However, what these people fail to realise is that he may have had an impact on where people sailed in the fifteen hundreds, he was about 500 years late to being the first sailor to come across it, not even taking into consideration the “some 145 million people” who already inhabited the hemisphere in 1492 (Document B). Columbus's influence on future sea voyages may have been great, but it merely led more explorers to conquer lands of Natives and then enslaving them, showing that any impact he had was certainly not positive. Another argument which some use to support the continuation of Columbus Day is that “it is necessary to pay a price for progress,” and that just like “Hiroshima and Vietnam,” we must do anything for the preservation and expansion of Western society and ideology (Document H). This argument is misguided as the slaughter of thousands of innocent Natives through slavery and barbaric ruling cannot be compared to dropping a bomb which will end a war, that would have kill millions of soldiers. It also does not compared to a war launched in order to protect the freedom of other people from the oppression communism.…
Have you ever met someone that looked nice but once you got to know them they was totally different? Sometimes people shouldn’t trust one source. The textbook only shows one side of the whole story. Columbus is not who you think he is, I think Columbus day should be changed. We should still celebrate but something has to change about.…
It's that time of year again; pumpkin spice lattes, Halloween decorations, and the national recognition of a man responsible for mass murder, pillaging, and enslavement. It's no secret that Christopher Columbus was a horrible man, or that he didn't even "discover the new world", yet every year on October 12, he is recognized for his "accomplishment". It seems as though more and more people are unwilling to celebrate Columbus, even going so far as to put an axe in the head of his statue. While there has been opposition of Columbus Day for many years, there is only a handful of cities that refuse to recognize it.…
The biggest reason for writing this article was, “to take away the flimsy excuses for the continued celebration of a violent historical figure (Columbus), empire, and genocide” (Tinker and Freeland, 2008, Pg.26). To do this, the authors use many primary resources from the “invasion” of America. Figures like Peter Martyr, Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, and Bartolome de Las Casas are the original sources that are quoted to show population numbers and conditions (Tinker and Freeland, 2008,…
Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, he was sent from the Spanish to the west to explore new lands. America Should not continue celebrating Columbus Day because, he brought cruelty, he did not discover anything new and it’s unpatriotic to celebrate. Columbus did not discover anything new because the Natives were there first, he knew about “new lands” across the Atlantic and it brought the tent that “all men are created equal”. Columbus brought cruelty such hanging non-Catholics, smallpox and slavery. It is unpatriotic to celebrate Columbus day because it sends a message of hostility, patriotic means to have devotion or vigorous supports to one’s country and he ignored the Native Americans.…
Columbus Day is an unnecessary holiday that, for some reason, we still honor today. The holiday is also an affront to the indigenous population. The false sense of patriotism is wrong to memorialize. The whole day is based off of a fabrication of the true events. When children are in elementary school, they are taught that Christopher Columbus was a hero, to shield the truth.…
It is only a matter of time.” This was written by Sarah Sunshine Manning, a Native American activist. In some schools kids are taught that the Native Americans Columbus encountered were cannibals.” How would a Native American child feel when he or she heard that? When people say Columbus improved our country, and that we are here because of him, we can’t…
Columbus Day, observed on the second monday of October, commemorates the foundations of Europe’s presence in the New World and the massive exchange of people, trade, and ideas that have led to what our country is today. It is a reminder of the absolute terror and cruelty the indigenous peoples that had, for the most part, been peacefully living on their land for thousands of years until that point, been subjected to. Christopher Columbus was a man responsible for the decimation of three major civilizations, as well as the ultimate genocide of the indigenous peoples as a whole, one of the largest in human history. Columbus alone committed an array of horrific acts, using the Indians as sex slaves and extorting them for labor, stealing their land and goods, and hunting them for sport and dog food. His choices and treatment influenced how other would later view and deal with the Indians, eventually leading to their near extinction.…
I think that the extent to which Columbus day is celebrated now is a bit extreme. As we read in class, Columbus did in fact discover the Americas for the people living in Europe and Asia, but not all he did was good. Even though he his discovery gave more resources to Europe and Asia, there were already people living in the Americas. When Columbus showed up he completely just took over after he found out there wasn’t much of the gold that he had been looking for. He forced many of the Indians into slavery and abused and killed many.…
Columbus Day, we get a day off of school to rejoice, but is it actually worth to celebrate? Columbus Day is celebrated across the country in almost all of the states. Some enjoy the holiday, some don’t. Columbus Day shouldn’t be celebrated in America. Columbus Day isn’t worth to celebrate considering the terrible events the Natives had to live through.…
Most children in school learn about his discovery of America and how “amazing” he was; what we do not see is Columbus’ treatment of the indigenous people of the land. My school never talked about the rape or the killings that occurred during his so-called “discovery.” To me, this misconception of Christopher Columbus means the spread of European ideas through lies. As a student, I have the right to learn the history of my country even if my history includes gruesome…
The only piece of history in his favor is the fact that he accidentally discovered America, which could be disproved in the next few years considering all of the extensive research being conducted to find another discoverer of America. His great accomplishment was the destruction of an entire population. How is that heroic? So the next time Columbus Day is celebrated, consider yourself educated and spread the word on how Christopher Columbus was everything but a hero. This will in hope eventually bring an end to the celebration of a man who is quite contradictory to what America stands…
Primarily, in light of the abuse, death, and cultural eradication that the Native Americans were forced to suffer through as a consequence of Columbus’s voyage, Columbus Day cannot be celebrated the way it is today. Notably, the population of Native Americans is estimated to have dropped from a quarter million to a few hundred in just a few short decades (Bergreen 301). While Europeans caused many of these deaths unwittingly by carrying diseases to the Americas that the Native Americans had no resistances to, far too many deaths were caused by deliberate “torture, wholesale slaughter, and ‘the harshest and most iniquitous and brutal…
We tend to talk about Columbus who came to the Western Hemisphere. Here's what happened as a result of this interaction. And then we move on to the settlements that started and the colonies that began.” This quote shows that teachers don’t really show Afrocentric perspective. This is important because it shows the other side of Columbus Day and not on the Eurocentric side.…
As the article explained, Columbus is not worthy of a national holiday because he killed many Native Americans. When he came over many Natives died from disease that he brought over and they were murdered. Columbus turned the Natives to slaves and made them work down in mines and made them in work the fields. For the one thing they got sick and died from the diseases that Columbus and his men brought over from Spain like smallpox and the flu. However, Native fought in war and they died because the conquistadors had guns and metal swords.…