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What do you really know about Christopher Columbus?

America's love affair with Christopher Columbus has been a rocky one. Some savor his day to celebrate Italian-American heritage, while others chafe at the impropriety of honoring a man who enslaved and killed thousands of native peoples. But our ubiquitous statues and “Columbias” testify to how passionately most of the nation once embraced Columbus. . . The history behind Columbus the person, neither the humanizing Irving portrayal nor the symbolic Columbus square with the deeds of the man himself. “It's a shock to go back and read the original documents and see that all the mean things they say about Columbus are true,” Bushman says. “He was a terrible figure really, who somehow became an idealized symbol for a nation. It's simply remarkable. Read this great article about Columbus published by The Smithsonian Magazine at -- http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-christopher-columbus-was-perfect-icon-new-nation-looking-hero-180956887/

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