by Effie Moore Salem

Created on: November 19, 2008   Last Updated: June 24, 2009

In writing about history one needs to understand the times of the historicl fact and if there is any comparison to today done, it should be done without aggressiveness or blame. Of course you can take sides, but make this fact known. As an example: The real Christopher Columbus takes on a new persona with each generation; with some writers there is outright denial in his part in discovering America, and with others it is a general downsizing. Why can't we simply arrive at a few facts and leave it at that? Of course not all that is said about him is exactly true since the telling was done by him and writers of his time and both could have exaggerated.

Most adventurers and writers were guilty of that, especially in their time. And writers still all too often embroider on the truth. This should be carefully watched, especially by historians; they should not whet the readers' appetite for sensation at the expense of the truth. It was the writers writing about Christopher Columbus that faulted where accuracy is concerned when they based their opinions on others' writings at the time of America's discovery who had opposing opinions. Some of these writers were not friends of his. No doubt later writers wanting to get at the truth did not fully get both sides of the arguments.

In writing, or in this case, rewriting history from a present perspective is, to my way of thinking, unfair. We should not project our opinions back into time and reassess what we have learned. That creates doubt and, when writing about Columbus, confuses students of history. It would be best to follow through with the conservative view and as a sideline mention that who said what when. Then, if the writer wants to give his opinion on what he believes to be the truth, he should make it known it is his opinion. To further that, he could, and should, cite his sources for his daring pronouncements.

The most disturbing part of this question being asked, Did Christopher Columbus really discover America, is its implications. It is not so much about an isolated incident about him personally, but a writing venue that is becoming popular; it is too much of history under the gun that is disturbing. This would not be so alarming if the average student of history took into consideration writing at that time and made allowances for the likes of the Shakespeares and Sydneys and Marlows who wrote in a peculiar style and for their time. They were alerting their peers to what was going on in the world and

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