Free Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen Page B

ninth or tenth century tell of “an abbot and
     seventeen monks who journeyed to the 'promised land of the saints' during a seven-year
     sojourn in a leather boat” centuries earlier. The stories include details that are
     literally fabulous: each Easter, the priest and his crew supposedly conducted Mass on the
     back of a whale. They visited a “pillar of crystal” {perhaps an iceberg) and an “island of
     fire.” We cannot simply dismiss these legends, however. When the Norse first reached
     Iceland, Irish monks were living on the island, whose volcanoes could have provided the “island of fire.”
    How do American history textbooks treat these two sets of legendary voyagers? Five of the
     textbooks admit the possibility of an Irish expedition. The Challenge ofFreedom gives the fullest account:
    Some people believe that . . . Irish missionaries may have sailed to the Americas hundreds
     of years before the first voyages of Columbus. According to Irish legends, Irish monks
     sailed the Atlantic Ocean in order to bring Christianity to the people they met. One Irish
     legend in particular tells about a land southwest of the Azores. This land was sup
     posedly discovered by St. Brendan, an Irish missionary, about 500 AD.
    Not one textbook mentions the West Africans, however. While leaving out Columbus's
     predecessors, American history books continue to make mistakes when they get to the last “discoverer.” They present cutand-dried
     answers, mostly glorifying Columbus, always avoiding uncertainty or controversy. Often
     their errors seem to be copied from other textbooks. Let me repeat the collective Columbus
     story they tell, this time italicizing everything in it that we have solid reason to
     believe is true.
    Horn in Genoa, of humble parents, Christopher Columbus grew up to become an experienced seafarer, venturing as far O!
     Iceland and West Africa. His adventures convinced him that the world must be round and that the fabled riches of
     the East-spices and goldcould be had by sailing west, superseding the overland routes,
     which the Turks had closed off to commerce. To get funding for his enterprise, he baeeched monarch after monarch in Western Europe. After at first being dismissed by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, Columbus finally got
     his chance when Isabella decided to underwrite a modest expedition. Columbus outfitted three pitifully small ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, and setforth from Spain. After an arduous journey of more than two months, during which his mutinous crew almost threw him overboard,
     Columbus discovered the West Indies on October 12, 1492. Unfortunately, although he made three more voyages lo America, he never knew he had discovered a New World. Columbus died in obscurity, unappreciated and penniless. Yet without his daring American history u'ouid have been very different, for in a sense he made it all possible.
    As you can see, textbooks get the date right, and the names of the ships. Most of the rest
     that they tell us is untrustworthy. Many aspects of Columbus's life remain a mystery. He
     claimed to be from Genoa, Italy, and there is evidence that he was. There is also evidence
     that he wasn't: Columbus didn't seem to be able to write in Italian, even when writing to
     people in Genoa. Some historians believe he was Jewish, a converso. or convert to Christianity, probably from Spain, (Spain was pressuring its Jews to convert
     to Christianity or leave the country.) He may have been a Genoese Jew. Still other
     historians claim he was from Corsica, Portugal, or elsewhere.
    What about Columbus's social class background? One textbook tells us he was poor, “the son
     of a poor Genoese weaver,” while another assures us he was rich, “the son of a prosperous
     wool-weaver.” Each is certain, but people who have spent years studying Columbus say we
     cannot be sure.
    We do not even know for certain where Columbus thought he was