But Columbus couldnt deliver on the gold claim. Of course, I learned that everyone expected him to sail off the edge of a flat earth into space or sea monsters or something. Until his dying day Columbus maintained that the land he had discovered was Asia and not a new continent. Its important to learn about what Columbus did to Native Americans because not everyone knows the truth about him and his treatment of the Natives. Sure, he was addicted to opium, but a lot of people were at the time. There are many good reasons as to why Columbus Day is such a controversial holiday. How could we look at this from a different perspective? That alone is worth celebrating.". Lets stop idolizing people in history who dont deserve it. Why Should Columbus Day Be Celebrated | Hearinnh In response to the rebellion, Columbus ordered a brutal crackdown in which many natives were killed, and their dismembered bodies paraded through the streets. Consider how the first Columbus Day parade in New York was described in the newspapers. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. There are also theories that the Irish arrived far before the Vikings, and that the Chinese and Polynesians may also have also visited the Americas before Columbus. AtAncient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. Spanish conquistadors couldn't believe their eyes while exploring the rugged terrain of the Andes during their invasion of Peru. This criticism had quickly faded over time, and was replaced by a more pressing issue; the improper treatment towards indigenous people. The Columbus Day Problem | Harvard Graduate School of Education by sailing west. We shouldn't be wasting our time on holidays that won't even. 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. In 1892, a joint congressional resolution prompted President Benjamin Harrison to mark the "discovery of America by Columbus," in part because of "the devout faith of the discoverer and for the. The statue of Christopher Columbus remains encased in a wooden box on Marconi Plaza Aug. 12, 2020, as the sun sets on the day the Philadelphia Art Commission voted to remove it and store it while the city deliberates on a new permanent home for the controversial monument. Its Cristoforo Colombo. "It's difficult to think there exists a site anywhere with a higher concentration of cave art.". Not if we cant celebrate Christopher Columbus. This new day was first adopted in Berkeley, California in 1992. I'm not the only Italian American on board with ditching the holiday. Its 2020 people. This was due to the impression that Columbus was attempting to spread Catholic influence. This is also apparent when he was trying to get sponsorships for the trips. 8 Reasons to Hate Columbus Day - The Daily Dot His father was a wool weaver, and cheese stand owner. Pre-Columbian civilizations from Mexico to Peru were nearly all responsible for brutal violence on a large scale long before Columbus arrived on the shores of the New World including human sacrifices, even of children, sometimes by tearing out the victims still-beating heart.. The Andy Griffith Show Remains a Masterclass in Leadership and Life, Births in Japan Fall to Record Low Amid Catastrophic Population Decline, Foretelling Worlds Future. Columbus Day is a United States federal holiday that celebrates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492. If Columbus is Off Limits to Celebrate, so are Indigenous Peoples. Colorado did so on April 1, 1907. Two Reasons why Columbus Day should not be Celebrated, This example was written and submitted by a fellow student. So the discovery of the Western Hemisphere should go to Erickson, no? And Erickson was certainly as European as Columbus (at least in todays geographical terminology.) -- Celebrate the spread of Western civilization. 5 Reasons to Celebrate Columbus Day as a Symbol of Diversity Even if we ignore that, this one still depends on your definition of America. The first complete mapping of a Neanderthal genome took place about five years ago - supporting the human-Neanderthal hook-up and also showing that Neanderthal DNA in humans is a thing. Not just Europeans, but everyone. And most of all, I was taught of his discovering America. Columbus Day, the second Monday in October, is a nationally recognized holiday. Christopher Columbus was a murderer, rapist, and thief who did not actually find America, but indeed only visited a land where Native Americans have already been living. He read books, studied the ocean, and made a name for himself. (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! 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 reason Columbus set sail on his epic journey in the first place was because he raped the 13-year-old daughter of a Spanish Duchess. Specifically, he is credited with being the first European explorer since the Vikings to explore the New World for Europeans. 