Columbus Day is a holiday celebrated throughout North and South America. It is also celebrated in some European countries, such as Italy and Spain. The day of the celebration is October 12. The day is meant to commemorate the discovery of the American continent by Christopher Columbus. This discovery changed the course of history for many nations and paved the way for European colonization of the American continent. It is particularly popular among Hispanics and Latin Americans. They view the explorer as a compatriot. However, the figure of Christopher Columbus is also a controversial one. Many do not want Columbus Day to remain a national holiday. In this paper, I will list arguments for both sides and make a conclusion at the end.
The supporters of Columbus Day want to celebrate the memory of a legendary explorer who courageously went where nobody from Europe had ever gone before. Although Christopher Columbus was hoping to reach India and discovered the New World completely by accident, it was still a very bold and significant advancement in geography. It inspired others to replicate his journey. The Discovery of the American continent was also a great boost for the European countries and their economies as they had found a great deal of land, where they could explore, expand, colonize, and conquer. On this day, they want to celebrate the historical significance of the event, largely ignoring the moral and ethical issues that lie behind it.
The opposition to Columbus Day focuses on the historical consequences of the discovery of the New World and on the fate of the various indigenous people that inhabited it. Almost all of them were either wiped out or driven to the brink of extinction by gunpowder or diseases. Many atrocities were committed after the Europeans had landed in America, and Columbus himself took around 500 slaves back to Europe with him in order to pay his sponsors. Barely half managed to survive the journey. Columbus, in his journal, suggested a violent conquest of the new continent. His argument was that since the natives were weak and primitive, they would not be able to resist. This controversy about Columbus is not very well known, but those who know about it stand in vehement opposition to declaring his day a national holiday (“Columbus Controversy” par. 3). Lastly, it has to be pointed out that the holiday is popular mainly among Hispanics. While they have a large diaspora in the USA, they are still a minority and not a title nation.
In my personal opinion, Christopher Columbus is not a hero worthy of a national holiday. As a nation that has forsaken slavery and is now fighting for equality, we cannot and should not celebrate a man whose actions paved a way for slavery and who was a slaver himself. Even his geographical competence left much to be desired—Columbus discovered a new continent without realizing it. He thought it was Asia’s far eastern shores. I suggest we choose a much less controversial figure for this national holiday, like Amerigo Vespucci. He was the first to realize that America was indeed a separate continent and explored both North and South America alike. It would be much more fitting to dedicate a national holiday to him. After all, both Americas already bear his name (“Amerigo Vespucci Biography” par. 9).
References
Amerigo Vespucci Biography 2016. Web.
Columbus Controversy 2016. Web.