...holidays are celebrated for religious purposes, but most American holidays are not religious. Many holiday's are just traditions from America's rich ethnic history. Some holidays are also celebrated for certain important people in American history, people like Christopher Columbus. In 1905, Colorado became the first state to observe a Columbus Day, and over the next few decades other states followed. In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt announced every October 12 as Columbus Day. Since 1971, it has been celebrated on the second Monday in October. Columbus Day commemorates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the New World on October 12, 1492. Columbus was believed...
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...someone’s greatness and is a huge honor. That being said, Christopher Columbus should not be bestowed this great honor of Columbus day. Christopher Columbus did terrible things that should not be undermined because he introduced Europe to the New World. In the same way Hitler killed millions of Jews, Christopher Columbus lead to the killing of millions of Native Americans. For example, the Native population of Central Mexico in 1580 was approximately 24 million. By the end of 1680, the population was approximately 2 million. 20 million Native Americans were killed because of Christopher Columbus coming over to America. Celebrating this would send the message that this is okay. That it is okay to commit mass genocide, as long as you find a land mass. It sends the message that it is alright to say ‘finders, keepers’ on land already owned and to kill all those who live there for your own personal profit. In addition to the killing, The Natives were treated inhumanely. Christopher Columbus raped, enslaved and murdered them without mercy. He forced the Natives work in Gold mines until exhaustion and those who refused had their heads chopped off. In addition, the natives of Cicao over the age...
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...1. In Christopher Columbus’s extracts he is described as a hero for being the first to discover the “New Land” which to me, is very admirable. Christopher spent several years to get sponsored by the Queen of Spain to sponsor his first voyage with much hope and expectations for this journey. He set sail in 1492, finding the new land and meeting the “Indians” now known as, the Native Americans. Christopher brought a few men back from the New Land, receiving gifts such as, “balls of cotton thread…and many other things such as glass beads and hawk’s bells” (Columbus). Hopeful thinking for what else Christopher could discover with more time. Thus, becoming a true Hero. 2. Las Casas views about Christopher Columbus as a hero contradicted how Columbus...
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...The Columbus Day Controversy Christopher Columbus has been recognized and praise as a hero since his suppose discovery of America. In which, Christopher Columbus was granted a holiday named Columbus Day after his legacy. To which, Columbus Day is a holiday celebrated on the second monday of October and is celebrated for the sole purpose that his exploration to the “New World” led to the discovery of America. Although many people today still celebrate Columbus Day it has caused great controversy throughout the nation and therefore should be exiled since it is an occasion to be mourned, he is a bad remodel to the American citizenry, and Columbus was a compulsive liar. To begin with, a issue to consider when removing Columbus Day is the fact...
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...Christopher Columbus was a Spanish explorer who sailed from Europe to North America and is considerably responsible for contributing to the creation of what would later become the United States of America, to the point of having a holiday dedicated to his work as an explorer. Columbus Day is an American holiday which celebrates both establishing of American colonization AND the destruction of a majority of Native Americans. Two reasons why the holiday should be abolished are that Columbus was practically a tyrant to the Natives and that he did not discover the Americas at all. He promoted greed, rape, slavery and was not the true founder of the Americas as they have already been inhabited by living human beings. Christopher Columbus was basically a tyrannical Spaniard who enslaved countless Native Americans and punished them harshly whenever they didn’t do work. He ordered his followers to kidnap and rape many Native American females as young as 9-10 years old. He got his men to set out dogs to feed on the flesh of Native Americans as a way of taking advantage of their constant nudity. One last cruel thing he did was put wooden slats over the tongues of depressed Natives who cried out in...
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...Columbus. A controversial man by many a person’s standards in today's society. Most people universally agree, though one can always find those who disagree, that Columbus abused the indigenous peoples of the areas that he explored. Which is why Columbus Day shouldn't be celebrated, because Columbus brought diseases, mistreated natives, and ignored cultures. Death seemed to run rampant wherever Columbus went. Illnesses and the treatment of them weren’t as advanced back then; consequently, more people died. But can there be too much death? Columbus arrived carrying many diseases on his ships. Those illnesses ravaged the natives as is stated by OMRF President Stephen Prescott, M.D. “When explorers from Europe reached America, they brought livestock and they brought diseases and the result was devastating” (About). Wait, we're celebrating a man who killed… well, how many people did this affect? How many were scarred or dead? The answer is a great many people died, “some say the impact was more destructive than the Black Death had been… possibly killing off… 90% of the native populations” (About). Wait, 90%?! When people went to a new place that had different diseases, it was expected for some people to die because medicine wasn't as advanced as it is now. But to kill off 90% of the population...
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...Hannah Baker Mrs. Tinsley First Essay Columbus was an Italian explorer who was born in 1451 and died in 1506. He is one of the main explorers we should celebrate because he was first to discover the Americas. Another reason why we should celebrate is because he was sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. He was also a really great navigator too which is why we should celebrate him as well. Even though he was a great explorer, he still had some faults. For example, he failed the quest to travel to the Indies and found the Americas instead. Christopher Columbus was the first person to discover the Americas. This all started when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella requested to travel to the Indies. When he was planning to figure out how to get to there he decides that sailing west would be the easiest route to the Indies. In August 1492, three ships ran by Columbus were set to sail. Throughout the whole voyage they didn’t believe that they would be able to find any land until October 1492 came around. By then it took exactly three months to get there. While Columbus and his crew members were discovering and getting to know the place better, they discovered local people that were called “Indies”. The Indies made them feel at home and helped them with whatever they needed. Columbus and his mates came back to Spain in March 1493....
