Columbus was a brilliant man in his own right. Get in touch! Equipping students to grapple with the complexities of the past and the controversies of today, By grappling with the question of who we celebrate, and why, history teachers can help students navigate the complexities of the past, Resurfacing the lessons of Ferguson, which continue to resonate today, From Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day, Theres definitely a trend toward questioning Columbus Day. In addition to The Daily Citizen, his written pieces have appeared in The Daily Signal, Life News, The Colorado Independent, and The Millennial Review. So, there you have it; five reasons not to celebrate Columbus Day this year (or any other year). Columbus Day is not a holiday the U.S. and Italian Americans should And its fundamentally important that they do so. Columbus Day is a national holiday in the United States that celebrates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492. Among the reasons cited for the Columbus Day federal holiday was that it was being observed in 40 states at the time. Columbus Undertook Adventure for God and Country, After Columbus returned to Spain from his first voyage to the Americas in 1493, he wrote this in his letter to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella: They manifest the greatest affection towards all of us, exchanging valuable things for trifles, content with the very least thing or nothing at all. It neednt be a battleground, but a chance to celebrate the best within us. First, lets just put aside the paradox of discovering a land that already had a population of indigenous people. He even made his crew swear an oath that Cuba was not an island but indeed the mainland of Asia, and that China could be reached overland from there. Although Columbus Day remains a national holiday, given the criticism surrounding the day, some states and cities have opted to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day instead. He and his crew were greeted with smiles, gifts and food. It is known by many as to what had happened after Americas discovery. AtAncient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. (He had plenty of different ships on subsequent voyages.). How many countries award holidays to non-natives? Within a few decades, only a few hundred of an original native population of 300,000 remained. SHOULD CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS BE CELEBRATED? 1. Once upon a time, teachers celebrated Columbus Day by leading children in choruses of song about the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Personally, I dont think we should celebrate Columbus Day. Yet, what is rarely discussed is the barbaric genocide perpetrated by Native American tribes from Mexico to Peru against other Native Americans before the arrival of Europeans. Examine Columbuss "discovery" of America. This essay is available online and might have been used by another student. In his role, he writes about current political issues, U.S. history, political philosophy, and culture. But I think considering the fact that Columbus also enslaved a group of people who were otherwise peaceful to him should be noted. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The idea that Christopher Columbus discovered "The New World" is one of the great fallacies of history. But as I grew older, it became clear that history is murky. But what exactly does it mean to be civilized? However, it was his brother, the cartographers idea to sail West. "It's difficult to think there exists a site anywhere with a higher concentration of cave art.". So before waving the US flag in celebration of a criminal who did not discover America, spare a thought for the millions of Native Americans who were murdered as a result of Christopher Columbus arrival on American soil. By REAGAN ESCUD SCOTT / Monday, October 10, 2022. He read books, studied the ocean, and made a name for himself. Likewise, Thomas Jefferson, also a slave owner, should be remembered for writing one of the most brilliant documents in the history of mankind, the Declaration of Independence, which contributed greatly to the ending of slavery and segregation in the United States. If we cannot honor anyone in human history that did not have flaws or imperfections, we cannot honor anyone at all. Exploring the story of Columbus postmortem voyages and the enduring mystery. He asked for 3 more days, and if land was not sighted, the crew could do with him as they wished. Not just Europeans, but everyone. How could we look at this from a different perspective? The artefacts include cave paintings and ceramic art depicting animals, hunting expeditions and the daily lives of people who lived around the Serra da Capivara in Brazil for tens of thousands of years. Was Christopher Columbus a Hero or Villain? - Biography He was the catalyst that brought more explorers across the Atlantic, who would eventually begin to explore North America, but it is . The White House is pushing National Coming Out Day as a way of changing the subject. And to see that it is not the essence of Columbus, but rather part of the times. Columbuss men also killed off slaves whenever needed. Legal Statement. (See, Columbus promised Ferdinand and Isabella so much, including gold, they had given him 17 ships and well over a thousand men for his second voyage! Like Andrew Jackson, Christopher Columbus is a historical figure who is celebrated as a mythical hero. In fact, a new exhibition in Brazil features more than 100 artefacts dating back as far as 30,000 years ago, 18,000 years earlier than previously believed. Every year, on the second Monday in October, the people in the United States celebrate a national holiday in memory of Christopher Columbus, the one who discovered the new continent. Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide. Columbuss men used native girls as young as nine or ten as their sex slaves. 