Columbus Day and Christopher Columbus – a History — In California I’m surprised that they have not banned this holiday since all the schools here seem to despise Columbus as a slave trader and some sort of unindicted criminal. I’m never quite sure who is pulling the strings on these sorts of attitudes but it’s an eye-roller when your kids come home with these notions. The state wants to call it Indigenous Peoples Day. Ideally they’d like to change the name and then kill all white people too leaving the state to the Mexicans who have no problem celebrating Columbus Day. My advice: do not move here.
One of the first known celebrations marking the discovery of the “New World” by Christopher Columbus was in 1792, when a ceremony organized by the Colombian Order was held in New York City honoring Christopher Columbus and the 300th anniversary of his landing in the Bahamas. Then, on October 12, 1866 the Italian population of New York organized the first celebration of the discovery of America. Three years later, in 1869 Italians in San Francisco celebrated October 12 calling it C-Day.
To mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus voyage, in 1892, President Benjamin Harrison made a commemorative proclamation. But it was Colorado, in 1905, that became the first state to observe a Columbus Day. Since 1920 the day has been celebrated annually, and in 1937 President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed every October 12 as Columbus Day. Thats where it remained until 1971 when Congress declared it a federal public holiday on the second Monday in October.
C-Day? In San Francisco? Cripes.
My only problem with Columbus day is the myth that he discovered anything. The guy was looking for India, he bumps into some islands and calls them the Indies.Hell, he wasnt even the first.
As #1 said, I do not understand why we celebrate a person that did not actually discover America. He wasn’t even the first European to discover America. So, why do we celebrate his birthday? Seriously, either we do away with the holiday or rename it to something more intelligent than “Indigenous People Day”.
This comes up every Columbus Day, nobody gives a damn, and everyone forgets by the next day.
I think I will get a rowboat, shove off from Hoboken and “discover” New York City.
Perhaps I can plunder Tiffany’s and Saks while I’m at it!
More seriously, Columbus can certainly be admired for his vision and tenacity and stamina, but you simply can’t discover a place with people already living in it.
Oh, I forgot, they weren’t people. They were Indians!
He didn’t even prove that the world is round, since he turned around to sail back to Europe. What Columbus did was make Europe aware of the Americas. For better or worse, his voyages had a tremendous effect on human history.
Oh, and I note that while the Post Office is closed, UPS is out delivering..
DAve
You should see all the fun they’re having in Denver!
http://tinyurl.com/2lv623
#4
Even that isn’t true. Europeans had been aware of the Americas for 500 years since the Vikings had discovered it. At best, you can claim that Columbus made the European monarchies aware of the Americas.
Besides the fact that Columbus kidnapped “indian” people on his voyages, he never admitted that he hadn’t found INDIA! He died an old bitter man still insisting that he found a new route to India.
We should respect his stamina? His vision? Hitler had stamina and vision as well, should we give everyone a day off for Hitler day every year? Columbus was a stubborn and irrational and he rejected the insurmountable evidence that he had not discovered a route to India even after extensive charting had proven it.
#2. screw this Cristobal-come-lately, lets have Leif Ericson Day! going from Spain to the Caribbean in a caravel is nada compared to crossing the North Atlantic in an open boat.
actually, tomorrow is Leif Ericson Day. I shall postpone my celebration.
http://tinyurl.com/yrfy9c
You have to give credit to Columbus as an explorer, but the day is not worth of a holiday. If you are going to condemn anyone, start with:
– Cortez: Indiscriminately killed, ensalved and tortured Mexico in a pure quest for gold.
– Pizarro – Same thing as Cortez but with the Inca in Peru
– Most 18th century Americans – tried their best to wipe out the American Indian.
– Arab and Portuguese slave traders
– American slave owners.
You can’t condemn Columbus for the actions of those who followed him. The consequences of his ‘discovery’ are not really his fault.
I’m only half-way through David E. Stannard’s American Holocaust… and I have a very clear understanding of why some people think Columbus was an unindicted criminal.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/History/American_Holocaust.html
Amazon link:
http://tinyurl.com/yue3c5
#4, Dave,
Careful, I’ve heard the natives can get a little testy sometimes.
#6, Thomas,
Not exactly true. Many Europeans knew there was land where Newfoundland and Greenland are today, but they were thought of as islands or just some northern lands. There was no concept of a continent (let alone two) until several decades after Columbus’s voyages.
