Why We Should Not Celebrate Columbus Day

765 Words2 Pages

Columbus day is one of the oldest and most traditional holiday in American history. However, many people do not know what they are celebrating. America should not continue to celebrate Columbus Day because of the cruelty Columbus brought to the natives, his legacy, and achievements. Columbus Day is unreasonably celebrated because he brought the terrible act of the raping of native women, hunting of people with dogs, and harsh punishments. Moreover, it should stop being celebrated as Columbus also created the opportunity for the spread of diseases, slavery, and death. Additionally, some of his achievements that are celebrated such as: the discovery of the new world, his theory of the earth's shape, and establishing contact with the new world …show more content…

For instance, he and his men brought with him a very cruel action of rape. It is believed that, “he encouraged his men to rape Native woman as young as nine or ten” (Source 4). Which is very unethical, and unacceptable in today's society. Moreover, he also killed many Natives in horrific ways. Him and his men used hunting dogs to kill hundred of natives for pleasure and later for dog food (Sources 2 & 4). More importantly this greatly shows how indifferent and inhumanly his treatment was towards natives. Additionally, some of the punishments he brought to the natives are truly awful. He would have natives’ hands cut off for just failing to bring him gold (Sources 1 & 4). Columbus Day should not only stop being celebrated because of the terrible actions of Columbus, but also because of the legacy he left behind because of these …show more content…

For instance, one reason America celebrates Columbus Day is because he is given credit for discovering the New World; however, this is false. He did not and could not discoverer the ”new world”, as it was already inhabited by millions of people (Source 4). Causing this holiday to be celebrated for Columbus cruelty towards natives, as this reason for celebrating him is not correct. Moreover, the idea that he was the first European to make contact with the new world is not true either. This is because, “There is indeed, considerable evidence that people, from all around the world, including Europe, had visited the Americas” before Columbus (Source 4). For this reason, the good reasons Columbus Day is celebrated today are meaningless because he was not the first European to com to the “new world”. Additionally, most people believe that Columbus discovered that the Earth is round, however, this is also a misconception. The educated people of his time already believed the earth was not flat (Source 4). Therefore, there is no real reason to celebrate his achievements as he did not achieve anything

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