Columbus's Day

"It was the conquest of the islands of the Caribbean and the empires of the mainland, begun by Colon, that enabled first Spain and then the rest of Europe to plunder the riches of the Americas, with which they established powerful nation-states and developed opulent economies in Europe. It was this that allowed them to create mighty colonial systems across the two continents, and eventually throughout the world, settling millions of their citizens and imposing European culture and customs on the greatest part of humanity for the next half a millennium. It was this that created the underpinnings of the most successful civilization since the Romans—and by far the richest and most advanced the world has ever known."

Kirkpatrick Sale observes in the Los Angeles Times the five hundredth anniversary of Christopher Columbus's death.