By now, most know Columbus wasn’t who history books said he was. Americans willing to pay attention have discovered Columbus wasn’t all that motivated by adventure and progress, after all. Mostly, he wanted gold—and spices, mastic, anything to enrich his and Spain’s coffers. The search consumed him. As it turns out, though, Columbus wasn’t even who we rethought he was. It was natural to assume he sought wealth out of basic avarice. But no. In truth, he needed all that gold because it’s expensive to bring back Jesus.
