A Blazing Weapon: Unraveling the Mystery of Greek Fire. Columbuss men used native girls as young as nine or ten as their sex slaves. 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. Even if we ignore that, this one still depends on your definition of America. Why should we celebrate a man who promoted and distributed so much violence when we can celebrate and honor the history of Indigenous people? Columbus Day, which is celebrated on the second Monday of October each year, has become a controversial subject for many people. South Dakota was the first state to rename Columbus Day, in 1990, electing to go with Native Americans' Day. Ancient Origins 2013 - 2023Disclaimer- Terms of Publication - Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising Policy -Submissions - We Give Back - Contact us. Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide. The slaves were to do most of Columbuss dirty work, as he was highly demanding of gold, crops, and land, which caused many of the slaves to be malnourished and sick. Columbus tried to build and has transformed the America we have today. Columbus wanted to expand knowledge about the world and what more it consisted of by going across the ocean. What were his actual contributions? Those are important questions we want to ask as citizens. Truth of Discovery Normally, the notion of discovery means encountering a place or an idea for the very first time.. Many people believe that Columbus Day should not be a federal holiday because Christopher Columbus was a terrible person. One of the best parts of our humanity is that sense of discovery. Howard Zinns A Peoples History of the United States includes horrific, detailed eyewitness accounts of how the Spanish explorers treated the Native Americans. Itd be ludicrous to say that Columbuswasnt guilty by association. Just bear in mind that the verb "colonize" and the terms "colony", and "colonial" derive from Columbus ("Colon", in Spanish spelling). Below are five reasons why Columbus Day celebrants can hold their head high in 2019 rather than kowtow to guilt-based politics. Since August, eight cities have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day, including several in just the last week. For any subject. Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. If instead of Columbus, a Chinese marine had arrived first and "colonized" America, would be blaming the Chinese for the destruction of American civilizations? Very much like the lyrics of the famous She may be ancient Egypts most famous face, but the quest to find the eternal resting place of Queen Nefertiti has never been hotter. Now theres a deed worth celebrating every year! Christopher Columbus wasnt American! When he was only 23. he had the idea of going to India, China and Japan. If you want a unique paper, order it from our professional writers. There are still people who believe Christopher Columbus found America and that what he did was harmless because he was being a man of his time. The first reason for why Christopher Columbus should not be celebrated is because he committed mass genocide against the Native Americans. Read More 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. In fact, that might have been a good neighbor, whereas today That neighbor would find themselves in jail. Once we do this, Columbus Day can be a truly inclusive holiday. The initial recorded Columbus Day celebration in the United States was on October 12, 1792. Stupid but hopeful. Curious, politically homeless, always hopeful. -- Celebrate the spirit of exploration. Who Destroyed the Great Library of Alexandria? At times, they would make an example of a Native by cutting his hands off and tying them around his neck, then telling him to go and 'share the message' with the rest of his tribe. 2. Columbus was a brutal and cruel man who . Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Sure, Chris had been sailing since age 14. 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. With three boats, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, he set out in search of a better trade route to India. ," Jake Flanagin explains why many are arguing it . He brought with him a letter from King Ferdinand to the Taino-Arawak Indians. That alone is worth celebrating.". With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.. "Reason: he may have discovered America before Columbus; Columbus is now commonplace as . The Chilling Mystery of the Octavius Ghost Ship, Film Footage Provides Intimate View of HMS Gloucester Shipwreck, Top 8 Legendary Parties - Iconic Celebrations in Ancient History, The Spanish Inquisition: The Truth Behind the Black Legend (Part II), The Spanish Inquisition: The Truth behind the Dark Legend (Part I), Bloodthirsty Buddhists: The Sohei Warrior Monks of Feudal Japan, Dizzying Inca Rope Bridges Were Grass-Made Marvels of Engineering, Two Centuries Of Naval Espionage In Europe, Research Confirms That 20% of the Neanderthal Genome Can Be Found In Modern Humans, The Curious Apparitions of Pagan Goddesses to the German Knights Templar, The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts, Evidence that Noahs Ark Landed on a Mountain 17 Miles South of Ararat, Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera Part I, Two Sides to Every Story: The North American Martyrs Shrines and Indigenous/ Roman Catholic Relations, The Origins of the Faeries: Encoded in our Cultures Part I, Curse of the Buried Pearl: The Hunt for Ancient Treasures Part I, The Enigma of the Shugborough Inscription, Christopher Columbus: Master Double Agent and Portugals 007, Roman Sword discovered off Oak Island radically suggests Ancient Mariners visited New World 1,000 years before Columbus. It is perhaps worth revisiting the two distinct reasons why we celebrate Columbus Day in the first place, and . Its the responsibility of our school system to talk about Columbus as part of our work to prepare students to be citizens. See how Columbus Day actually become a holiday and find out who celebrates it. Columbuss men also killed off slaves whenever needed. The West has its good and bad points, but its best ideasequal rights, freedom of religion, free speech, due process, open scientific inquiry, property rights and so onhave helped all people who adopt them. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Columbus never stepped foot on North American soil. Columbus set a precedent for exploration of the new world. matter in the end. 