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...Columbus: Hero or Villain As children we learned that Christopher Columbus was a hero, the discoverer of America. Was he? Perhaps he found a land that had not yet been discovered by Europeans, and bought about trades we know of today, but is that enough to be deemed a hero? He has been acknowledged as the man who discovered the world was round, yet “the Greeks knew, five hundred years before Christ, that the world is a sphere”. (Koning 29) So why was he continually credited for discoveries others made before him? To learn about the real Columbus we must look at all accounts regarding his travels, his contributions and most importantly his downfalls. Many people believed Christopher Columbus to have had good intentions, yet in fact, he was deceitful, murderous, and an enslaver of the people inhabiting the so called New World. Christopher Columbus was born Cristoforo Colombo to a merchant and his wife in Genoa. He was a seaman and a chart maker, but he enjoyed being at sea the most. He married and had a son. When his first wife died, he had another son with a mistress. He was looking for funding to set sail on the Atlantic. The year was 1492 when Columbus was finally ready to sail in search of new lands. He had tried several times to get funding for his voyages and it wasn’t until early in 1492 that he received all that he wanted and needed to prepare for his voyage. Despite the uncertainty they felt regarding Columbus achieving his goal of traveling west and finding new...
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...Columbus: The founder or the Tyrant? In 1942, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, at least that’s how some people see it. Christopher Columbus is said to be the man responsible for discovering America and proving the world to be round. Columbus day was not considered a national holiday until 1937put into effect by Franklin D. Roosevelt, largely due to the controversy of his travels to the new world. He was said to be a tyrant to the indigenous people of what he thought was America. Not only did he cause problems with the people he never actually landed in the states, instead he actually landed in what is known today as the Bahamas. Not everyone, even whole states, in America observes Columbus day as a holiday. It was never even celebrated at all...
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...Columbus Was a Corrupted Man A while back in third grade, we were taught that Columbus was the first person to discover America, and that everyone loved him because he was a great person. Well guys, he’s actually not the first one to discover America, and he definitely was not a nice guy. He was an arrogant, selfish, rotten brat that got his way all of the time, which a lot of people think is rubbish. He was a greedy invader rather than a brave explorer and didn’t care what anyone thought. We know now that Columbus was not a good man nor a great explorer. Columbus was as fake as the lies going around that he was actually smart enough to find America. Columbus day should not be celebrated because of all of the selfish things he did to better...
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...Christopher Columbus Hero to Zero America. Land of the free and home of the brave. We as Americans are very proud of our accomplishments. One of the first things we learn as kids is the Pledge of Allegiance. Every morning we recite this poem celebrating America. We are so proud that we dedicate whole days to honor and celebrate our accomplishments. For example, Veterans Day honors veterans and victims of all wars. It also celebrates the end of WWI. Martin Luther King Jr. Day honors and celebrates one of the most powerful and influential civil rights leaders of all time. However, Columbus Day celebrates a murderer, rapist, self centered, slave owner. Why would we want to celebrate him? Columbus Day should not be celebrated because he created negative consequences that still exist to this day....
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...A lot of great nations have rich history of their own, whether it is bad or it is good. The United States of America has great history and tradition, from the Revolutionary War to the occupation of Afghanistan. When people who write about history discuss that of the United States, they often consider how eminent this country is and the great deeds other people of that country have done. Historians who write about the history of America often write about how it has had a share of great heroes from Christopher Columbus, Woodrow Wilson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, etc.. Nevertheless, historians often seem to not remember to mention the real heroes of America like, for example, John Brown and the Native Americans. Much of the history that historians write about don't always show precision. Since many historians only write about one side of history, it only makes it worse by not revealing the factuality of history and creates an erroneous image of what really took place. Many of our nation's great leaders have been distinguished as individuals who have the best interest of the country and every action they take on behalf of the country befittingly. For instance, in the book, Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen, he writes, "Under [president] Wilson, the United States intervened in Latin America more often than at any other time in our history." (Loewen, 16). What reason did the United States have to start an intervention in countries that...
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...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’...
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...Columbus Statue is not a recent phenomenon. For many years, many people have been calling for the removal of the Columbus statue, while others argue that it is an essential part of American history and should remain standing. The Argument for the Columbus Statue. Supporters of the Columbus statue argue that it is a symbol of American history and should remain standing as a testament to the discovery of America. Columbus is credited with discovering America and opening up the New World to European exploration and colonization. According to this argument, the Columbus statue represents a significant historical event that should be remembered and celebrated. Furthermore, supporters argue that the Columbus statue represents the contributions of Italian Americans to American society. Columbus was an Italian explorer, and the statue serves as a symbol of Italian American heritage and culture. The Argument against the Columbus...
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...Christopher Columbus: The Original American Hero? Was Columbus a hero or a villain? Maybe it’s neither. Columbus was brave and daring, and did things that were important to world history. But he wasn’t heroic in the sense of displaying great moral qualities. Courage, while generally a good character trait, isn’t necessarily heroic or even highly honorable and praiseworthy unless it’s deployed in certain kinds of actions or causes. But he also wasn’t especially villainous in the sense of displaying particular evil qualities. His arrival in the Americas caused a great deal of death to American Indians, chiefly from disease. And it caused the subjugation and literal or virtual enslavement of the Indians. But this didn’t stem from Columbus’s being an unusually evil person. It stemmed from the brutality of the time, coupled with the contact between one culture that was much more powerful than another (and that carried many communicable diseases to which members of the other culture lacked resistance). I’m inclined to say that we shouldn’t celebrate Columbus Day, precisely because such national celebrations should be focused on honoring people who did things that were both especially important and especially honorable (such as veterans, President Washington, or Martin Luther King, Jr.) and not just on people who did things that were especially important. This might conceivably include not-necessarily-good people who did things that were unambiguously good. But European expansion...
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