Why do We Celebrate Columbus Day?
Oct 7, 2012
“In 1492, in 1492, Columbus sailed across the sea in 1492!”
These are the few words we gleefully scream when we’re little and in our music classes. We sing with admiration and pride that Columbus, an awesome man, found America, our home.
Columbus arrived in America in 1492 thinking that he had reached Asia. He was greeted by the Indians in a hospitable way. Columbus himself recognized that the Indians were cordial and nice people. In Howard Zinn’s book, A People’s History of the United States, in chapter 1, Columbus is quoted saying, “They [the Indians] willingly traded everything they owned.” Columbus’ reaction to these welcoming Indians was to attack them and make them servants.
Along with that Columbus was eager to find gold. Because of Columbus’ ambitious goals for finding gold, he was responsible for the mass murder of millions of Indians. Along with that, he also took them as slaves and forced them to look for gold when the place where Columbus had come had only a limited supply of gold.
Besides these facts, our middle school teachers, fail to tell us that Columbus wasn’t a hero; he was actually a man who murdered many Indians and imposed many difficulties on them. Then, why do we as a nation celebrate Columbus Day, in memory of the notorious and horrible man?
This may show my ignorance, but I found out about Columbus’ actions this year in AP U.S. history.
On Monday, Oct. 8 we will celebrate Columbus Day. What exactly are we celebrating? The ill treatment of the Indians? Or the horrible personality of Columbus?
Personally, I find it ridiculous that as a nation that promotes justice, peace, and equality, we’re celebrating a day which celebrate the existence of a man that was unjust and spread violence and inequality.
We all love to sleep in an enjoy a day, but the thought should arise that celebrating this day is sort of saying that we support what Columbus did. I’d love to sleep in and not have to go to school also, but it just doesn’t seem right to celebrate Columbus Day.
Social studies teacher Joseph Meyer recognizes Columbus’ important discovery, but he also doesn’t feel that celebrating this day is a good idea.
“I have to admit that I am not a big fan of celebrating Columbus Day. While I acknowledge the important contribution that Columbus accomplished by sailing West and accidentally opening a new world to European settlement, I feel that the negative outcomes of this event, specifically the decimation of the native tribes, offsets any positive situation which warrants celebration,” said Meyer.
He continues to say that he does not consider Columbus a hero.
“While Columbus’ daring journey into the unknown was clearly heroic, I do not see Columbus as a hero because he introduced a system of cruelty to the Western Hemisphere which was destined to last for centuries,” Meyer said.
I also agree. A man who had murdered innocent people is in no possible way a hero. He’s quite the opposite actually.
Junior Jessie Amga believes it’s sad that the nation celebrates Columbus day.
“I think it’s kind of sad that the whole nation takes a day to celebrate an event that lead to Native American’s oppression and violence against them. A lot of people don’t realize the horror behind the much celebrated occasion and see there’s another side to history,” said Amga.
Junior Armeen Sayani discusses how she first learned about Columbus’s actions in freshman year.
“Until high school, I had never been told that Columbus was actually a bad guy who killed many natives. The first time I learned this was freshman year [two years ago] and then we talked about it again this year in history. I think its not a good idea to keep such important facts from people, especially to kids who are told he’s a hero. I don’t understand why we even have Columbus day. Why would you want to honor someone who committed mass murders? But I have to say…sleeping in on that day is always a plus,” said Sayani.
Overall, I think what’s necessary is that we stop giving importance to days which are actually offensive to some people, such as the Native Americans and some of the other people like me as well. It’s time we realized that Columbus was NOT a hero and that a day should NOT be designated for him.
Ms. Chandarana • Nov 1, 2012 at 10:35 AM
Maybe if we celebrated less “holidays” like Columbus day, we could keep the start date of school at the end of August and still finish early!
John • Oct 12, 2012 at 11:44 PM
I do understand an agree with your point completely, but feel it’s a little odd we see Columbus Day as particularly inexcusable when all historical holidays are questionable. Every historical figure has questionable backgrounds – nearly every single U. S. President can be seen as a monster from a certain point-of-view. Even religious holidays are questionable considering acts committed in their names.
What we must remember is there is no longer any active celebration on Columbus Day – I would argue the best solution would be to rename the holiday to focus less on the man and more on the accomplishment. Discovery of America Day, perhaps. The accomplishment deserves to be remembered, even if the man who committed it was a jerk. A lot of people try to downplay the achievement because of the horrific events involved, but whether he was a good man or a bad man, he is responsible directly for our current presence in the New World.
The truth is, this is a two-way issue – we, as a people, love to turn our heroes into saints and our villains into monsters, but it’s not that easy. Just as we ignore Columbus’ accomplishments due to his horrible, inexcusable actions towards Native Americans, we also ignore many of the negative actions committed by U. S. President Abraham Lincoln because he freed the slaves and ended the Civil War – despite the former action being politically motivated and the latter owing much to the former. People are not black-and-white, they are shades of gray.
In short – all historical figures are questionable and jerks in some sense of the word, and the best solution is to rename the holiday to focus it on the discovery, not the discoverer.
