Pat’s Polemics

All of the Americas were seen as something to be mined for the wealth of Europeans. Period. Only in New England were a few small colonies founded in the name of religious freedom, ‘dissent’ in those days, and even those quickly gave way to exploitation including slavery.
At least the U.S. went on to found a democracy of sorts, but we cannot practice presentism here, just recognize how the Founders laid the groundwork for the democracy we have now, under assault by the same predators who came here first from Europe.
“Interpretation” is a slippery word. How do you interpret the letters and reports to and from the colonial projects, between England and the 13 colonies, between Brazil and Portugal, between most of the other colonies and Spain? How do you interpret away the Farmers Almanac articles on how to manage and discipline slaves? All were geared toward profit if not rapine and plunder.
So we come to the bright lights: Sor Juana de la Cruz, Thomas Jefferson, Simon Bolivar, and many more bearers of freedom, enlightenment, brotherly and sisterly love, great art, magnificent achievements in agriculture and industry and striking innovations in religion. All wonderous and all borne up by the immense wealth generated by exploitation, the original purpose of exploration and founding. We might call them the great intertwining.
Without recognizing the bedrock, you short-change the suffering of millions; without recognizing the achievements, you short-change those achievements. No way around it. Stalin tried to revise history every couple of weeks; it didn’t work and it won’t work here.