BTW, Portuguese and Basque fishermen often sailed to the Grand Banks off of Newfoundland before Columbus had his idea. Because they seldom landed and never stayed, the land was never mapped.
The idea that the world was round predates Columbus by thousands of years. Pythagoras and later Aristotle both believed the earth spherical. Moorish scientists would have taught that as well and during the Moorish conquest, Columbus could have been exposed to some Moorish writings.
What Columbus should be credited with is bringing the riches of more than just fish to the attention of the Spanish monarchy.
#10:
Actually, Columbus may have been worse.
http://tinyurl.com/3auf9u
1) Columbus was not even Italian
2) The ancient knew the world was round, even the bible said it was
3) He discovered bunk
4) He never intended on finding a route to India
The whole idea of Genocidal Maniac with a Boat Day is ludicrious.
The sole reason we still celebrate it is TRADITION. And ONLY that.
If Washington Irving had not made his fictional account of Columbus we would NOT be celebrating ir.
Thanks to him we have a fictional account of pilgrims, Revere and Columbus. All as much mythology as Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan and John Henry.
But americans love their myths. The truth upsets their precious beer guzzling, tv viewing artificial lives.
Cursor_
There is no sane reason to celebrate Christopher columbus, and the things we tell children about him are more or less outright lies, whether or not the move against him is hysterical.
Count yourselves lucky… in England the best you get is “St. George’s Day”, St. George who, despite the fact that never touched England’s shores, is the patron saint of our fair Isle. Not that anyone even really celebrates St George’s day anymore, its consider to be politically incorrect to have pride in your country unless your Welsh, Scottish or Irish.
Myth or no myth, they are good. I think its good to celebrate Columbus’ exploration of North America. Even if the Vikings did visit the continent (and in fairness, there is only definite proof they visited Newfoundland) they didn’t permanent settle the area. I think its also good that the natives are protesting. Its the nice thing about having a symbol, it gives everyone a chance to let their feelings be known.
The problem with everything being so damn PC these days is everyone is afraid to talk about or celebrate everything, so as a result all the bigotries and misconceptions just continue unchallenged…
As an interesting aside, I read a book recently called “The Island of Seven Cities” by Paul Chiasson who reckons that Cape Breton (part of Nova Scotia, which is on the east coast of Canada, that country just north of you) was settled by the Chinese for hundreds of years before Europeans got there and the Chinese had abandoned the settlements just as the Europeans arrived. The author also reckons that Columbus got his map from the Chinese. Can’t say I know enough of Chinese history to comment on how good his argument was, but it was convincing to a lay man….
16 – I’d say Chinese on Nova Scotia is unlikely. Too far, nothing durable enough to ship there, and lot’s of places with gold, silver, and furs closer.
Now, the west coast of the Americas seems plausible. Unlikely, but possible.
I’m glad that Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue in 1492. The history that I was taught leads me to believe that he played a part in me living off the fat of the land today, for which I am grateful.
“F” the Indigenous Peoples Day. They get enough of my money everytime I go to the Ho-Chunk Casino.
I say keep it just the way it is. We need to have some discovery celebration, so Columbus is just as good as anyone else. We can NEVER be certain of who was really the first person. I suppose some caveman who walked across the Bering Sea land bridge was probably the “first”, but they kept sloppy records, so give the credit to Columbus. People take it too seriously. It’s just a holiday for schoolkids and government woorkers anyway.
#12
I’m not so sure about that. Erik the Red knew that the there was a land mass west of Newfoundland because he tried to land there but was repelled by the local natives. In fact, a main reason he gave up on a permanent settlement is because of the ferocity natives. (Although, let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that the Vikings were kind settlers. They would have acted the same to the natives as the Spanish had the natives been as passive.) I’m not sure if he realized that Newfoundland was connected to that large land mass. Now, whether mainstream Europe was aware of the Viking discovery is unknown and unlikely but it does appear that everyone except the Chinese and the natives were unaware of the enormity of that land mass.
according to the new history books, it was Muslims who discovered America.
John, if you see all these things happening in grade schools, why are you so skeptical that it would happen in colleges?
Columbus Day is a perfectly legitimate holiday if we’re celebrating the decision of the indigenous people not to arrest Columbus, despite the fact that he trespassed on their land without a valid visa.
