Every year the second Monday of October, we celebrate Columbus Day. Growing up teachers believed and taught Christopher Columbus discovered America whereby being the first American. Columbus had reached America but he believed he had entered the East Indies and therefore labeled the indigenous people Indians. Thousands of years ago, the Indians traveled across the Bering land bridge, from Asia into Alaska. As descends of Asia they usually have dark hair, dark eyes, and light brown skin. There is a variety of Indian nations (tribes). There is a broad range of characteristics, appearances, languages, and customs.
The Navajo tribe was North American Indians that use the Indian Athabascan language. Closely related to the Apache tribe, they live on a reservation in northeastern Arizona and connecting areas of New Mexico and Utah (“Navajo Indians, “2015, p. 1). Originally, the Navajo people were hunters and gathers. They learned how to farm crops of beans, corn, and squash from the Pueblo and Spanish people. They lived a pastoral lifestyle of herding sheep and goats, which was their primary source of income and food. The Navajo Nation territory covers land larger than 10 of the 50 states, called the Navajoland. In the 1920s, the discovery of oil helped to make the Navajo Nation one of the wealthiest nations in a world of its own. People from around the world were
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While the media and educational institutions use the term “Native American” at times this term has been controversial.
As the truths about our history come to light, many cities and states are straying away from Columbus Day celebrations. On Monday, 13 October 2014, the city of Seattle celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Indigenous Peoples’ Day would be the proper celebration for the second Monday in October as they were in American long before Christopher Columbus showed
The credit for this change of view can be given to Washington Irving, who wrote a biography based on Columbus in 1828. This biography romanticized him and gave people the idea that he was this courageous hero who despite people’s claims that he’ll never succeed, ended up discovering what lies past the Atlantic. This biography gathered the momentum needed to catapult the collective opinion of Columbus higher in America. As time passed, more biographers wrote about him which resulted in groups forming, particularly the Knights of Columbus. They’re the group that pressed for a nationally recognized Columbus Day, which passed in
However, people tend to forget the other side of Columbus, the side that lusted after gold and resources that often belonged to the native inhabitants he came across in his exploration. In his insatiable greed, he and his crew committed countless atrocities, such as torture and killing of defenseless natives. Columbus’s discovery of these new lands has profound and negative effects as future colonists arrive. “Zinn estimates that perhaps 3 million people perished in the Caribbean alone from raids, forced labor and disease” (Zinn, 1980). Columbus was seen as a cruel man, who saw the peaceful inhabitants as right for the conquering and lead to the devastation of the native population, yet is celebrated every October.
A young Christopher Columbus set foot on a hot, tropical island on October 12th, 1492. Little did he know that his discovery has become a crucial part of Hispanic culture and its influence on the history of mankind. Hispanic Day commemorates the day in which the Hispanic culture was first spread to the Americas with Christopher Columbus during Spain’s Golden Age. The day Columbus’s troop landed on that Caribbean island, vast cultural development was put into momentum. On this date the first encounter between Europe and the Americas took place. Hispanic Day is an actively celebrated holiday that arose from the European desire for goods from Asia. It had many consequences on the way the history of Spain shaped out to be, and it is a very significant holiday today. Hispanic Day is often understood by the public using the analogy that Christopher Columbus was the torch that spread the flame of Hispanic culture all around the world. This flame still burns today, resulting in the celebration of Hispanic Day.
The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he accidentally stumbled upon the Americas. Though he did not really discover The New World millions of people already lived there his journeys marked the beginning of centuries of Atlantic conquest and colonization. However there has been some controversy whether or not Columbus is a hero or not because of some of his actions he took;” one hundred years after his landing in America, Europeans exploration, and exploitation, resulted in the deaths of 90 million indigenous peoples. His own diaries detail the horrible atrocities committed seemingly at his behest” (lecture handout). In terms of celebration I say it we should not because we are celebrating all the actions he took; The Killing of many natives, the creation of slavery, and mistreatment of his own people. Columbus is basically label as a tyrant. Instead Columbus Day should instead be celebrated as Indigenous day. A day of remembrance to all the people that suffer under Columbus
“In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”, starts the beginning of one of history’s biggest fabrications. We teach our children to be honest and truthful, but then lie to them for the first six to eight years of their educational lives about their own history. For in fact, Columbus did not discover America and did not unveil the myth regarding the world being flat. At the moment, I have yet to discover if Christopher Columbus ever discovered anything at all. Knowing the meaning of discovery, the land that Columbus reached from his voyage and the unorthodox events that occurred after Columbus’ adventure; I do not celebrate Columbus Day. I enjoy the day off from work, as do most Americans that observe the day; but Columbus Day should not be an American holiday for many apparent reasons.
