I believe we should still celebrate Columbus day however, we should do it in a more admirable way. Columbus explored South and Central America without realizing he did so, which may have been giant step in history for the old world. Though it is also important to note the negative implications that also come with what he did. If, we make what he did seem heroic then we are making fun of the group that died as a result. The Taino were innocent people and did not deserve what happened to them as a result of being discovered and just existing. Therefore celebrating specifically only the man who killed roughly more than half of them is not right, we should also be celebrating Taino’s, the advances they made on life as we know it, and the similarities …show more content…
This is because it’s another reason for present day Americans to hold up their flags and be proud about what they did. Despite the mass genocide of Taino’s, it is still taught at a young age, that Columbus was nice and friendly. Most wish to be on the right side of history no matter what actually happened. So, no matter what I wish or you want, nothing could happen. This is why, it’s easier to not get rid of the holiday altogether, but make slight tweaks to the way we see it as Americans. In October 2013 according to the Rasmussen Report, 58% Americans thought we should still honor Christopher Columbus, which means more than half the adult population only about four years ago believed that it should still exist. That makes getting rid of it all together is illogical. If as people, we all found out a little more about the people who really go effected by Columbus day then it might just change the minds of many. People could treat the minorities that are still dying out today better in an attempt to not repeat history. If we just get rid of it then we are letting people forget about both the bad person Columbus was or the person he is seen as, which could be a positive. However we still are forgetting about the Taino people and what they did for
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
Some of the problems when studying history are the texts and documents that have been discovered are only from perspective. Furthermore, on occasion that one perspective is all there may be for historians to study. A good example of this textual imbalance can be found from the texts about the discovery of the New World; more specifically, the letters of Christopher Columbus and Pêro Vaz de Caminha during their voyages to the New World. Plenty of the text from this time is written from the perspective of the Europeans, as the Indigenous population did not have any written text. What this means is that it provided only one perspective, which can drastically hinder how history is interpreted. Columbus’s letter of his first voyage to the Caribbean
Christopher Columbus does not deserve to be honored as a hero with his own holiday. Close to 500 years, people have praised Christopher Columbus and also celebrated him as though he was the one who truly founded America. Teachers teach students that he was a great man, also how he found treasures and land known as America. Students are also taught about the names of his three ships he used on his first voyage. However, they did not teach us the truth about Christopher Columbus, and his so called “discovery”.
The name of the article is PRO/CON: Should we celebrate Christopher Columbus?It was made By Silvio Laccetti, McClatchy Tribune, and Los Angeles Times Editorial Board adapted Newsela staff. On 10/06/2017. There are monuments and teachers that are being destroyed. Many people died during Columbus time and when people think of Colombes they think of all the people that he killed. There are parks playgrounds and schools that tribute Christopher Columbus. The article says we should the accomplishment he made. The Los Angeles California City Council have joined with other cities to replace Columbus Day with a holiday called Indigenous Peoples Day. because of the controversy of Columbus, a lot of people
Would you like to be captured and become a slave for some main that came to your land? I doubt that anyone would like for this to happen so could you image the many slaves killed and forced to work for Christopher Columbus. Also, I highly doubt that anyone would like to hop on a ship and go somewhere in Europe that you don’t even know. The natives were good people, and they were a part of the world too. I believe that Christopher Columbus was a villain for coming to the natives land unwanted, he also only wanted to find gold and seize power, and because Columbus in my mind was a hypocrite.
Although, Columbus may have done some bad things to America, he helped England, Spain, and all people to this day. When he discovered America he made it known, allowing people to travel there and begin a new life. Lots of countries honor Columbus, especially Spain. For his discovery we wouldn’t be where we are now, we might have still believed the world was flat. From the author of “Sail On!” he says “Columbus’ voyage made America known to the people of Europe. This truly changed the world. It is why Columbus is honored.”He will be honored for the good things we don’t need to ponder on the
For more than five centuries Americans have lifted Christopher Columbus to heights of greatness and god-like. We celebrate his life as though he was a man that had done us a great favor. In resent years Christopher Columbus has come under scrutiny, his life and works being questioned more than celebrated. There have be many great men and women that contributed to the building of our great nation but they do not receive anywhere as much recognition as Columbus. When a person begins to study the actual accounts of the "finding of the New World" they begin to wonder if Columbus should adored or hated for his actions. As a child I was taught that Columbus was a great man that had accomplished great things for the sake of humanity, but in reality his agenda was not to better humanity but to better himself. He found the Americas by mere chance and he did not even know of what he found. We give him credit for "finding" the Americas but history tells of the people, that he called Indians, already inhabiting the foreign land. So you decide whether or not Christopher Columbus should be revered a hero.