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. The City Council recently voted to get rid of Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples Day, commemorating indigenous, aboriginal and native people.. Who Destroyed the Great Library of Alexandria? Architecture of the Floating (Or Sinking) City: How Was Venice Built? Columbus Day is one of America s oldest holidays. If we cannot honor anyone in human history that did not have flaws or imperfections, we cannot honor anyone at all. Elliott Lassitter and John WirtOctober 26, 2017. The holiday celebrates . Thousands of the Taino, or Indians as Columbus had referred to them, were shipped out to be traded internationally. Why we should celebrate "Indigenous Peoples' Day" instead of "Columbus He decided at an early age that this was not the life for him. And now Ill claim it for us! As Greek mythology goes, the universe was once a big soup of nothingness. . This essay is available online and might have been used by another student. Columbus Day: Why We Shouldn't Celebrate It - MSU Reporter Why We Should Celebrate Columbus Day? Free Essay Example Once we do this, Columbus Day can be a truly inclusive holiday. Mettler earned his Bachelors degree from William Jessup University and is an alumnus of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. In his role, he writes about current political issues, U.S. history, political philosophy, and culture. The plan was to join up once theyd gotten the backing they needed. Thats when learning happens. The king wrote, We in his name will receive you with love and charity, respecting your freedom and that of your wives and sons and your rights of possession and we shall not compel you to baptism unless you, informed of the truth, wish to convert to our holy Catholic faith., Columbuss drive for exploration was religious. 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. I remember learning about Columbus as a young child and I was in awe learning about the explorer. Their spears are made of cane. History comes with an agenda. Give us your paper requirements, choose a writer and well deliver the highest-quality essay! This has started to cause a change, and many cities within America have taken on a remuneration for the controversial holiday. If we blame Columbus and the Spanish kings, we should also blame every other invader and conqueror in History. Columbus did not "discover America," but his voyages began the Columbian exchange, a turning point in world history involving the massive transfers of human populations, cultures, ideas, animals, plants, and diseases. What is Indigenous Peoples Day? Is it offensive to celebrate Columbus (BTW, you can find a list of over 40 of his articles here.). Many believe that they sailed even further south, maybe as far as New Brunswick. Ancient Chinese Earthquake Detector Invented 2,000 Years Ago Really Worked! For all the reasons listed above, and for how he acted during his stay in the Americas, Christopher Columbus should not be remembered as a voyaging adventurer who discovered America. According to a recent poll, 79% of college students support such a change. (And yes, I also know many other discoverers have been posited through the ages. Why Should We Celebrate Columbus Day Essay - 1065 Words | Cram matter in the end. 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. Listen I know almost everyone celebrated in history enslaved people. 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. Christopher Columbus may have been a daring adventurer but he is not someone we want our kids to think of as a hero or role model. Washington, D.C., has joined hundreds of U.S. cities in seven states in replacing Columbus Day with a day to celebrate Native Americans. Columbus was definitely a brave and courageous (and lucky) captain, but his navigational skills left a lot to be desired. After Columbus established the first Spanish colony at La Isabela, on the north coast of Hispaniola (modern-day Dominican Republic), relations between the Spanish and the indigenous population quickly deteriorated. A lot of depopulation was caused by suicides, including some parents killing their own children to prevent them from living and growing up as a slave. It's also why it's crucial we learn facts about Native Americans and. He should be remembered as the cruel and incompetent man he was who let his sailors rape and pillage the islands they landed on as they pleased. original papers. The main reason some Leftists dont want to celebrate Christopher Columbus is because his actions supposedly led to the genocide of Native American peoples. 10 Reasons Why We Celebrate Columbus Day - TipTopTens.com We should stop celebrating Columbus - The Bona Venture I'm Amy, Yes, we have a federal holiday on Christmas, but Ill put that in a special category (which well call religious.). As these texts have become popular, and more history teachers have read them, more students have learned a more accurate account of Columbus from a younger age. October 11, 2021 5:00 am. There, the brothers should have been exposed to the adventures of another explorer: Leif Erickson. Zachary Mettler works as a staff writer and communications liaison for The Daily Citizen at Focus on the Family. Don't know where to start? Sure, Chris had been sailing since age 14. Cal Poly State University - San Luis Obispo, California State University - Los Angeles, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, California State University, Channel Islands, Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi, Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Federal University Of Agriculture Abeokuta, University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign, Interamerican University of Puerto Rico San German campus, Keiser University - Latin American Campus, London School of Economics and Political Science, California State University of Sacramento, Savannah College of Art and Design Atlanta, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, The University of Texas of the Permian Basin, University of North Carolina - Wilmington, University of South Florida - St. Petersburg, William Paterson University of New Jersey. Here Are Some Reasons Why. And most believe the idea came from their familys time in Iceland. (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. . Be careful, this sample is accessible to everyone. The war against the Western heritage. 