I will add that, personally, a lot of people claim they didn’t know of Columbus’ actions until High School, but I was informed in the fifth grade of the fact he had not discovered America and slaughtered Native Americans.
Taleen • Oct 12, 2012 at 12:04 PM
I completely agree with this article and I did not know most of the horrible things Columbus until. Although Columbus did such terrible things, it would make no sense for teachers to tell younger children about acts he did. They would not be able to fully understand. I also don’t think teachers should lie though. They should wait to tell children about Columbus till they get older so they can understand it fully. We should also not have a day celebrating Columbus himself, but in remembrance of Native Americans.
Timothy N • Oct 12, 2012 at 11:43 AM
I don’t exactly agree, but I do understand your reasoning. Thee is an ideal is that Columbus inform the old world which brought more of an advance civilization to America. This further expanded technology and resources by bringing the new chains of events. Of course there is a genocide that come along with it by.Although I like to think a an advancement of a new country.
Blake • Oct 12, 2012 at 11:11 AM
I agree with this article on the matter of Columbus being a horrible person and inslaving natives from their own land to find gold. But Columbus also helped start the colonist movement to the land in which we live today. I’m not saying that he wasnt a bad person, I am saying that Without Columbus we would not have the same style of living we have today. And on the fact of middle school teachers not telling the whole truth about Columbus, I feel that these teachers are spreading B.S. about a guy who killed natives just for the land. I now feel that everything that I have learned could be a lie, but that’s just my opinion.
Eli G. • Oct 12, 2012 at 11:06 AM
I agree that we shouldn’t celebrate Colombus. It’s not right that we have a holiday for someone who killed a whole society of people. We should have a different day for the discovery of the new world instead of Columbus day
Brandon Gallas • Oct 12, 2012 at 11:02 AM
I agree that we shouldn’t celebrate Columbus Day. It isn’t right that we take a day off to celebrate a man that did more wrong than good. He took the land away from the natives and treated them as if they weren’t even humans. I still think we should take a day to celebrate the discovery of America, but it should be for the natives, not for Columbus, a man that stole the land away from the natives and took all the credit.
Forest • Oct 12, 2012 at 10:13 AM
I agree that columbus was not the nicest person but i think we should still celebrate the holiday because we have been for so long it does not make sense to just stop having a holiday beacuse of what he did in the past
ars • Oct 12, 2012 at 1:00 PM
We enslaved Africans/African Americans for hundreds of years, but we eventually decided that was wrong and should be abolished. I’m not saying that celebrating Columbus Day is the same as enslaving people…just pointing out that continuing to celebrate something just because we’ve been doing it for a really long time doesn’t work.
Dishant • Oct 12, 2012 at 9:06 AM
I agree with this article, that we shouldn’t celebrate Columbus day because of what he did. The Natives were nice enough to actually give him what they had and still Columbus treated them bad.
Mardin • Oct 12, 2012 at 12:38 AM
It’s a well written article. I agree that it isn’t right to get a day off to celebrate a man who was responsible for the deaths of many people.
John N • Oct 11, 2012 at 11:19 PM
I agree, Columbus doesn’t deserve a day celebrated towards him. Sure he had some achievements but do the negative things he’s done totally erase that? He has killed many natives and taken them as slaves. Not to mention he used the Natives, he even caused a wipe out of a whole tribe.
Lily • Oct 11, 2012 at 10:31 PM
It’s surprising that we were lied to until now about Columbus. Up until this year i didn’t really know the truth. We dedicate a day to a man that murdered innocent people and turned the rest into slaves. He also took credit for finding American but he wasn’t the first to discover it. As kids we used to think of him as a hero but he was a murderer and a liar.
Stephanie G • Oct 11, 2012 at 9:59 PM
You did a really good job Hafsa! I definitely agree with you on the issue that Columbus isn’t a good man. Now whether we should continue celebrating this day depends on what we are exactly celebrating as you said. Are we celebrating Columbus himself? Or are we celebrating the indigenous people in remembrance of their mass killing? If the first one, we should rid of this holiday as soon as possible, if the latter option, we should keep it. As far as telling children about issues such as these, I’m hesitant. Telling children wouldn’t be much help, if they don’t understand the importance of the issue and how grave the situation is. Instead, we should just open their mind to viewing things from different perspectives and to use that throughout life.
Overall, it was a well written article. Good idea. An article that relates with everyone and will always be a leading topic. Good job.
Kristina • Oct 11, 2012 at 9:26 PM
I think this article opens a lot of peoples eyes to how Columbus really is. I agree with other people saying that we are celebrating Columbus day for the wrong reason. We should be celebrating not for him, but for the people he killed.
Mark • Oct 11, 2012 at 8:43 PM
I completely agree with this article. It’s wrong to take a day off for Columbus because of his actions. I think it would be better to have this one day to remember the natives that were here before us.
Monak • Oct 11, 2012 at 7:31 PM
This article really shows the truth behind Colombus and what he did and how it wasn’t fair to the Natives. I agree that this day shouldn’t be celebrated for Colombus but instead we should have this day off in rememberance of all the Natives that were killed for this man’s greed.
