Summary: Should We Celebrate Columbus Day?
Should We Celebrate Columbus Day?
When I was younger I was taught in school that Christopher Columbus was a brave and determined man who set sail in 1492 in search of a water route to Asia, resulting in him being the first man to discover the Americas. Since then I’ve come to realize that is he anything but that. Higher education schooling has taught me that he in fact did not discover the Americas, and instead was a ruthless ethnocentric man who’s greed led to slavery, torture, and mass decline of Native Americans. Which leads me to my opinion that we should not continue to glorify Christopher Columbus and celebrate his “achievements” with a day dedicated to him.
My first reason as to why we should not celebrate Columbus Day is the simple fact that he did not discover America; there were already a large population of human beings living there. The people who inhabited the Americas prior to Columbus’s arrival were culturally diverse people who were skilled famers, hunters, and gatherers. The Native Americans built cities, developed organized economies, and had their own religious beliefs. “Most archaeologist agree that the Western Hemisphere’s first human inhabitants came from northeastern Asia (Davidson ).” Instead, it is more accurate to say that Christopher Columbus helped rediscover America. …show more content…
He exploited and treated them inhumanly thus becoming my second reason why we should not celebrate Columbus Day. Once it became apparent to Columbus that the riches he so desperately wished to find in the Americas were lacking, he then began to exploit its people. He sent the Natives back to Europe as slaves and continued to try to profit off them any way he could. Columbus and his people would murder, raped and torture the natives if they disagreed with him or did not do as he
When I was younger I was taught in school that Christopher Columbus was a brave and determined man who set sail in 1492 in search of a water route to Asia, resulting in him being the first man to discover the Americas. Since then I’ve come to realize that is he anything but that. Higher education schooling has taught me that he in fact did not discover the Americas, and instead was a ruthless ethnocentric man who’s greed led to slavery, torture, and mass decline of Native Americans. Which leads me to my opinion that we should not continue to glorify Christopher Columbus and celebrate his “achievements” with a day dedicated to him.
My first reason as to why we should not celebrate Columbus Day is the simple fact that he did not discover America; there were already a large population of human beings living there. The people who inhabited the Americas prior to Columbus’s arrival were culturally diverse people who were skilled famers, hunters, and gatherers. The Native Americans built cities, developed organized economies, and had their own religious beliefs. “Most archaeologist agree that the Western Hemisphere’s first human inhabitants came from northeastern Asia (Davidson ).” Instead, it is more accurate to say that Christopher Columbus helped rediscover America. …show more content…
He exploited and treated them inhumanly thus becoming my second reason why we should not celebrate Columbus Day. Once it became apparent to Columbus that the riches he so desperately wished to find in the Americas were lacking, he then began to exploit its people. He sent the Natives back to Europe as slaves and continued to try to profit off them any way he could. Columbus and his people would murder, raped and torture the natives if they disagreed with him or did not do as he