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["Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>]

Well, evidence would show that you are closer to the truth than you think.
Cristobal was more likely Spanish than Italian, so Spaniard's ships would be
accurate.

As to the stuff he brought, they weren't needed and some you mentioned were
already here (onions, grapes, clover).

And, yes there is every evidence that the Polynesians, Chinese and Norsemen
had been here.  MAJOR difference.  They didn't come with the intent to take
over the world.  They didn't come with the *superior* attitude that they
knew all and only the white christians knew the *right* way.  Funny thing,
the native population and the *visitors* got along quite well.  It wasn't
until there were *invaders* that there was a problem.

So, when you do the math, the scale hangs heavily to the negative.  And,
people needing a place to escape to does NOT justify the wholesale murder of
whole groups of people and the continued depression of a whole ethnic group.

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "SISU!" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>


> Okay, my friend returned the book, and I did a quick search...in
> addition to all the pathogens like smallpox, "the Spaniards' ships
> disgorged wheat, clover, chick peas, grape vines, melons, onions,
> radishes, fruit trees, horses, pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, burros"
>
> Thinking about this from our perspective, (our meaning homestead types),
> it may seem that the European invasion did more harm than good.  Upon
> skimming the book tonight, I came to the conclusion that change was
> inevitable for the American continent.  It was only a matter of time,
> and in fact, you could make an argument that the Chinese discovered
> America before Colon, not to mention the Norsemen's adventures.
>   Things always change, move, evolve....
> Take sugar cane...
> (I just read this tonight and will paraphrase ....)
> Columbus brought sugarcane to the New World on his second voyage.  As we
> all know, it grew well here, and was one of the reasons for the
> necessity of slaves, at least that was the excuse at the time.  Where,
> you ask did it come from BEFORE Columbus??  Spain, of course....and it
> is still grown there today.  Where did Spain get it?  The Moors brought
> it to Spain when they invaded and controlled that part of Europe.  And
> backtracking further, the Moors brought it across northern
> Africa..Egypt, Morocco, etc.  They got it from the Persians, who got it
> from other Asians. The Chinese also grew it. Where, you ask, did
> sugarcane originate?
> The answer is New Guinea.  After the last ice age, the natives of New
> Guinea began cultivating sugarcane and trading it.  It made it's way all
> the way around the world, carried by one invader/trader after another.
> Many times, slave labor was used in cultivation.  It changed the world.
>
> Sure, the native Americans had sweeteners...they could have done without
> sugar, the wheel, and other things like Christianity that Europeans
> brought with them.  But that is only part of the story....and for the
> rest, you should read the book...I intend to read it again this winter.
>
> Bev
> --
> BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm   NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
> 34.498N 85.076W    Bev is Earth, Ron is Sky
>
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