2023 PapersOwl.com - All rights reserved. Should the United States continue to celebrate Columbus Day? (Not that the West solely had these ideas, but it put them in a package that wasnt generally available elsewhere.). His first impression of the Arawaks, one of the first peoples he encountered, was . Columbus was a brutal and cruel man who . Columbus Day. 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. To begin, some people think Columbus is a hero because he found America, which is not true. Interests? For any subject. Why would an academic system praise someone who was so blatantly evil? April Holloway is a Co-Owner, Editor and Writer of Ancient Origins. It is known by many as to what had happened after Americas discovery. And hes credited for marking the establishment of institutionalized slavery in the West Indies. Columbus set a precedent for exploration of the new world. But as I grew older, it became clear that history is murky. -- Celebrate the spirit of exploration. But since the 1990s, a growing number of states have begun to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day - a holiday meant to honor the culture and history of the people living in the Americas both before and after Columbus' arrival. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, University Overrules Student Senate Activists; Recognizes Conservative Club, A Mansion, Yemen, and Stories of Gods Goodness, Tennessee and Mississippi Pass Bills to Protect Children from Harmful Sex Change Procedures. The opposition towards Christopher Columbus did not commence in todays society, or even the 21st century. We dont know exactly where this is, but its most likely one of the islands that make up modern-day Bahamas. How many countries award holidays to non-natives? The main reason Columbus Day draws opposition is because of how the explorer's arrival to the New World affected Indigenous people. And #5 gets worse. This began with the spirit of Christopher Columbus. How Columbus Sailed Into U.S. History, Thanks To Italians By 1516, there were 12,000. Why We Shouldn't Celebrate Columbus Day - Her Campus Yet, despite all the gruesome sacrifice and slavery, some still wish to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day. hen, on his fourth, final voyage, he landed at present-day Panama. And those multiple viewpoints may help engage students who might feel otherwise unrepresented in a history class, such as females and students of color. In our opinion, this is something to celebrate, not the arrival of Christopher Columbus who led the way for these indigenous populations to have their culture decimated and their population murdered, displaced or forced into slavery. Published: October 7, 2021 8.23am EDT Updated: October 7, 2021 9.53am EDT. Columbus Day's Meaning For Italian Americans : NPR I discovered America. She likes thrifting, romance novels, cooking shows, and can often be found binging documentaries. Columbus killed a tremendous amount of people (genocide), and got away with it because of better equipment, men and control. 20 University Rd., 6th Floor It took tremendous bravery to sail off into the unknown. As known by many, Columbus Day commemorates the discovery of the New World by none other than Christopher Columbus himself. Columbus couldnt be killed without angering the Italian court, so Queen Isabella sent him on a mission, hoping he wouldnt return. 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. We should celebrate Indigenous People's Day instead. . Columbus is also well known as a great explorer, and not the man he truly is, who hurt people in order for things to go his way and for him to get what he wants, which was power., Two Reasons Why Columbus Day Should Not be Celebrated. "Ignore the propaganda and instead remember Christopher Columbus with gratitude and a clear conscience. 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. Adults Especially Gen Z Identifying as LGBT. Top 5 Reasons NOT to Celebrate Columbus Day And 1 Reason To Many of those enslaved would die, and were then easily replaced by some brought from the Bahamas. Back in 1492, Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, where he. On October 12,1792was when it was first celebrated. 1. Why should we celebrate a man who promoted and distributed so much violence when we can celebrate and honor the history of Indigenous people? Bring them to the light, if you would. That's my nephew, Trinidad, reveling in the joys of Caribbean sailing somewhere between St. Croix and Buck Island aboard Teroro II. Had he have given up, the world would be drastically different today. On his 1492 voyage, Chris landed on a number of islands including some in the Bahamas very close to mainland Florida. If the commemorations dealt at all with the impact of European exploration on the indigenous civilizations already flourishing in these discovered lands, it was often fleeting. Along and through History, conquerors have had violent behaviour. Then they would sail away together to claim their riches. When it comes to celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day, I want to make sure we do justice to indigenous folks. If Columbus had been an Englishman, or a Frenchman, would have they behaved in a different way? In an era where we are fighting for racial equality celebrating false heroes is detrimental to progress. Why We Should Not Celebrate Columbus Day | ipl.org These books have fueled the trends I mentioned around Columbus Day. You can order an original essay written according to your instructions. The truth about Columbus Day, explained | Salon.com On October 11, 2021, America officially recognized the inhumane treatment that the Native Americans faced for centuries and honored the brave warriors who fought against the oppression and genocide of their people. Why more