Past generations of American school-children learned of a kind, wise, and skilled adventurer who made the greatest discovery and changed the way people looked at the world; today’s students hear of a monster who raped, pillaged, enslaved a people with relish, and found nothing new. It may seem impossible, but they are actually being taught about the same person: Christopher Columbus. Though Columbus has been dead since the year 1506, the prism through which he is viewed has changed as history has become a more serious business, and the acceptance of myths has been replaced with a desire for hard facts.

Christopher Columbus is not the only historical figure who looks a little different under the bright, searching lights of 2009 than he did to the more comfortable glow of the past. Some who are revered and considered to be among history’s greats have had their legacies revised. Though the deeds of Columbus cannot evolve, the times in which they are perceived certainly can (and do).

Heroic Memory, Bitter Reality

It was once widely accepted that Christopher Columbus “Discovered America,” and that it was he who corrected the “widely held” belief that the world was flat. Rhymes memorialized his achievement and etched its date of 1492 into the minds of so many American children forever. The United States and other nations of both North and South America set aside special days to remember him (in the U.S. it is a Federal holiday observed each year on the second Monday in October). He became an icon for the Italian-American community in New York City (where an annual parade is held in his honor on Columbus Day) and across the country.