Collection

Hard Truths About Columbus

Featured on Snopes today: Christopher Columbus and slavery, Google's definition of "parasite," and what Starbucks' CEO supposedly thinks of white people.

Published Oct. 14, 2019

The facts of history are unforgiving and often stand in stark contrast to traditionally held beliefs about a nation’s past, its revered historical figures in particular.

Christopher Columbus, traditionally celebrated as a great European explorer who discovered the Americas, is one of those historical figures who can no longer be regarded in such glowing, simplistic terms.

Addressing questions raised by Snopes readers about allegations that Columbus procured and distributed women and children as sex slaves, reporter Dan MacGuill encountered some hard truths about the explorer’s brutal practices in the Caribbean.

The Daily Debunker delivers top stories from Snopes.com to your inbox. Subscribe.

Christopher Columbus landing on the island of Guanahane (San Salvador) on October 12, 1492, chromolithograph from painting by Dioscoro Puebla, 1892
Read More
Read More
starbucks rosalind brewer doesn't like white people
Read More
Helen Howe dynamite girl
Read More
Read More
Read More