Christopher Columbus made La Gomera his last port of call before crossing the Atlantic in 1492 with his three ships. He stopped here to replenish his crew's food and water supplies, intending to stay only four days. Beatriz de Bobadilla y Ossorio, the Countess of La Gomera and widow of Hernán Peraza the Younger, offered him vital support in preparations of the fleet and he ended up staying one month.When he finally sailed, she gave him cuttings of sugarcane, which became the first to reach the New World.[1]

Columbus lived for a time on Portugal’s plantation island of Madeira, with its then ample population of slaves. He married the daughter of Bartolome Perestrello

Columbus had also worked as a sugar buyer for the Genoese banking family of the Centuriones; and ... must have seen slaves in the Canary Islands, working on the sugar plantations which he himself knew well

Columbus’s 1492 voyage to the New World has often been identified as a turning point in the history of the last millennium. His governorship of Hispaniola — during which the native Caribs (from which the Caribbean derives its name) were enslaved and 90% died of disease or abuse within the first decade thanks to Columbus’s quest for gold — is said to have set precedent for Cortez and Pisarro’s looting of the Aztecs and Incas and the destruction of their civilisations. The gold and silver extracted from these was, in turn, said to have funded Habsburg domination of Europe for the next two centuries and the creation of the modern world out of the feudal order that preceded it.

emphasizes civil discourse and respect for differences

use this election as an opportunity to educate students about the concept of ideology and how to bridge conflicting opinions.

Polarized Classrooms”