Columbus

I subbed on Monday at the local high school and they had an assembly where a Native American spoke. This was to celebrate what used to be called Columbus Day. This is another example of how we use today's standards to judge people in the past. Slavery was considered a common practice at that time and really didn't end in most places until the 1800's. Native American tribes often fought against one another and the winners would kill the men and take women and children as slaves. This followed a pattern that was common around the world. In the process new diseases were introduced into different communities. Throughout history more people have died from typhus than from all the wars in history. History shows that a new nation with a superior weapon would defeat and enemy and take over their territory and in the case of the Europeans coming to America it was the rifle. Throughout the Muslim world from 500 AD to 1000 AD they not only took over the land but required that people to accept their religion. When Christianity expanded during the Middle Ages, forced conversions were the norm.