Columbus Day: The Celebration of Historical Inaccuracy, Genocide, and Public Debate

Throughout the year, the United States designates certain days to commemorate particular instances in history that have been influential in the country's development. As a nation, we have a federal holiday on the second Monday of each October to celebrate Columbus’ “great discovery”. Christopher Columbus has been viewed as a hero for several centuries- children in elementary schools all over the nation are taught that he discovered America. However, the Vikings arrived in America almost 500 years before Columbus, and there were many other people who were indigenous to the land already. Christopher Columbus, as it turned out, was responsible for widespread genocide as well. Columbus Day must be stripped of its title as a national holiday as it is historically inaccurate, glorifies the genocide of the native people of the Americas, and Columbus was not a founding father of modern America itself.

The main reason for the celebration of Columbus Day, the commemoration of Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of the Americas, is historically inaccurate as Columbus was not the first European to set foot on North American soil. Scandinavian Leif Eriksson was

actually the first to discover North America, setting foot in modern-day Canada in A.D. 1000, nearly four centuries before Columbus (History Channel). Reeves, N.L. Beamish and R.B. Anderson’s “The Norse Discovery of America,” goes into great detail on the encounters between the ferocious Vikings and the Native inhabitants of Vinland, and The Saga of the Greenlanders gives very full and interesting accounts of the various products of Vinland and of the natives with whom the Norse explorers came in contact. Thus, Columbus was not the first European man to make the discovery of the Americas, making the basis for the holiday is invalid and inaccurate.

In addition to being historically inaccurate, Columbus Day also glorifies the genocide of the indigenous people of the Americas. By the time European adventurers arrived in the 15th century A.D., scholars estimate that more than 50 million people were already living in the Americas (History Channel). Columbus came for gold, spices, and slaves. In his diary, he mentioned gold 75 times just in the first two weeks, alone (History Channel). Indians who weren’t able to find gold were punished by having their hands cut off. Columbus forced cooperation from the Indians by disfiguring them and using them as examples. According to William O. Bright, Professor of Linguistics and Anthropology, of the 300 Native American languages, 123 no longer have any native speakers and many have fewer than 10 speakers; virtually all are endangered to one degree or another due to the actions of Columbus. Columbus Day as a national holiday commemorates not discovery and new beginnings, but the end of an era and the destruction of a people.

Most holidays in the United States are celebrated to recognize America’s leaders and historic events that have been influential in the country's development, but as previously stated, Columbus was not a “founding father” of America, but an Italian merchant who had set out in search of wealth and fame. The definition of an American founding father is a male American patriot who fought during the Revolutionary War, those who signed the Declaration of Independence, and those who drafted the Constitution (Dictionary.com). Columbus made no contributions towards any of these events which made America an independent country. So while Columbus played the part of encouraging European arrival, he had no role in the founding of the United States to warrant a national American holiday.

Supporters who agree that Columbus Day does should be a national holiday argue that his joining of the New and Old Worlds lead to the modern Western way of life. While true that Columbus did start the Age of Exploration, Columbus was a man who enslaved many native inhabitants, creating the issue of African slavery that would leave a profound negative effect on the American continents. Supporters also argue that while Columbus wasn't the first person to discover America, but he was the one who took action and brought western civilization to the Americas that eventually created America we know today. Critics of Columbus have asserted that the worst aspects of this exchange added up to biological warfare that inspired many modern-day war tactics that lead to even more mass destruction.

Thus, while Columbus contributed to the very beginning of modern-day America, the negative effects of his contributions clearly outweigh any good he may have brought.

While Columbus contributed to the early foundation of America, the holiday is historically inaccurate as Columbus was not the first European to set foot on North American soil. The holiday also glorifies the genocide of the Native People of America, and should not be celebrated at a national level as Columbus was not a founding father of modern America itself. Columbus Day is commemorated for all the wrong reasons, which is why it should be stripped of its title as a national holiday.