Alexius Sparkman
Dr. Christopher Rounds
SSH 203: United States History to 1900
15 August 2016
Columbus Day Abolished How can Christopher Columbus get the glory of discovering America when natives were already here and he enslaved, raped, and killed them? Bill Bigelow refers to Christopher Columbus as “the first known terrorist,” also mentioning him being dubbed the “father of the slave trade.” He believes we should scrap Columbus Day for Indigenous Peoples Day, a day to commemorate the resistance and resilience of Indigenous people throughout the Americas. Or that we should study and honor the people Columbus enslaved and terrorized: The Tainos.
Columbus was a greedy invader and inflicted complete genocide on the Native Americans he encountered. He began the slave trade in early February 1494, enslaving Tainos to Spain. He soon came to realization that the Taino slavery in Spain was unprofitable. One of the obvious reasons not to celebrate Columbus Day is that he did not discover America. Columbus tried to sail to Asia because Europe traded with Asia prior to. He chose to sail because it would have been faster than taking land. Millions of people were already living in America before he “discovered the new world.” Leif Eriksson was the first European to reach North America, nearly 500 years before Columbus accidentally landed here. Up to 112 million people lived in the Americas before Columbus stepped out of his boat, and they had been living here possibly 30,000 years. The population of the Americas was greater than that of Europe in 1491 by a huge margin. Christopher Columbus was definitely not a hero; he was a villain. He and his crew brought awful diseases such as small pox, whooping cough, and the measles for example killing off thousands of Native Americans unintentionally before enslaving them. His discovery opened the doors to the conquistadors who slaughtered natives by the thousands but this likely would have still happened when someone else would have discovered America. Columbus was a slave trader who coldheartedly took men and women away from their families. He not only took people but he mercilessly too their land, goods, homes, and gold. Christopher Columbus wanted nothing to do with the natives until he found out that they had gold and goods useful for trading. He viewed himself superior because the natives did not bear arms. They were clueless about iron, they had spears made out of canes. They were darker skinned, had long hair, piercings, tattoos and/or body …show more content…
“Time to Abolish Columbus Day.” Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, 5 Oct. 2015. Web. 15 Aug. 2016.
“Biography in context – document.” 1993. Web. 15 Aug. 2016.
Cambridge Dictionary. Discover definition in the Cambridge English dictionary. © Cambridge University Press, 10 Aug. 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2016.
History.com. “The Viking Explorer Who Beat Columbus to America – History in the Headlines.” history.com (2013): n.pag. Web. 15 Aug. 2016.
Mankey, Jason. 4 reasons why Columbus Day is the worst holiday. Raise the Horns, 7 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Aug. 2016.
Mierjeski, Alex. These Memes prove why we should abolish Columbus Day now. ATTN:, 9 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Aug. 2016.
Posted. Should Columbus Day be abolished as a national holiday? 2016. Web. 12 Aug. 2016.
Team, The Daily Take. The truth about Columbus Day: Why are we celebrating? Truthout, 13 Oct. 2014. Web. 15 Aug.
Dr. Christopher Rounds
SSH 203: United States History to 1900
15 August 2016
Columbus Day Abolished How can Christopher Columbus get the glory of discovering America when natives were already here and he enslaved, raped, and killed them? Bill Bigelow refers to Christopher Columbus as “the first known terrorist,” also mentioning him being dubbed the “father of the slave trade.” He believes we should scrap Columbus Day for Indigenous Peoples Day, a day to commemorate the resistance and resilience of Indigenous people throughout the Americas. Or that we should study and honor the people Columbus enslaved and terrorized: The Tainos.
Columbus was a greedy invader and inflicted complete genocide on the Native Americans he encountered. He began the slave trade in early February 1494, enslaving Tainos to Spain. He soon came to realization that the Taino slavery in Spain was unprofitable. One of the obvious reasons not to celebrate Columbus Day is that he did not discover America. Columbus tried to sail to Asia because Europe traded with Asia prior to. He chose to sail because it would have been faster than taking land. Millions of people were already living in America before he “discovered the new world.” Leif Eriksson was the first European to reach North America, nearly 500 years before Columbus accidentally landed here. Up to 112 million people lived in the Americas before Columbus stepped out of his boat, and they had been living here possibly 30,000 years. The population of the Americas was greater than that of Europe in 1491 by a huge margin. Christopher Columbus was definitely not a hero; he was a villain. He and his crew brought awful diseases such as small pox, whooping cough, and the measles for example killing off thousands of Native Americans unintentionally before enslaving them. His discovery opened the doors to the conquistadors who slaughtered natives by the thousands but this likely would have still happened when someone else would have discovered America. Columbus was a slave trader who coldheartedly took men and women away from their families. He not only took people but he mercilessly too their land, goods, homes, and gold. Christopher Columbus wanted nothing to do with the natives until he found out that they had gold and goods useful for trading. He viewed himself superior because the natives did not bear arms. They were clueless about iron, they had spears made out of canes. They were darker skinned, had long hair, piercings, tattoos and/or body …show more content…
“Time to Abolish Columbus Day.” Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, 5 Oct. 2015. Web. 15 Aug. 2016.
“Biography in context – document.” 1993. Web. 15 Aug. 2016.
Cambridge Dictionary. Discover definition in the Cambridge English dictionary. © Cambridge University Press, 10 Aug. 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2016.
History.com. “The Viking Explorer Who Beat Columbus to America – History in the Headlines.” history.com (2013): n.pag. Web. 15 Aug. 2016.
Mankey, Jason. 4 reasons why Columbus Day is the worst holiday. Raise the Horns, 7 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Aug. 2016.
Mierjeski, Alex. These Memes prove why we should abolish Columbus Day now. ATTN:, 9 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Aug. 2016.
Posted. Should Columbus Day be abolished as a national holiday? 2016. Web. 12 Aug. 2016.
Team, The Daily Take. The truth about Columbus Day: Why are we celebrating? Truthout, 13 Oct. 2014. Web. 15 Aug.