Damir • Oct 11, 2012 at 7:26 PM
A well written article. I agree with you, and people need to start thinking about what really happened and whether or not Columbus Day should even be celebrated for praising Christopher Columbus and his actions.
emmanuel • Oct 11, 2012 at 6:43 PM
Nice article. I do agree that Columbus was no hero, and that we should not have a holiday in honor for him. I for one would be willing to go to school if we abolished the holiday. I think we should change the name , instead of honoring Columbus we should honor the native americans who died at the hands of Columbus. It’s an eye opener when you campare what teachers told us in 1st grade to today.
Brett • Oct 11, 2012 at 6:41 PM
In this article Hafsa Wahid asks “What exactly are we celebrating? The ill treatment of the Indians? Or the horrible personality of Columbus?” We are celebrating neither of these. It’s absurd that Ms. Wahid would accuse anyone of celebrating ill treatment of Indians or the dark side of Columbus. We celebrate the fact that Columbus was a Renaissance explorer who founded the first permanent European settlement in the new world. Columbus day is one of America’s oldest holidays and also symbolizes American patriotism.
Hafsa Wahid • Oct 11, 2012 at 8:42 PM
I realize that most people wouldn’t want to celebrate those things, but as a student I sought out to inform many people who are unaware of the things Columbus did since we are taught at an early age that he was a hero, but no one tells us that he did many horrible things. This also questions our patriotism in my opinion. It questions why we seem the need to be overly patriotic about a man who accidentally discovered America and was involved in the mass murder of Indians. At the end of the day, I respect your opinion also.
Brett • Oct 11, 2012 at 10:33 PM
Thanks for the response, I agree we need to inform everyone about the horrible things done to the natives. Everyone is basically commenting the same thing, I’m just showing some controversy.
ars • Oct 12, 2012 at 12:55 PM
As I said to K-W, Columbus never ended up on the land that became the United States. He ended up around Cuba/Hispaniola/Puerto Rico, and visited the southern part of Mexico/northern part of South America. He also returned home to Spain, which means it wasn’t a permanent settlement. I believe the first PERMANENT European settlement in the new world is credited to the settlers at Jamestown (Virginia) in 1607. That may just be for the U.S., but I think all previous explorers of the new world returned home (including Sir Walter Raleigh who came between Columbus and Jamestown [late 1500’s], actually ended up in what is now the United States, and failed twice at making a permanent settlement).
I am curious though how Columbus Day “symbolizes American patriotism” in any way…
xyz • Nov 1, 2012 at 10:28 PM
Do you just argue with everyone who disagrees with the author? lol
EEE • Oct 11, 2012 at 6:29 PM
Writing about the reason why we celebrate Columbus is a good topic to discuss. Most people do not even know why they celebrate the day and that is what makes Columbus day even more interesting. Columbus Day is not celebrated in the way it should be celebrated. The day should not be celebrated at all to respect the Native people and not giving Columbus false credit.
K-W • Oct 11, 2012 at 6:17 PM
I agree with most of what you wrote in the article, but i also believe we are not celebrating his treatment of Native Americans, but him discovering what nobody else had, and paving a way for other explorers. I do think we should change the name though, out of respect for the people who were killed under his command, but i don’t think it is necessary to cancel the day due to it being a tradition, it reminding us of his great acheivements,and also who doesn’t want a day off of school?
ars • Oct 12, 2012 at 12:34 PM
There’s a picture going around on Facebook of a man holding a sign that says: “In 1492 Native Americans discovered Columbus lost at sea.”
Columbus found the wrong land (he certainly didn’t make it where he had intended to go), and there were already people on it, so he didn’t really “discover” the New World; he just brough news of it home. He also never ended up on the land that became the United States. I think it’s funny that we celebrate his “discovery” since he didn’t even find us.
IB • Oct 11, 2012 at 5:49 PM
I agree with you on this one. Columbus day is wrongly celebrated in the US. I think that it hasn’t been changed because it’s an excuse to have a day off. I like that you tell it like it is and acknowledge both what he achieved and also his wrongdoings. We shouldn’t be taught as young children that Columbus was some hero, rather we should shine some light on the fact that he wasn’t actually that good of a man. Having an entire holiday/day off for a man responsible for nearly wiping out an entire group of indigenous people isn’t right. You’re essay is really enlightening!
as • Oct 11, 2012 at 4:56 PM
i totally agree with you that we shouldn’t get day off on a person who murder innocent people. we should celebrate something else on that day except Columbus day.
Marcel • Oct 11, 2012 at 4:45 PM
A very eye-oepning article many people , even adults do not realize what Columbus did even as much the pain he caused. I personally beleive you cannot tell a child of all the things he had done, the child has to know aamerica was founded on something diffrent then what Cooumbus did.
ars • Oct 7, 2012 at 6:31 PM
Brilliant article! For years I’ve been telling people that celebrating Columbus Day probably is to Native Americans what celebrating “Hitler Day” would be to me (I’m Jewish). It has to be worse than a slap in the face when your country asks you to celebrate someone who was so horrible to your ancestors. If they want to keep taking the day off, I won’t complain, but they should celebrate something/someone else.
I think it was smart to write an article on this, and it was truly well written. Nice job! 😀