keithl (01/28/83)
Remember the old Kelly Freas poster captioned:
Er...Suppose Isabella had said ... No?
This is used as a support of a government funded space program. But
suppose Isabella HAD said no, and instead the spanish crown sent their
surplus soldiers south to Africa, chasing the Moors?
The first modern visitor to America would have likely been John Cabot
of England, and a great deal more of the American continent might have
been settled by the British, French, and Dutch. Anglo-chauvinist that I
am, the British system be an improvement over the feudal system presently
existing in Central and South America.
Anyone care to speculate about the alternate course of history?
Keith Lofstrom
uucp: {ucbvax,decvax,chico,pur-ee,cbosg,ihnss}!teklabs!tekcad!keithl
CSnet: keithl@tek
ARPAnet:keithl.tek@rand-relayarlan (02/02/83)
Although we Anglophiles are certain to bring down the flames upon ourselves, let me say that I totally agree with Keith Lofstrom's contention that the world would be better off had Isabella said "No" and the English settled more of the New World. With arguable exceptions, the colonized world's only bright spots are those where the English concept of civilization took hold--US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, parts of South Africa (I know the flack'll start there, but the RSA is the only African nation that feeds itself; for a look a what would happen if the white government falls, look at the wonderful progress being made in neighboring Rhodesia--the real name of that piece of territory.) Would that all of the New World were English-speaking democracies; Spain and Portugal would never have brought their misery upon the advanced nations extant in the 1500s. Perhaps the English would have negotiated with the Incas and Aztecs and a new society established without the near extermination of the native cultures down there. With all of North and south America progressive and productive, the treatment of all native populations would have been better. (Why fight Indian Wars when there's alot of land for all?) I was reminded, when watching the movie, "Ghandi", of a scene from Monty Python's "Life of Brian", where the Jewish rebels ar discussing the effects of Roman occupation upon Israel: "Well, aside from public health, literacy, uniform codes of law, great highways, peace, and prosperity, what have the Romans brought us, huh?" As compared to the Inquisitional tactics used by Isabella and her contemporary countrymen, I do wish we could go back and tell her to imprison Columbus immediately, rather than waiting twenty years. --A mixed breed of English, French, Dutch, and Cherokee, I am arlan andrews, american bell, indianapolis--on lunch hour.