Sunday, May 22, 2016

SHELBY FLOWERS 9TH



Stolen Christopher Columbus Letter Returned to Italy

            Imagine that the only way to track the history of the discovery of the Americas was stolen and historians would have to make up how Columbus and the others got here.  That could turn into a big joke.  What if all the history that we have learned up to this point was changed because the documents were stolen and historians had to rewrite history?  Changing how history is made now, is sometimes a good thing, but we cannot change what is in the past.  A lot of times we probably wish we could but then we might not learn from our mistakes or cherish what were good.  Women may no longer be able to vote, African Americans may still be slaves, Columbus may not be credited with discovering the Americas and we may all loose our civil rights.  Our lives could be very different and not always for the better.


Analysis:

Rossella Lorenzi wrote this article to show how important it is that crimes be solved and that important artifacts be returned to the rightful owner.  Leaving this crime unsolved from 1950 is a travesty and generations of students could have not benefited from the information that was in the documents.  The importance of returning the documents to the country where Columbus was originally from, shows that Americans appreciate history and give credit where it is due. 
I can’t imagine not being able to solve a terrible crime from over sixty years ago.  I would want to know where the documents were and I would not want them falling into the wrong hands.  Some people might use this opportunity to take advantage of the documents and use them to make money from.  If these documents were sold on the black market or even on the streets, people would not understand what a valuable document it was, not money wise, but tradition and historically.  It makes me very proud that as an American, my country solved the crime and had the right mind to return the documents to the country where Columbus was from.  It truly was the right decision.


Article Link:

http://news.discovery.com/history/us-history/stolen-christopher-columbus-letter-returned-to-italy-160518.htm

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