Arguing why columbus day should not be a recognized holiday.

Everyone has grown up hearing the rhyme “In nineteen hundred and forty-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue” And if you haven’t then you probably lucky enough to not have one of those teachers that sing-songs everything at you.
Christopher Columbus is often portrayed as the first European to sail to the Americas. He is sometimes portrayed as the discoverer of the New World. However, this is controversial on many counts. There is evidence that the first Europeans to sail across the Atlantic were Viking explorers from Scandinavia. In addition, the land was already populated by indigenous peoples, who had 'discovered' the Americas thousands of years before hand. Let’s take a look back on columbus’ …show more content…
He argued that the circumference of the Earth was much smaller than what everyone else believed and by traveling across the atlantic it would be a relatively easier journey. Finally in 1941 the Spaniards agreed to the plan and in 1942, Columbus set sail.
Columbus, already greedy before setting sail, wanted fame and fortune while Ferdinand and Isabella wanted the same, along with the opportunity to expand christianity. Christopher agreed upon these terms keeping 10% of the riches for himself. And he set off to the unknown.
On August 3, 1492, Columbus and his crew set sail from Spain in three ships: the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria and on October 12, the ships made landfall. But it was not in Asia as was expected. Columbus had landed in the bahamas. He spent months sailing from island to island looking for “pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, spices, and other objects and merchandise whatsoever” but no such luck. Not only that but Columbus spread disease to the native americans whose weak immune systems gave under pressure wiped out almost an entire population.