Columbus: Fact vs. Myth

Zohar Laor By Zohar Laor The Star-Ledger
on October 13, 2008 at 10:23 AM, updated October 13, 2008 at 10:30 AM

One of the big issues a history buff like me have with our education system is that sometimes they promote a myth which has been repeated so often it has become fact. George Washington didn't have wooden teeth, Betsy Ross didn't make the first flag and Lizzie Borden never killed anyone.

Christopher Columbus had many accomplishments, in my opinion he wasn't the first person to discover America, but the last person to do so. Columbus' major accomplishment was introducing the Americas to Europe (even though he never admitted to discovering a new continent) among many other accomplishments such as introducing tobacco to Europe and horses to this continent.

To commemorate Columbus Day I collected some myths about Christopher Columbus which many people believe vs. the facts historians have pointed to:

Myth: Columbus set out to prove the earth was round.
This myth was created by Washington Irving's fictional biography of Columbus. Besides being a good story the biography proved to be a great disservice to school children everywhere by making contributions to actual text books. Actually, the same year Columbus set sail was when the first globe was made in Europe.

Myth: Columbus was undoubtedly Italian.
Even though recent episodes of The Sopranos show the affection American-Italians feel for Columbus there are no concrete proofs that he was from Genoa, even though that is the prevailing theory. Other theories say that he was Portuguese, a Viking descendent (which would account for his mastery of the seas) and even a converted Jew.
None of those are provable - but we do know he only wrote in Spanish, not Italian.

Myth: Queen Isabella sold her jewelry to sponsor Columbus' first voyage.
Actually the voyage was sponsored by Italian investors and two ships were given by the city of Palus in lieu of debt owed to the crown. The king and queen's treasury put up little money.

Myth: Columbus' crews were a bunch of criminals.
The crews were seasoned Spanish sailors, professional & worthy of the long voyage. The crown was willing to provide amnesty to criminals if Columbus had problems getting men, but thanks to the efforts of the Pinzon brothers, he didn't. Only four men out of a crew of 90 were convicted criminals.

Myth: Columbus' first voyage was plagued by danger, hunger and bad weather.
The first voyage went as good as it could, ideal weather and food for a year. The trip back on the other hand was stormy and almost destroyed two ships.

Myth: Columbus died of syphilis, a pauper and chained up in a Spanish prison.
Columbus died a relatively rich man in his apartment in Spain surrounded by friends and family. Even though Columbus fell out of favor with the royalty after his third voyage and returned to Spain in chains, the crown did apologize for the misunderstanding and had the chains removed. Syphilis was an unknown disease and most likely was introduced to Europe by the Indians or the sailors on Columbus's crew; Columbus was never affected, but he did suffer from the gout.

Myth: Columbus landed in what we today call the USA.
Columbus was in many places during his three voyages: Bahamas, San Salvador or Samana Cay, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, the US Virgin Islands, the northeastern tip of South America and the eastern coast of Central America.
But he never set foot on the mainland United States.

Myth: We know what Columbus looked like.
There were no paintings of Columbus made during his lifetime. The pictures below all depict a person named Christopher Columbus; however none of them are verifiable.

Created between 1890 and 1940
Engraving by Johann Thedor DeBry 16th century
Sebastiano, del Piombo, 1485-1547
print.c1893 Jan. 26
lithograph, hand-colored.Published by N. Currier, c1846
The Jovian portrait (1520s)
Attributed to Ridolfo Ghirlandaio
Pedro Berruguete