00:04:41,949 that survived through the colonial period. 85 00:04:41,949 --> 00:04:44,583 Some places in the U.S. have also renamed the holiday, 86 00:04:44,583 --> 00:04:47,724 as Native American Day or Indigenous People's Day 87 00:04:47,724 --> 00:04:50,746 and changed the celebrations accordingly." 88 00:04:50,746 --> 00:04:53,440 "So, why not just change the name if it's such a problem?" 89 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:55,511 "Because it's tradition. 90 00:04:55,511 --> 00:04:59,004 Ordinary people need their heroes and their founding myths. 91 00:04:59,004 --> 00:05:02,548 Can't we just keep celebrating the waywe've been doing for a century, 92 00:05:02,548 --> 00:05:05,573 without having to delve into all this serious research? 93 00:05:05,573 --> 00:05:08,910 It's not like anyone is actually celebrating genocide." 94 00:05:08,910 --> 00:05:12,349 "Traditions change, and the way we choose to keep them alive 95 00:05:12,349 --> 00:05:14,860 says a lot about our values." 96 00:05:14,860 --> 00:05:21,790 "Well, it looks like giving tired judges a day off isn't one of those values, anyway." 97 00:05:21,790 --> 00:05:24,649 Traditions and holidays are important to all cultures, 98 00:05:24,649 --> 00:05:28,518 but a hero in one era may become a villain in the next 99 00:05:28,518 --> 00:05:32,529 as our historical knowledge expands and our values evolve. 100 00:05:32,529 --> 00:05:35,364 And deciding what these traditions should mean today 101 00:05:35,364 --> 00:05:39,482 is a major part of putting history on trial.