Describe The Relationship Between Past And Future

The relationship between past and future
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The relationship between past and future
Scholars believe that our past and present determines our future, events of the past are important, our past means reviewing ,history, defining and interpreting events that occurred in the past, whether at an individual level or within the society. The events are documented to enable other generation be familiar with their origin. To understand our history, we heavily rely on historians who document significant events (Pollock, 2013). The question is how people who have been known to make history significantly influence today and the future as they present the good side of history (Pollock, 2013). People who have been credited with success from written historical events have manipulated the detailed account of the truth (Jett, 2017).
George Orwell claims that “Who controls the past, controls the future, and who controls the present, controls the past" (Nakamura, 2016). The above phrase shows how history can change the world. George Orwell implies that the future can easily be determined by the past. If the past was pleasant, this is what we would strive for in the future. If our past was not peaceful, then the future cannot be different (Nakamura, 2016). George Orwell’s reaction to Christopher Columbus’s story justifies how our history can influence the future. Because history is written by those who are dominant, this essay argues in reference to the story of Columbus reviewing the definition of history.
Christopher Columbus the great explorer known for his role in the western civilization has sparked the debate whether Columbus was a patriotic to be glorified (Beding, 2016). Scholars and historians have argued that the story of Columbus presents the history of exploitation of native Indians but not of a true hero (Beding, 2016). Spaniards who were present at the time the journal was being written, viewed Columbus as a cruel person, not a person worthy to be celebrated (Jane, 2017). Today's history portrays Columbus as a hero and an explorer who discovered America, earning himself a day that needs to be celebrated in the form of Columbus Day (Jane, 2017).
The question is whether there is some truth about the exploitation of the native people during the process of discovery. There has been a great divide on how people viewed Columbus, George Orwell's phrase and other scholars support some of these claims (Zinn,2016).Howard Zinn admits that, despite holding a Ph.D. in history, he had never reviewed the story of Columbus including his action, this overshadows the saying "he who controls the past controls the future', (Zinn, 2016). Howard had achieved the highest levels of knowledge in history and specialized in history; he had not known issues of exploitation that were kept a secret. Like many people, Howard relied on Columbus journal to understand what took place in the past (Zinn, 2016).
One of the quotes from Columbus’s journal described the native people as “very simple and honest and exceedingly liberal with all they have, none of them refusing anything he may possess when he is asked for it. They would make great slaves" (Zinn, 2016). Such statements are biased because they were Columbus thoughts. The deeper meaning of these words reveals that Columbus exploited people for acquiring gold. It also implies that he manipulated and ruled the weak in the past (Clewell, 2013).
The fact that Christopher Columbus is being celebrated worries many people of what values we want to instill in our children today(Clewell, 2013). Columbus’ role in history is being challenged. Many people view the history of America from a different perspective in regards to Columbus Day; they believe that Columbus Day is a celebration of western civilization but not the true history of America (Clewell, 2013). The fact that in his journal, he described the people of Bahamas as Arawak Indians calling them Tainos(Hutton, 2013), proves that Columbus viewed native Indians differently , he viewed them as people to be exploited but not hosts (Hutton, 2013). Many arguments were that all Columbus wanted material benefits like gold, more than upholding true human values. Apart from gold, Columbus was eager to pursue his ambitions like converting natives to Christianity (Hutton, 2013). Scholars view Columbus’ journey as not of a major discovery, but in search for slaves because he physically abused those natives who did not want to help him achieve his mission. In schools, many students have argued about Columbus discoveries, bringing confusion about the true meaning of history (Hutton, 2013).
Based on these facts of exploitation, evident in several kinds of literature, suggestions have been presented on how to deliver important historic events in a way that does not scare children and does not falsify history (Bickford, 2013). Scholars argue that children may not be ready to hear the truth when the true account of history is presented about the true American history. It is not surprising that when these children grow, they still do not know the truth (Bickford, 2013). The journal record indicates the historical meaning including, what Columbus did during his time, he was a voyage, but not a ruler, during his time. The activities he did make him more of a colonizer than a voyager (Beding, 2016) did.
He discovered a new state, a new country and also tried to make the local people like himself. The perception of governing the weak is similar to George Orwell claims about how the past determines the future (Beding, 2016). Howard believes that Columbus was in search of gold, and his leadership shows that he wanted to govern the natives to get as much gold as possible (Zinn,2016). Columbus’ authoritative rule is well described by Howard giving an example of how Columbus threatened native Indians to search for gold or face severe consequences. These are the same people who had welcomed him to the native land (Zinn, 2016).
After seeing some gold among Indians, Columbus concluded that there could be some possibility of huge amounts of gold among the natives. Columbus hacked off their arms, especially those who could not find gold within the set period so that other natives could learn from these people how his mission was important (Zinn, 2016). However, when he failed to get enough gold to impress the Monarch and his financiers, instead, Columbus sent them slaves. His action shows high levels of brutality. Some of the atrocities of Columbus include forcing the Indian natives to search for gold, and anyone who did not find gold for him was persecuted through starvation, many natives ended up taking poison to avoid facing such harsh punishments (Zinn, 2016).
The fact that in his journal, Columbus described the native American in an admirable way stating that “They are the best people in the world and above all the gentlest—without knowledge of what is evil—nor do they murder or steal…they love their neighbors as themselves and they have the sweetest talk in the world…always laughing" (Zinn & Mac...