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. But many would be killed if they did not accept Christ, even if they didnt understand what the Spanish were explaining to them. That is, South and Central America to be exact. ), Christopher Columbus initiated the trans-Atlantic slave trade. She is a national writer at Her Campus and the former editor-in-chief of Her Campus Rowan. They also show evidence that at least 12 other groups of people entered the Americas before Columbus. Columbus Day was invented by the Knights of Columbus in the 1930s when they were looking for a role model for school age children. 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. I want to make sure we do justice to indigenous folks. History, in fact, is the story of conquest. Those left were forced to work in mines and plantations. This movement sees Columbus as a symbol of destruction, and thus not to be celebrated. But, again, no mainland United States. By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. While there is plenty to criticize about Columbus, and what followed his arrival, I think this movement is missing the point. Many of those enslaved would die, and were then easily replaced by some brought from the Bahamas. In fact, there is proof that the Chinese, Greeks and Italians, all explored America before Columbus. 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. I'm Amy, 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. Italian heritage. He initiated a turning point in our history. Columbus was a brilliant man in his own right. The tradition of observing Columbus Day dates back to the 18th century. We are a hopeful species. This began with the spirit of Christopher Columbus. But our work was to exasperate, ravage, kill, mangle and destroy; small wonder," -Bartolome Las Casas, 1527. First, lets just put aside the paradox of discovering a land that already had a population of indigenous people. Columbus arrival is seen as the beginning of civilization in the Americas. And thats even if you discount the fact that native peoples lived in these places all along. This was a sign of things to come. If it wasnt for Columbus, the motivation for exploration and expansion wouldnt have become a priority because nobody knew about the Americas. Columbus Day, the second Monday in October, is a nationally recognized holiday. Because thats public history. St. Ursula and her eleven thousand virgins, native peoples lived in these places all along. I think history teachers have a responsibility to prepare students to comment critically and participate critically in the discourse about who we are honoring, who we are celebrating, and how we are doing it. While there is only limited knowledge of what pre-Columbus America was like, it did feature war, slavery, torture and plenty of brutality. Within a few decades, only a few hundred of an original native population of 300,000 remained. I'm not the only Italian American on board with ditching the holiday. However, a circumspect understanding of history offers numerous reasons why Columbus should not only be celebrated, but . 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. On October 11th, 2021 its 529 years since Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, or Cristoforo Colombo as he was probably known in his native Genoa, landed on the island San Salvador. Get in touch! Everything that he did sounded like it was so whimsical and as a young child yearning for an adventure I idolized him. What are some Facts about Christopher Columbus? 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. 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. And hes credited for marking the establishment of institutionalized slavery in the West Indies. 97 students ordered this very topic and got In his role, he writes about current political issues, U.S. history, political philosophy, and culture. . 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.. Ahh, well, brothers will be brothers. 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. There has been much debate over whether or not Columbus Day should be celebrated. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes him as a master navigator and admiral. He sailed to numerous places beginning his career as a merchant marine. After a few weeks sailing, he landed in the present day Bahamas. Columbus may have recorded that he "found" America, but he was a. mass murderer. Don't know where to start? 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. He finally ended up getting a sponsorship with the Spanish crown, and was off to explore the world. And in general, we want to students to engage with controversy. If Columbus is Off Limits to Celebrate, so are Indigenous Peoples. Though it has its controversies, Columbus day should be celebrated. We may not like it, but its our shared heritage. April Holloway is a Co-Owner, Editor and Writer of Ancient Origins. We still have to understand the time he was born but Christopher Columbus. "Endless testimonies.prove the mild and pacific temperament of the natives. (BTW, you can find a list of over 40 of his articles here.). In another case, some people think Columbus was a hero because he represents a leader who went far and beyond to find America. I am sure you are familiar with his legend which states that he was born in a manger surrounded by shepherds, about Christopher Columbus: Master Double Agent and Portugals 007, about Roman Sword discovered off Oak Island radically suggests Ancient Mariners visited New World 1,000 years before Columbus, For Sale In Britain: A Small Ancient Man With A Colossal Penis, Sacred Marvels: 17 Cathedrals That Will Take Your Breath Away, In Pictures, Egyptologists Reveal a Lost Chamber in the Great Pyramid With Cosmic Rays, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Unleashing the End of the World. As Greek mythology goes, the universe was once a big soup of nothingness. If you still think Columbus Day is something worth celebrating, here are five other reasons why it isnt: After studying a handful of his favorite books, including the journals of Marco Polo, Columbus became convinced that it was possible to sail directly west to reach the Indies, as China, Japan and India were then known as in Europe.

Mountain Lion In Maryland 2020, Mobile Homes For Sale In Nh Craigslist, What Is The Closest Ocean Beach To Utah, Burnt Chicken Nugget Vine Kid Now, Articles OTHER