Kirkpatrick Sale
Auteur van The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy
Over de Auteur
Kirkpatrick Sale is the secretary of the E. F. Schumacher Society, a contributing editor of The Nation, and the author of nine previous books
Fotografie: Uncredited photo from School of Cooperative Individualism
Werken van Kirkpatrick Sale
Rebels Against The Future: The Luddites And Their War On The Industrial Revolution: Lessons For The Computer Age (1995) 245 exemplaren
Human Scale Revisited: A New Look at the Classic Case for a Decentralist Future (2017) 42 exemplaren
Power Shift: The Rise of the Southern Rim and Its Challenge to the Eastern Establishment (1975) 24 exemplaren
The Neo Luddites and Lessons from the Luddites 1 exemplaar
Beyond Capitalism and Socialism 1 exemplaar
SDS: Students for a Democratic Society 1 exemplaar
Gerelateerde werken
The World's Greatest Ideas: An Encyclopedia of Social Inventions (1990) — Introductie — 20 exemplaren
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Algemene kennis
- Gangbare naam
- Sale, Kirkpatrick
- Officiële naam
- Sale, John Kirkpatrick
- Geboortedatum
- 1937-06-27
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- male
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- USA
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- Ithaca, New York, USA
- Woonplaatsen
- Ithaca, New York, USA
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- Cornell University (AB|History|1958)
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- journalist
activist - Organisaties
- Middlebury Institute
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- #22,652
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In my thirst for knowledge of self, to study my heritage and to learn more about who I am, where my family comes from, and to why my skin is brown, I have made a commitment to read about the history and events surrounding the voyages of Columbus and the Spanish Empire’s quest to rule the Americas.
The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy is the third book on my list that paints a dark portrait on the events that took place in the Antilles. Kirkpatrick Sale does a fantastic job at explaining in detail what happened in the Caribbean when Christopher Columbus sailed on his Four Voyages.
A lot of what is taught in elementary and high schools about this event is scant, inadequate and full of falsehoods. Even today, there is still misinformation about Columbus and the events surrounding the voyages. Many people still believe he landed in North America, for example, which he did not. Sale also tries to debunk many of the other misconceptions that are still alive today in Columbus history.
Sale did extensive studies on this subject, and it shows. I learned so much about Columbus, not only as a navigator but as a person. These details come from the journal he kept while on the high seas and also from the second-hand accounts from his son Ferdinand Columbus and a friar named Bartolomeo De Las Casas, whose written accounts have survived. Other sources come from other conquistadors that traveled on the Voyages and wrote their own accounts about what they experienced. Sale is quick, however, to warn the reader that because of the possibility that the accounts are exaggerated and full of aggrandizement, we must be careful to take these descriptions and reports with some criticism and skepticism.
In between chapters Sale also injects knowledge about the history Spain and the rest of Europe’s mind state at about the time the Trans-Atlantic crossings took place. This serves as a background to the European state-of-mind that Columbus had, and gives us a glimpse into the decisions he made. Slavery was normal in Portugal at the time. Violence also surrounded him; the gallows were a common sight in European town squares, as were guillotines. No doubt a young Christopher witnessed these common spectacles. This may shed some light onto why Colon was pro-slavery and didn’t seem to really bat an eye at the violence perpetrated onto the native Taino and Carib Indians.
Sale also teaches us a bit about the Jamestown settlement in Virginia, one of the first “successful” colonies of England (I put “successful” in quotation because really, the colony was marred with bouts of starvation, mutiny and the colonists barely survived). He makes comparisons between Jamestown and La Isabela, the first “successful” colony for the Spanish on Hispaniola. We see how the Columbian Legacy had slowly reached the rest of the European continent many years after Columbus’ discoveries. The English, Dutch and French couldn’t wait to join in and plunder those “mountains” of gold and riches that the Caribbean islands had to offer.
After finishing the book, I was left with a hunger for more information (as a good book should do!). It certainly shed a bright light on the darkness that was my understanding and comprehension of the great voyages, and of Columbus himself. I had no idea he sailed the coast of South America for example, or the fact that he sailed the coast of Central America, off the coast of present day Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama.
I still have many books to read about Columbus himself. His Journal has been translated into English, as well as his letters to the Spanish Crown. He also wrote Libro de las Profecias and the Santangel Letters, as well as A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies written by Bartolome de las Casas, which speaks about the atrocities committed by the Spanish and written to the Spanish Crown in his attempt to abolish the "encomienda", or slave system.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is curious about Christopher Columbus and the infamous voyages that took place, forever changing the face of the world.… (meer)