Topic: Fact Finding
Most of us have parroted whay we heard in elementary school without ever thinking about the veracity behind what teachers tell us.
One of the most parroted responses comes to the question, "Why did Columbus call the people he found on his journey Indians?"
I bet most of of you who read this told yourselves metally "Because he was trying to get to India", which sounds very plausible, especially when you are young and hear it from a teacher. I know I believed it for quite a while. You know who set me straight? George Carlin. I believe it was in his first book, "Brain Droppings".
It only takes one fact to blow the whole India/Indians story to pieces. In 1492 the area now known as India was known as Hindustan. Why would call them "Indians" instead of "Hindus" then?
Well really, he didn't. Columbus was Italian, remember (Cristoforo Columbo) and working for the King and Queen of Spain. He used to send messages back to them in Spanish, and in one of them he described the natives of the land he was in as being "un gente in dios" or "A people in god". In dios just somehow became Indian.
That's it. Not quite as simple as the handed down version, but not too much more complex.