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
Other than what was taught in primary education I knew little of Christopher Columbus. I certainly did not know the truth. Educators and school board officials provided a faulty historical account of Christopher Columbus growing up. Most youth raised in America grew up with nursery rhymes and bedtime stories fictionalizing the heroic efforts and swash-buckling adventures of Columbus’ and men alike making their thievery and lack of concern for human life acceptable. All Americans including the Native and African Americans who were indirectly affected by Christopher Columbus via the slave trade and destruction of their people, observe Christopher Columbus Day. If this is so, why don’t we have a Hail Hitler Day? Hitler, though many see him as a terrible man, was simply doing what power hungry individuals have done for centuries. He simply took a page out of Christopher Columbus’ book destroying the weak and enslaving those left standing. In the case of Christopher Columbus quest for gold, he went to extreme measures to ensure he would get every last golden flake that glittered in Hai...
“In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue”, is the rhyme embedded in children’s heads in the first lesson of US history. However, beyond the discovery of the New World, Christopher Columbus receives no other mentions. Especially no one acknowledges that he was the reason Native Americans were mistreated and kept as slaves. Although Christopher Columbus’ actions are not all honorable he should still be celebrated during Columbus Day as a brave explorer who risked his and his crew’s lives to find a new way of travel and land. His efforts bridged a gap between the New and Old World and helped feed Europe, which immensely impacts our society. Because of his dedication and bravery to be an explorer Christopher Columbus Day should be celebrated.
Thru history studies in grade school and secondary school students are taught of the great explorer who discovered America, Christopher Columbus. Tales of his many voyages and the names of his ships the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria are engrained into the minds of children through rhyme and song. For many years the history written in text books have been regard as fact however information provided by Howard Zinn excerpt has shed new light on the shadowy past of Christopher Columbus.
Each could have taken steps to prevent what happened, yet no one did until it was too late. The damage had been done, with no way to undo it. Not all groups were equal in their level of guilt, yet each one made a large impact on the fate of the Taínos. The choices made by each one ended up leading to a mass murdering of 1-3 million innocent Taíno people. The Taínos caused no harm to the Europeans, yet the Europeans wreaked havoc on their society and popultion. Therefore together, Christopher Columbus, his men, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, and the System of Empire and the Age of Exploration are to blame for the genocide of 1-3 millions Taíno
The second Monday in October is celebrated across America as Columbus Day. It is a celebration of the man who discovered America. In school, children are taught that Christopher Columbus was a national hero. In actuality, the man was a murderer. It is true that he found a land that was unknown to the "civilized" world, yet in this discovery, he erased the natives inhabiting the land. With slavery, warfare, and inhumane acts, Christopher Columbus and the men who accompanied him completely destroyed a people, a culture, and a land. These are not actions that should be heralded as heroic.
Christopher was and always will be a controversial figure on what he did and discovered. He did discover new land, but he did not get where he wanted to go. He always loved to and had a passion to sail. Starting from his first voyage he took his ownership and power way too far. I do not believe that Columbus Day should be celebrated because it honors slavery.
The spirit and values of a nation are reflected in the nation’s heroes. Christopher Columbus has been regarded as an American hero since 1792. Every year Columbus Day is held on the second Monday in October to honor the man and his legacy. However, many people debate whether or not Columbus Day should be celebrated. I believe that Columbus Day should be celebrated in the United States because he opened up the New World to Europe, inspired a spirit of exploration and adventure that still lasts today, and he showed the importance of diversity and understanding of different cultures.