Cristopher Colombia in primary school curriculum

To be fair the child sacrifices practiced by the indigenous people wasn't great either but we teach about them too. I hate sanitising history.

Exactly. Humans are right bastards.

Have you read Fifth Sun? It tells the story from first person Nahuatl sources, instead of the usual Spanish, and debunks a lot of myths and assumptions.

He was a child rapist and slaver. You are absolutely not being unreasonable. The thing is, they can't talk about what he did with nuance with that age group, so he shouldn't be taught about to that age group.

Here’s the transcript from the bbc bitesize ks1 history video on Christopher Columbus:
***

Today we know what the world looks like. We've taken pictures of it from space!
^^
We know there are many countries, some far away, and that there are lots of different people. But for thousands of years people didn’t know this.
It was only when explorers travelled to new places that they met each other.
^^
One of the most famous explorers was Christopher Columbus. He lived over 500 years ago.
Columbus wanted to travel to China and India, countries known as ‘The Indies’ which were full of wealth.

The Indies were in the east, but Columbus thought it would be quicker to go west, around the world.
It was a journey into the unknown and would cost a lot of money.

The King of Spain paid for three ships. The Pinta, the Niña and the Santa Maria.

In 1492, Columbus set sail. A few months later, the crew spotted land. Columbus thought he had reached the Indies. But he was wrong! He'd found a part of the world new to Europeans.

Columbus became famous as the man who discovered new lands called the Americas.
The King of Spain was happy, but the discovery was bad for people already living there.
**
Spain sent soldiers to take over these new lands. They took the people's treasures, like gold. Spain became very rich.
**
The locals were treated cruelly, some taken as slaves. Many died because of diseases brought from Spain.
**
Today people disagree about Columbus. Some say he was a brave hero. Others say his discovery caused misery for the people where he travelled.
One thing we can say for certain is that finding the continent of America was a huge event for Europeans, and that is down to Christopher Columbus.

We can't make things disappear because much of history is full of atrocious events far more brutal than CC! The whole point is to learn about and from it.

I think there is enough virtue signalling in schools already. Sanitising everything so nobody gets offended.
No wonder the country is in such a mess!!

I bet you’re feeling really smug about getting this in on the first post. 👏

Great link here. Can find similar on bbc bite size. Looks like they should definitely highlight the bad effects on the lands he went to.

I remember my son learning about him in gcse history and there was definitely plenty of discussion about his impact and how the people there were treated.

On the other hand, we were in Seville cathedral recently where his tomb is, and the guide was very much This is our Glorious Heritage - absolutely no nuance there.

Best not teach about the Romans either then.

But you can't pretend he didn't exist. Would you pretend slavery didn't happen either?

OP, the way my parents dealt with this was to teach us the truth after school taught us the official version. They considered it important for us to know what the party line is as well as the reality of the matter. Actually most important of all was learning not to believe everything we were taught, to think critically, learning about propaganda and spin and vested interests and agendas.

I do the same with my DC.

You can't white wash history to remove figures you don't agree with. You can however just teach that he wasn't a great historical figure and what he did.

• @Cherrysoup I don’t get the (north) American obsession with him.*

We don't give a fuck about him in Canada.

@Donotfitin I immediately queried it, because as a Latin American he’s seen as a very divisive figure who brought rape, disease, and genocide.

OP I think kids need to learn about him because of the all the shit that he brought/came after him. I think it is good that you queried it.

@MushMonster
He was an explorer. The colinising came just behind him.

Not true. This is not how the Spanish did it, Columbus colonised and enslaved people as he went.

The problem with human history is that it's colonisers all the way down. The Aztecs and Incas were also imperialists. There are very few complex civilisations with clean hands.

So stupid 🙄

I'm also have Indigenous heritage although South American not North. It's an uncomfortable topic especially when you know your ancestors suffered as a result
The National Curriculum is here for an idea of what they will discuss and learn
www.keystagehistory.co.uk/keystage-1/outstanding-lessons/columbus/

I think Christopher Columbus is the anglicised version of his name. He was born in Italy.

He was an explorer. The colinising came just behind him.
I get that you do not celebrate the date and of course I agree that colinisation and empires were a horrible thing that has left us with a world to fix.
But I would not be tempted to go into a school in another country telling them how to tell a part of history. Neither I would accept someone just attempting to change the curriculum to present it their way. As it stands today, they are likely to speak about the facts of it and talk about the social consequences of it, from all angles. So the suffering you refer to will be covered. It is likely to be very nuanced, as this is how our society sees it today.

Yes he is, but when we learned about him and the other conquistadors, other than a tossed-in reference to small pox, the teaching was very biased in favour of them being heroic explorers. Colonialism is a very, very complex subject.

But surely if anyone is a ‘significant explorer’, it’s him?

The school will have him there for a specific purpose. If politics comes up, then discuss with your son. Yalu if your first reaction is to try shoehorn your views in for everybody. It’s very unlikely that the school won’t be presenting a rounded view anyway.