What's this about "Columbus Day" and Bartolomé?

So there’s an Oatmeal comic that’s been going around before today, Columbus Day, about Christopher Columbus and some guy I hadn’t heard of before, Bartolomé de las Casas.

It’s worth checking out, although be warned, it’s a big rant. For “balance”, here’s a rebuttal by someone unhappy with that Oatmeal rant.

Meanwhile, people seem to still be debating the time-honored theory that Columbus brought syphilis back to Europe.

Also, there’s discussion of how Columbus caused inflation in Europe.

Whatever else one can say, it cannot be denied that the arrival of Columbus to the “New World” in 1492 completely changed the course of world history, in a huge number of ways.

Oh, and what about Bartolomé? Read about him at the Oatmeal link and here. Another controversial historical figure, arguably more complex and interesting than Columbus.

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