On the second Monday of October, Columbus Day is a holiday that is celebrated in the United States, Spain, etc. This holiday signifies the discovery of the new world; however, this may not be the case. Since the day President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announced Columbus day to be an official federal holiday, there has been a lot of controversy whether people should or should not celebrate the holiday. Many people do not believe that this holiday is significant enough to be celebrated. So the question is, should Columbus day be celebrated? The answer is no. Columbus day is a holiday that celebrates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the new world.1 It glorifies Columbus being the first European to discover North America. This is all not entirely true and that is one of the many
The Navajo tribe extends into the states of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. The reservation that the Navajo Indians live on, spans over 14.000 square miles, lying between Arizona and New Mexico. It is a very dry region which makes it very challenging to live in. The Navajo Tribe would use trees, logs, mud, and soil as their natural resources. The Navajoland is also endowed with reserves of oil, coal, natural gas, and uranium.
In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. But should America really celebrate Christopher Columbus? Was he really responsible for finding America or was he just simply lucky? The real question is, should the American people praise a man who had killed many innocent people? Though Columbus Day is celebrated no one really knows for what reasons. Most Americans just enjoy their day off. Would they celebrate Columbus Day if they really knew the facts?
To me Columbus Day should NOT be a national holiday because he was only good at being a leader and taking risk. Columbus was a betrayer, greedy man and leader of criminals. Columbus is not at all worthy of having his own holiday.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in San Salvador in the Western Hemisphere. Contrary to popular beliefs, Christopher Columbus was not the first European to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Around 1000 A.D, the Norse arrived in modern Canada. Unlike Leif Erikson and other Norse explorers, Columbus was aided with resources and technology, establishing a colony far away from Europe. Christopher Columbus could travel safer and faster west because he had better shipbuilding techniques, such as the caravel that allowed ships to sail into the wind, the astrolabe to determine the latitude, and the compass to help determine the direction. In the years since his arrival, the Italian seafarer left an impact that people celebrate every year on October 12th.
Some know at an early age while others do not. So with this in mind, what Christopher Columbus did to the naive Native Indians. In Howard Zinn’s passage, it states that Columbus said, “[The Indians] are so naive...When you ask for something, they never say no,” (Zinn pg 2). Following this statement, the natives experienced slavery, torture, death and loss of freedom, and parents are not fond of those type of teachings for their children. The Native Population decreased dramatically as told in this excerpt, “In two years, through murder, mutilation, or suicide, half of the 250,000 people Indians on Haiti were dead,” (Zinn 2). Natives went through horror and even at an age of understanding reality, it is still hard to let this information sink in. It has happened in every civilization from the start of time, discrimination, slavery, genocide, so this was nothing new. What children should be learning is more softhearted lessons. Therefore, to make things easier, the children should learn about Christopher Columbus at a later age such as in 6th or 8th grade. Perhaps, maybe teachers can teach on Columbus day on who he is, as he is an important aspect in the US history. As Columbus is one of the discoverers of America and not only did he discovered America he also did good things. Such as he was the start of making the Columbian Exchange, yet he did not directly help organize this system which led to the rise in Europe, especially
One reason we shouldn’t celebrate Columbus Day is because he enslaved Natives to have them work. The text states,”The aim was clear: slaves and gold. They went from island to island in the Caribbean,capturing Indians,”(page 8
If you have ever had to answer the question “Should we celebrate Columbus Day?” without even thinking about your answer first, you might have answered the question wrong. You might have answered yes, thinking that Columbus was the first to discover America, or that he came to the land in peace. You might not have known the tragic things that happened while he was on the land, but that’s okay, because now you might rethink your a original answer.
People have been living in America for countless years, even before Europeans had discovered and populated it. These people, named Native Americans or American Indians, have a unique and singular culture and lifestyle unlike any other. Native Americans were divided into several groups or tribes. Each one tribe developed an own language, housing, clothing, and other cultural aspects. As we take a look into their society’s customs we can learn additional information about the lives of these indigenous people of the United States.
In every history course, you are taught that Columbus was the one who founded the Americas, the hero. Now that you have researched more about Columbus through the years, is he really the superb person they characterize him as? Columbus could be either portrayed as a hero by replenishing culture or as a villain by killing many innocent lives. It is quite obvious that his evil actions outweigh his few accomplishments. It is “politically correct” that there is no cause for celebration. Citizens argue that this holiday preserves the Western Civilization. The correct view is that Columbus did not discover America because people have been settling there for thousands of years before. The only thing brought back from his expedition was the new understanding