5 Reasons to Celebrate Columbus Day as a Symbol of Diversity Always trying. Berkeley originally replaced Columbus Day with show more content. Between 1482 and 1485 Columbus traded along the Guinea and Gold coasts of tropical West Africa and made at least one voyage to Elmina, Ghana. After all of this, he made four transatlantic voyages to the new world beginning with his first famed voyage in 1492. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. This movement sees Columbus as a symbol of destruction, and thus not to be celebrated. 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Despite not finding any of the places that his favorite books described (places in China, India and Japan), he convinced himself that they were just around the corner. 10 Reasons Why We Celebrate Columbus Day - TipTopTens.com Published: October 7, 2021 8.23am EDT Updated: October 7, 2021 9.53am EDT. Dominant narratives tend to speak about heroes in a simple sense; counternarratives can be much more critical. If you dont like it, well kill you.) Besides that, there is ample evidence of Leif Erickson and his fellow Vikings landing in Newfoundland/Labrador around five centuries earlier. We think of Columbus Day as a heroic and triumphant day ever since 1970, when the holiday was legally made a national holiday. Colorado did so on April 1, 1907. When Columbus arrived in 1492, he enslaved the Natives, and took control over their way of life, and also made his way into the Caribbean Island. Columbus day is a controversial holiday, but one that should be celebrated. European settlers not only introduced new diseases to the Americas that wiped out scores of Indigenous people, but also warfare, colonization, enslavement, and torture. Though it has its controversies, Columbus day should be celebrated. Sure, Chris had been sailing since age 14. After his voyage to America, he became one of the most well known explorers of his time. Congress also believed the holiday would mark the contribution of immigrants to the United States. But as I grew older, it became clear that history is murky. Although it has been a tradition in the United States to recognize this day as a federal holiday for many years, whether Christopher Columbus' actions merit celebration is now being questioned, and rightly so . As an anti-paean to a holiday most Americans hardly acknowledge (unless they get a day off), here are a list of reasons that we should remove Columbus Day from our list of federal holidays. He was a man of faith for whom God provided, and his discovery led to the eventual establishment of the Western values we know and seek to preserve today. Nefer Say Nefer - Was Nefertiti Buried in the Valley of the Queens? Cambridge, MA 02138, Challenges? Elliott Lassitter and John WirtOctober 26, 2017. Columbus Day is one of the oldest holidays in the USA Observing Columbus Day started back in the 18th century. Columbus Day was a solution to a problem that most people didn't know existed. He would have peoples ears and noses cut off as punishments. A main argument for the idealization of the 15th century explorer is the idea that he was the first European to discover the Americas. -- Celebrate Italians (though there is some question as to whether Columbus would have considered himself an Italian -- he was long thought to have been born in Genoa, then an independent city-state in what is now Italy, though everyone from Greece to Portugal to Poland have claimed him as their own). Most of the time when injustices occurred, Columbus wasnt even there. He shows the effect of willpower and perseverance. The plan was to join up once theyd gotten the backing they needed. We shouldn't be wasting our time on holidays that won't even. If it wasn't for Columbus, the motivation for exploration and expansion wouldn't have become a priority because nobody knew about the Americas. I think there is a ton of potential in celebrating an Indigenous Peoples' Day, but what that is, what it looks like we need to start with asking indigenous folks to define it. As awareness has grown about the catastrophic effect his discovery had on Americas indigenous populations, it has increasingly been viewed as a disaster rather than triumph, and rightly so. The Left Hates Christopher Columbus. Here are Five Reasons Why We Columbus set a precedent for exploration of the new world. Had he have given up, the world would be drastically different today. Aside from the despicable acts that Columbus and his people committed, there is plenty of evidence to show that Columbus was not the first foreigner to arrive on the continent anyway. by sailing west. Usable Knowledge 5 Reasons Why It's Still OK To Celebrate Columbus Day - The Hayride Make sure your essay is plagiarism-free or hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs. But its hard for children to understand that someone who they were taught to idolize is a bad guy. So partly, out of spite, here are a few reasons why Columbus Day shouldnt be celebrated. This has started to cause a change, and many cities within America have taken on a remuneration for the controversial holiday. . Monday marks Columbus Day, in honor of Christopher Columbus but not all will be celebrating the Italian explorer. Columbus was taking advantage of opportunities to find goods by getting the help of slaves. He thereby claimed the lifetime pension for himself, cheating the rightful claimant out of both glory and a significant amount of money. On his second voyage, he landed at Hispaniola, Cuba, and Jamaica among others. Turning points are powerful lenses through which students need to view our past. Hence, the inducement cited above.). Her Campus may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Or maybe even plan to discover your own new-to-you islands! The United States and several Latin American countries celebrate Columbus Day to recognize Christopher Columbus striking land in the Americas and the mixing of European and Native American Cultures. 