In his journal, he wrote “It appears to me, that the people are ingenious, and would be good servants and I am of opinion that they would very readily become Christians, as they appear to have no religion.” Two days after landing, he added “I could conquer the whole of them with 50 men, and govern them as I pleased.”
It’s a good thing that the natives didn’t read Columbus’ journal. They would have been pissed.
21. Thomas Although, let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that the Vikings were kind settlers. They would have acted the same to the natives as the Spanish had the natives been as passive.
Actually, the viking age Norsemen probably wouldn’t have acted very similar at to the Spanish or the British. Maybe a bit like the French settlers in North America…. Most of the places that the Vikings they didn’t conquer and they integrated quite well with existing inhabits. In the North of France the vikings settled peacefully an adopted French, in the North of England the vikings adopted a version of Anglo-Saxon (granted Anglo-Saxon was very similar to Old Norse) and in Russia they integrated so fully that for centuries there was disputes as to whether or not the vikings even settled. The vikings weren’t colonizers, they were traders, raiders, and settlers. When they raided, they were ferocious (but then who wasn’t back then) but I reckon they got an extra bad rap in the history books because 1. they often targeted monasteries and churches (which often had a lot of gold) and 2. It was monks and priests that could write. I am sure that, at least in the beginning of the Viking age, the fact that they were not Christian also didn’t help their press.
As settlers go, the vikings seemed to be very amenable and their interest seems to be in long term settlement in their new home, not keeping any sort of meaningful ties with Scandinavia. If the Sagas and the accounts of the inuit are to believed, the vikings traded and worked well with many of the local inhabitants for a while (this is after Eric’s initial misfortunes) until it all ended in blood and violence after many years of co-habitation.
BTW, if you ever get a chance to go to Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula its well worth the trip. It pretty far out of the way of anything, but the area is stunningly gorgeous and in the summer you see icebergs float by, which is pretty cool. The viking settlement tourist thing is quite well funded and quite well done (good roads too….).
25. #10 you left the Dutch out on that slave trading thing.
Its also worth noting that many of the Pacific Northwest Indians also took slaves.
While on the subject (loosely) of who did what to whom historically, I am thinking of starting a class action suite against all natives of North America for introducing the killer weed tobacco to the world. Frankly I think it was mean and irresponsible of them to get the world addicted. I think its time we demanded a public apology.
Talk about your WMDs. From a military stand point this was amazing. Outnumbered 10,000 to 1 basically knives for weapons. This guy was good at the conquer game. Still going on in some parts of the world today. As a matter of fact there probably is not a inch of ground or an Indigenous people in this world that was not “taken” at sometime in their history.
27. I believe that was your fellow countryman (Raleigh) who’s responsible for that. Roanoke Island, then a part of Virginia, all being possesions of the King, we should sue the UK for getting us involved in this despicable industry : )
#26
Yes they integrated in the Europe but only after terrorizing Europe for many years. The Europeans were rightfully petrified of the Vikings. The Vikings most definitely earned their reputation for brutality. At one point, Paris was sacked twice in a year. Eventually, the Europeans were able to bribe the Vikings with land and legitimacy such that they settled down. I have a book on the Vikings at home (am at work at the moment) and I seem to remember that the Vikings tried subjugating the natives they initially encountered in Newfoundland which (surprise, surprise) angered the hell out of them and from that point on they were under regular attacks. Constant raids by the natives and problems generating food eventually led the Vikings to believe that they could not create a viable settlement and they left.
Regardless, the Viking-Europe situation is different than that encountered by Columbus in that the Europeans fought like hell (and generally lost.) The Caribbean natives were passive and peaceful and the Spanish exploited that fact. Given the Viking’s reputation, it is not much of a stretch to think that the Vikings would have been any less brutal than the Spanish.
30. “The Caribbean natives were passive and peaceful and the Spanish exploited that fact. Given the Viking’s reputation, it is not much of a stretch to think that the Vikings would have been any less brutal than the Spanish. ”
On Columbus’ second voyage he landed on the Virgin Island of St. Croix, inhabited by fierce Indians (Caribe), that drove them off the island. They barely got out alive, (and not part of Spanish stew). The other more peaceful tribes being Arawaks and Taino.
Columbus Day, actually just another Monday to me. Same as Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Black Thursday, Good Friday, Super Bowl Sunday, … , just more days with names attached.