The bestselling "People's History of the United States" by the late people's historian Howard Zinn begins with a story about the Arawak men and women of the Bahama Islands running to greet Christopher Columbus and his sailors with food, water, and gifts. Columbus later wrote in his log, "They brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned. They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features. They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane. They would make fine servants. With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."