- Donald Trump called Christopher Columbus the "discoverer" of America.
- In the context of questioning colonization, this term has not gone unnoticed.
- Historians return to the use of this term.
In the United States, the figure of Christopher Columbus continues to divide. Saturday July 4th, National Day, a statue of the Genoese navigator was unbolted in Baltimore. On the same day, Donald Trump announced the creation of a park of statues of American heroes, including Christopher Columbus. In his speech, the American president described the navigator as "discoverer" of America. "Together, we will fight for the American dream, and we will defend, protect and preserve the American way of life, which began in 1492 when Columbus discovered America," he said.
President Trump: "We will defend, protect, and preserve American way of life - which began in 1492 when Columbus discovered America." pic.twitter.com/caQzx4Yd50
- The Hill (@thehill) July 4, 2020The controversy surrounding the Genoese figure crossed the Atlantic. On June 23, a statue representing the explorer was covered in Rouen with the inscriptions "slave", "murderer" or "rapist". The term "discovery" of America is accused of referring to a Eurocentric reading of history, when Amerindian civilizations were present on the continent long before the arrival of the European.
American cities have replaced Columbus Day
In Christophe Colomb, herald of history (University Press of France), Denis Crouzet recalls that the perception of the figure of the navigator evolved in the early 1990s in the United States, 500 years after the arrival of European ships in the Caribbean: "He who had at the same time embodied American liberation and expansionist patriotism and progress since the middle of the 18th century, on the contrary became a repulsive figure. The historian points out that about fifty American cities have replaced "Colombus Day" ("Chris Columbus Day") by an "Indigenous Peoples Day".
For the researcher, Christopher Columbus "has discovered nothing". He underlines the presence of populations on the American continent well before the arrival of the sailor: "The" discovery "would have initially occurred in the Caribbean between 6000 and 13-14,000 years before Columbus, with movements of populations coming from the south and from the north of the American continent. It could even have taken place well before on the continent, if one refers to excavations in Mexico which give to suppose a human presence as of 30-40.000 years before our era ”.
This qualification of "discovery" to qualify the voyage of Christopher Columbus is not recent, recalls at 20 Minutes Bernard Vincent, director of studies at the School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences, author of 1492, "the admirable year " :" The term "discovery" has been used for decades. What is clear is that probably Christopher Columbus was not the first European to have gone to America. There is no proof, because those who went there did not return. What is important, with Christopher Columbus, is that he returned. And he left three times before he died in 1506.
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