people are celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day One of the few facts Americans remember from history is "Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 Columbus Day Should Not Be Celebrated. Upon arriving in the New World, one of the first observations Columbus made with regards to the indigenous people was the following: 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. For example, a neighbor taking a stick and beating your child as some kind of punishment might have been perfectly fine at one time. Europe, Asia and Africa, of course, suffered through numerous plagues of their own.). When Columbus landed on the island of Guanahani in 1492, North and South America were . Columbus should not be celebrated, let alone given a day. It not only invalidates the legitimacy of the natives people claim to their land but also projects the notion that the natives arent people at all. It was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that designated the second Monday of October (Columbus Day) as a national holiday in 1971. Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment. Why I proudly celebrate Columbus Day | Washington Examiner Should Christopher Columbus Be Celebrated? - HISTORY CRUNCH And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there existcountless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts thathave yet to be discovered and explained. They would make fine servants. A recent Marist Poll shows why: Those campaigning against Columbus Day are in the minority. Why Christopher Columbus shouldn't be celebrated - The Snapper But as I grew older, it became clear that history is murky. Christopher Columbus is just one of those English adaptations someone felt was preferable to pronouncing a foreign sounding name. Why is he important? It consisted mostly of about 12,000 public school students grouped into 20 regiments, each commanded by a principal. The natives were removed from their villages to work in gold mines and colonial plantations. Why NOT to celebrate Columbus Day | Ancient Origins Surprisingly, this holiday was first celebrated by Italians of New York in 1866 honoring Columbus's Italian Heritage, but the official celebration in Spain did not . Thats a lesson for later. Columbus Day, which is celebrated today in the USA and honours the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the New World, is an example of outdated and misguided history. We should honor George Washington, the Indispensable man, for his military bravado and skilled leadership as our first president, even though he owned slaves. As I said in the beginning of this piece, Columbus did not discover what would become North America. Here are three reasons we shouldn't celebrate Columbus Day, as a country. 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. Christopher Columbus, as it turned out, was responsible for widespread genocide; he permitted his men to rape, murder, mutilate and enslave indigenous people. If I sailed to Italy and said that I discovered this land in the name of Rowan University it wouldnt fly right? Hoping to bring fresh perspectives to topics like race & politics, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0. While deprivations did occur, Columbus was quick to punish those under his command who committed unjust acts against local populations Columbus did not engage in the savage acts that have been pinned on him., In addition, Columbus strictly told the crew not to do things like maraud, or rape, and instead to treat the native people with respect. Stupid but hopeful. Curious, politically homeless, always hopeful. Most people know of the great construction achievements of the dynastic Egyptians such as the pyramids and temples of the Giza Plateau area as well as the Sphinx. Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert. Though flawed, Columbus was a great man with an adventurous spirit, sailing the seas to prepare to establish a new world. In short, today is Christopher Columbus Day, and we should all celebrate that. Columbus arrival is seen as the beginning of civilization in the Americas. Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October. Two reasons why Columbus Day should not be celebrated is that we shouldnt have a day where we glorify someone who hurt and enslaved innocent people (Native Americans) and because he destroyed the tranquility in the slaves homes and land with genocide and abuse. Indigenous Peoples Day: Why it's replacing Columbus Day in many places. Some of my students entered high school aware of the problematic nature of Columbus but their thinking is, Well, Columbus is not important to study, because he didnt do anything. We have to push back on that. Even after spending his whole career exploring the Caribbean, Columbus never at any point thought he had landed anywhere other than his intended destination, Asia. What is Indigenous Peoples' Day? Does it replace Columbus - USA TODAY But our work was to exasperate, ravage, kill, mangle and destroy; small wonder," -Bartolome Las Casas, 1527. According to, Columbus believed that he was playing a part in a divine plan to Christianize the world. Though it was disputed for many years, there is conclusive evidence that Neanderthals bred with modern humans (Homo sapiens). It also became clear that there are many reasons not to celebrate Columbus Day. (He had plenty of different ships on subsequent voyages.). He initiated a turning point in our history. She is a national writer at Her Campus and the former editor-in-chief of Her Campus Rowan. Growing up, I wasn't exposed to this truth. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. 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