How Should We Celebrate Columbus Day

In October of 1492, Portuguese explorer Christopher Columbus landed by ship in the “New World” which is today known as the Americas. Many people believe the holiday that honors him annually in October has great meaning behind it. However, I believe Columbus day should not be celebrated. Christopher Columbus was not the first person ever to discover the Americas, he abused natives on their own land, and the holiday isn’t celebrated in the way it should be.

Many people when they were younger, including myself, were taught that Columbus is a hero and an amazing person who discover the New World. We were all told that Columbus’s purpose for sailing thousands of miles across the Atlantic was to come here in search of undiscovered land. Columbus DID want land but he was expecting to get that land from

Christopher Columbus was one of the greatest explorers known to man. Columbus had many different reasons for his explorations. Later, the main reason for his explorations was selfishness. Just like many other explorers before Columbus, he wanted land, he wanted power, and he also wanted gold. The reason for his very first voyage to what he thought was India, but later was found out to be Central America, was to get land for Spain. Eventually Columbus got all of the ships and money that he needed for his first voyage from Spain’s Queen Isabella. Later on, he had reached the opportunity to achieve his main goal that was caused by selfishness, he wanted to become rich. Queen Isabella was also just as selfish as Columbus was. The only reason that

Christopher Columbus is arguably one of the most famous performers of all time. He discovered the Caribbean Islands, Hispaniola(modern day Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Jamaica, Cuba, and parts of Central America and northern South America. During the second Monday in October, Americans from coast to coast celebrate Columbus’s arrival in the Americas. However, does Columbus really deserve a holiday? Is he really the hero elementary school textbooks paint him to be? Historical evidence points to no. Columbus went from island to island capturing(The Interiors, 1996)the indigenous people who resided there. He even wrote this about the Native Americans in a log book: “They would make fine servants…with fifty mean we could subjugate (overpower)

Christopher Columbus is a man who is known in society simultaneously as a hero and a villain of his time. What if the world had to pick only one, what would it be? Many new studies and scholars believe that Columbus was the villain of his story not a hero as past information would lead us to believe. Past documents were all written from the Europe’s point of view, this would lead to extremely biased documents because Europe was the side to profit unlike the Native

When I was younger I was under the impression that Christopher Columbus was a great man and that he discovered America. We celebrate Columbus day because we honor him for “discovering America”.

Christopher Columbus is a man who is commonly depicted as a hero and great explorer who discovered our modern day America, but many of the so called “facts” are not all completely true as people would like to believe. Columbus was undoubtedly a courageous explorer who brought many new ideas, cultures, and resources to be exchanged between the New World and Europe. While this is true, it is not uncommon for people to forget the harmful effects brought along with the voyages made by Columbus and the darker details of his times in America.

One reason why I think we should not celebrate Columbus day to the extent of a federal holiday is because of the thinking that Columbus was the one who discovered North America. In the article “Leif Erikson” , Leif Eriksson, who was the son of Erik the Red, is said to be the first European to set foot in North America. There are stories about how he truly discovered North America but one story says that he sailed off course on his way back to Greenland and ended up below Greenland in North america. Another story is he heard about the fertile land of North America by an icelandic man who had sailed past it years before so Leif thought it would be a good place to land his ship. This idea of Christopher Columbus truly

Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred ninety-two. When one hears the name Christopher Columbus, they tend to think about his discovery of America. What they don’t consider is how his discovery changed and affected America.

Was Christopher Columbus a hero or a villain? Not everyone will agree on this topic because everyone has a different point of view in the way he discovered the New World. Most people would say that he is a hero. We celebrate each year on the second Monday of every October of when he discovered the New World.

Christopher Columbus is a Villain. On some accounts he can be a Hero. But on many other accounts he's a vicious Villain. Yes he discovered America ; Yes we have a holiday that commemorates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the New World on October 12, 1492. But here are some reasons to why he's a evil man.

An Italian explorer responsible for the European discovery of America in 1492. Columbus wanted to sail across the ocean to find Asia and all the riches they had. Columbus never reached Asia because he sailed west across the Atlantic instead of sailing south around Africa and then east. Although Columbus did not ever reach Asia he landed on a small island in the Caribbean. Columbus named that island San Salvador. Columbus like most other men was interested in gold since he didn't find any in San Salvador he explored other islands staking his claims.

Christopher Columbus, a Spanish captain who sailed to find new found land for the King and Queen of Spain. Columbus was a unique person in the middle Ages. Columbus was not born into the richest family but he was able to teach himself on how to sail and navigate the sea just by working on boats at a very young age. He was a man that worked very hard to earn the rank of captain of the seas, with this rank he became famous in European and American history and change the meaning of sailing.

Loewen argues, “The authors of history textbooks have taken us on a trip of their own, away from the facts of history, into the realm of myth.” As historical events regress further into the past, writers may misinterpret facts that they may have studied. A story of discovery and friendship or a tale of conquest, murder, and greed, which of these are Christopher Columbus’ true stories? I believe the best method to teach American high school students about Christopher Columbus’ story is through historiography because historiography teaches students to compare and distinguish different outlooks from different writers’ point of views instead of just remembering misinterpreted facts. Historiography would guide and force students to study and learn history through a diverse set of historians who focused on the same subject and come to different conclusions. Historiography sets a better stage for an understanding of a subject and opens up a boarder class discussion dialog.

Evidence: “When resistance mounted a to the Spaniards’ violence, Columbus sent an armed force to ‘spread terror among the Indians to show them how strong and powerful the Christians were,’ according to the Spanish priest Bartolome de las Casas” (Huffington Post).