Goodbye, Columbus Day

Okay, there are a few, more than a few inaccuracies in this video. For example, Columbus wasn't a "great navigator". Indeed, he was a piss-poor navigator at best. But, he was exceptionally lucky. He miscalculated the distance from Europe to the Asia by a factor of about 10, while the Spanish court scientists (Persians and Jews) were only about 1% off. Fortunately for him, there was another Continent in the way that cut his voyage short before the crew mutinied and turned around. And yes, everyone already knew the Earth was a sphere. And no, Columbus was not the first to reach America. There is evidence that the Phoenicians, Romans, Welsh, Vikings, Chinese, and Portuguese beat him. His claim to fame was being the first to return home and blab about it. That being said, the video is thematically correct. The indigenous tribes did ally with the Europeans to defeat neighboring tribes that had been beating up on them. And no, the native Americans were not at one with nature. They frequently had to pack up and move after spoiling the land on which they had settled. And, the biggest "YES" goes to the theme that the vilification of Columbus is the weapon of choice for breeding self-hate in American students.