Reading in a single sitting 一口气读完这段历史

On October 12, 1492, Columbus and his crew arrived at an island in the Bahamas（巴哈马）inhabited by the Arawak（阿拉瓦克）Indians. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, the Arawaks ran to greet them bringing food and gifts. Columbus wrote the following in his log...

They...brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned...They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance...They would make fine servants...With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.

As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which i found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.

In 1492, when the European invasion of the Americas was instigated by a human error that saw Christopher Columbus get lost at sea while trying to reach the Indies, and making landfall instead in the Americas, the two Continents were not, as some would have us believe, two vast and vacant land masses that were created by the Great Spirit for the specific purpose of enriching Europeans. In fact, both Continents were widely populated by humans who were citizens of hundreds of well established diverse civilizations-a statement of fact that may not set well with those who buy into the White Supremacist belief that the inhabitants of the two Continents were not civilized human beings but savage animals.

The following are some of the major tragic consequences that stem from the European invasion. First and foremost the suffering that it caused American Indians over the centuries is beyond measurement , and the number that perished because of it is so immense that uncountable millions is the only reasonable estimate that can be given! Besides out and out genocide , starvation, which was caused by the deliberate destruction of Indigenous trading patterns and food supplies, took a heavy toll. Another item that took a heavy toll was malnutrition. It started shortly after the invasion' s onset and slowly became universally widespread among the Indigenous Peoples of the two Continents and continued until recent times. Initially, it was caused by food supply destruction, but later the major cause was the near starvation rations passed out to them by Caucasian（高加索的）governments-in a weakened state even common illnesses were very often deadly. The fact that people sold into slavery was also a huge factor. Then we must not forget the hundreds of thousands of American Indians who died at the hands of brutal Caucasian governments during the 1900 s, in such places as Guatemala, where they were the majority population fighting the minority for representation. Notable, is the fact that Caucasian Canadian and American politicians turned a blind eye to the atrocities that their peers were committing in these countries, probably justifying their non-interference by labeling the rebellions communist inspired.

With racial superiority notions prevailing, the European invaders utilized two very effective White Supremacist creations to justify their invasion of the generally peaceful Nations of the Americas, and the pillaging of them. Without conscience, demonizing propaganda was created and used to dehumanize American Indians, and the Doctrine of Discovery, a Papal document that stated that non-Christians could not own land, was used to give a smidgeon of legality and a Christian blessing to the stealing of American Indian National territories, and the carnage that the invaders visited upon the citizens of the land they stole.

哥伦布是第一个从热带亚热带海域横渡并往返大西洋两岸的人，是第一个发现美洲加勒比海的全部主要岛屿的人。

哥伦布处在15世纪末16世纪初欧洲商业资本主义发展和封建制度瓦解的转变时期，他对美洲的发现顺应了欧洲资产阶级掠夺新财富、发展资本主义的迫切要求。美洲的发现和殖民化，促进了世界市场的形成。大量金银流入欧洲，扩大了资本主义原始积累，推动了欧洲资本主义的发展，加速了欧洲封建制度崩溃。同时，哥伦布发现美洲以后，在拉丁美洲建立起殖民奴役制度，给印第安人带来了深重的灾难。

Key Words in History 历史关键词

1. Christopher Columbus 克里斯托弗·哥伦布

Christopher Columbus (31 October 1451-20 May 1506) was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere. Those voyages, and his efforts to establish permanent settlements in the island of Hispaniola, initiated the process of Spanish colonization, which foreshadowed the general European colonization of the "New World."

2. Doctrine of Discovery 发现论

Papal Bulls of the 15th century gave Christian explorers the right to claim lands they "discovered" and lay claim to those lands for their Christian Monarchs. Any land that was not inhabited by Christians was available to be "discovered", claimed, and exploited. If the "pagan" inhabitants could be converted, they might be spared. If not, they could be enslaved or killed.

The Discovery Doctrine is a concept of public international law expounded by the United States Supreme Court in a series of decisions, intially in Johnson v. M' Intosh in 1823. The doctrine was Chief Justice John Marshall' s explanation of the way in which colonial powers laid claim to newly discovered lands during the Age of Discovery. Under it, title to newly discovered lands lay with the government whose subjects discovered new territory. The doctrine has been primarily used to support decisions invalidating or ignoring aboriginal possession of land in favor of colonial or post-colonial governments.

3. Indian Removal Act《印第安人迁移法案》

The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830.

President Andrew Jackson called for an Indian Removal Act in his 1829 speech on the issue. The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the Five Civilized Tribes. In particular, Georgia, the largest state at that time, was involved in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokee nation. President Jackson hoped removal would resolve the Georgia crisis. The Indian Removal Act was also very controversial. While Native American removal was, in theory, supposed to be voluntary, in practice great pressure was put on Native American leaders to sign removal treaties. Most observers, whether they were in favor of the Indian removal policy or not, realized that the passage of the act meant the inevitable removal of most Indians from the states. Some Native American leaders who had previously resisted removal now began to reconsider their positions, especially after Jackson' s landslide re-election in 1832. Affected tribes include the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole.

4. White Supremacist : 白人至上主义

White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites. White supremacy, as with racial supremacism in general, is rooted in ethnocentrism and a desire for hegemony, and has frequently resulted in violence against non-whites. Different forms of white supremacy have different conceptions of who is considered white, and not all White Supremacist organizations agree on who is their greatest enemy.

Background Knowledge 背景知识补充

美国建国以后，随着疆土的大踏步向西扩展，资产阶级政权对印第安人的征讨和屠杀进一步加强了。美国政府开始正式建军后，命令军队立即向西开进。美国陆军第一团从成立之日起，征剿印第安人就成为它的基本任务。美国联邦正规军队和民兵从事的这种残暴的屠杀和征剿，从1803年（正规军正式开始投入战斗是1811年）一直持续到1892年，差不多进行了整整一个世纪。特别是在l9世纪60年代到90年代，在当地民兵的配合下，美国联邦正规军采取分进合击等战术，集中发起了1000多次不同规模的军事行动，基本上完成了消灭印第安人的作战任务。威廉·福斯特在有关著作中叙述这段历史时写道：“美国向西、向南、向北三个方面猛烈推进时，不仅排挤了阻止它前进的国家，并且残暴地粉碎了这些土地上原来的主人——印策安人——的反抗。这种残酷地驱逐印第安人的行动是美国历史上最可耻的污点之一，而当时美国许多杰出的民主领袖也曾积极参加这种行动。”

据美国一些诚实、严谨的学者在20世纪80年代末期到90年代初期依据史料重新做出的推算，当哥伦布1492年“发现”美洲新大陆时，在现在美国和加拿大境内居住的印地安人总人口少则为3000万，多则达l亿。而在20世纪70年代，被迫分散聚居在美国全国各穷乡僻壤的“保留地”里的印地安人总人口还剩下了多少呢？据美国官方统计，还不到80万人。 Xi8IXIVzENtmrF8dsiwypRLNj7dl1Eq+5j9vtIVVsKQTOAXU37jL3dZgSGepyY2j