1. This kept them from planting crops, leading to widespread starvation. Turning points are powerful lenses through which students need to view our past. For privacy reasons, she has previously written on Ancient Origins under the pen name April Holloway, but is now choosing to use her real name, Joanna Gillan. Columbus Day celebrations date back to 1792, when New York City celebrated the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landfall. In any case, we know for a fact that Europeans traveled to America almost 500 years before Columbus. While we are thankful for this land we call America, it . Large Increase in U.S. She likes thrifting, romance novels, cooking shows, and can often be found binging documentaries. Nevertheless, Italians claim him today and Columbus Day is a good chance to recognize what Italians have contributed to America, and the world. When he was only 23. he had the idea of going to India, China and Japan. If we need a national holiday for the second Monday in October, lets at least honor an AMERICAN who hasnt been shown to be the prime mover in the torture/death/destruction of so many people. Like most Americans, I learned in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Ingrained in my mind are the names of his ships: The Nina, The Pinta and the Santa Maria. History, in fact, is the story of conquest. It was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that designated the second Monday of October (Columbus Day) as a national holiday in 1971. Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+! We still have to understand the time he was born but Christopher Columbus. Thats when learning happens. 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Every Columbus Day I am forcibly reminded of my hatred for Christopher Columbus. Top 5 Reasons NOT to Celebrate Columbus Day And 1 Reason To His first impression of the Arawaks, one of the first peoples he encountered, was . Columbus was wrong of course, and needless to say, he didnt actually discover anything the Americas had already been inhabited for thousands of years. You need to be able to deeply understand the profoundly problematic past of this great nation. One of the (many) perks of growing up on an island in the Caribbean was that we could actually take a field trip to Columbus Landing a spot fairly close to my school where Columbus and his crew set foot in 1493 among islands he called Las Islas Virgenes, after St. Ursula and her eleven thousand virgins. Thousands of the Taino, or Indians as Columbus had referred to them, were shipped out to be traded internationally. An angry mob decided to drag them. Other times they would go and massacre an entire village. Why Do We (Still) Celebrate Columbus Day? - Learning for Justice Along and through History, conquerors have had violent behaviour. Please follow him or give him some claps please be sure thats in the plural if you enjoyed this. (Though it should be noted a large portion of the deaths of Native Americans was due to disease, not violence--an inevitable consequence of Old World illness in New World soil. Most of us can remember the day when Americans still seemed to like Christopher Columbus. Why the Woke Perspective on Columbus Day Is Wrong With as simple of a description as that, one would wonder why so much controversy arises from a legal American holiday. Just as the country grapples with the meaning and problems of Confederate monuments, so too are schools, towns, and even whole states grappling with Columbus Day. Many are deciding to rename and refocus the holiday, choosing to call it Indigenous Peoples' Day to honor the people whose lives and cultures were irreparably damaged by the colonial conquest that the age of exploration ushered into being. So the discovery of the Western Hemisphere should go to Erickson, no? Just bear in mind that the verb "colonize" and the terms "colony", and "colonial" derive from Columbus ("Colon", in Spanish spelling). Columbus Day commemorates the landing of Columbus in the "New World" (on a small island off Florida) on October 12, 1492. Why more people are celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day And, sure he was directly responsible for the enslavement, torture, mutilation, and murder of tens of thousands of Native American people in the Caribbean islands during his quest for riches. Some committed suicide to avoid subjugation, others fled, but many rebelled. How Columbus Sailed Into U.S. History, Thanks To Italians His contract with the monarchs, called The Capitulations. Christopher Columbus, as it turned out, was responsible for widespread genocide; he permitted his men to rape, murder, mutilate and enslave indigenous people. When confronted with evidence to the contrary, he simply could not conceive of the the idea that he might be wrong. Columbus Day is a United States federal holiday that celebrates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492. The main reason some Leftists dont want to celebrate Christopher Columbus is because his actions supposedly led to the genocide of Native American peoples. Nevertheless, the first official Columbus Day happened in 1892, when President Harrison issued a proclamation for Americans to commemorate the day. You can order an original essay written according to your instructions. There has been much debate over whether or not Columbus Day should be celebrated. If Columbus had been an Englishman, or a Frenchman, would have they behaved in a different way? Ironically, the District of Columbia is named after, you guessed it, Christopher Columbus. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. As a direct result of Columbus discovery, indigenous Americans were enslaved, killed and oppressed to such a degree that a population of around 60 million in 1492, fell by 8090% in less than 150 years.
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