Christopher Columbus has been described as “paranoid, narcissistic and ruthless” by The New York Times. The Biography Channel claims he “enslaved and mutilated native people.” Not to be outdone, MTV News claims “Columbus was a genocidal rapist.” The problem with these claims is that they rely almost entirely on James W. Loewen, author of “Lies My Teacher Taught Me,” Ward Churchill and the late Howard Zinn.

Before Columbus’ voyage, the journey from Spain to the West was a tortuously circuitous one, involving a detour around Africa. Inspired by the travels of Marco Polo, Columbus sought a more direct route, which would streamline the distance between the continents. Although the Vikings had sailed from Iceland and Greenland 500 years earlier, they had quickly left America without ever realizing they had reached another continent.