In a country where we carved
a monument to four of our presidents on a mountain in the middle of what many Native Americans consider their most sacred
ground, it really shouldn’t surprise anybody that we still celebrate Columbus Day.
We all know the story of Columbus. After all, he discovered America!
Never mind the millions of people who were already living throughout North and South America and the Caribbean. Never
mind that the Vikings had been here on numerous occasions and even had established outposts in the New World. (Columbus
Day in the United States) And never mind that there is fairly conclusive evidence that the North and South American
continents had been reached by both Chinese explorers (Kolesnikov-Jessop) and quite possibly even Polynesian explorers. (Jones)
It’s Columbus whom we give the credit to! And why not? After all, it is his “Discovery”
that led to the European conquest of the New World.
In actuality, Columbus “discovered” very little of the New World. Instead
of being seen as an intrepid explorer, he should probably be seen more as a “hapless navigator [who] misjudged the circumference
of the Earth and landed instead on the Bahamas. He later sailed on to Cuba and to Hispaniola (now Haiti), which he mistakenly
believed to be the East Indies,” (Columbus Day: Celebration and Controversy) but he never got as far
as mainland America. (Columbus Day in the United States)
Those places that Columbus actually made it to, as well as those he left for others to
“discover,” were not barren lands devoid of human life. It is estimated that there were between 90-112 million
people living in the Americas prior to Columbus’ arrival. That’s more than the entire European population
at the time. (Dangl) But not for long.
Columbus almost immediately forced the natives into slavery, and he reportedly “imposed
barbaric forms of punishment, including torture” on those who resisted. (Columbus Day) Indeed, on his very first day
in the New World it is reported that Columbus used “violent force to enslave six natives.” And, “While
ruling as Governor and Viceroy of the Caribbean, Columbus killed [and then] paraded dead natives through the streets to deter
unrest by the natives. Columbus also used force to make native peoples search for gold and to convert them to Christianity.”
(Columbus Day: Celebration and Controversy)
And this is consistent with Columbus. Before he became an explorer, he was in the
business of transporting people from “West Africa to Portugal to be sold as slaves.” Indeed, Columbus has
the distinction of being the first person to bring slaves to the New World. (Transform Columbus Day 2011) As well,
Columbus was the first to bring slaves from the New World back to Europe, shipping off “thousands of peaceful Taino
'Indians' from the island of Hispaniola to be sold into Spanish slavery.” (Columbus Day: Celebration and Controversy)
But then, in all fairness, Columbus
didn’t come to the Americas to celebrate diversity. “Gold and conquest were the driving reasons behind the
historic voyage.” (Columbus Day: Celebration and Controversy) That the native population was dying off in
droves seemed to matter little to the Europeans.
By far the biggest killer was the diseases that the Europeans brought, such as smallpox
and influenza, “which ‘would likely have traveled much faster than the European settlers themselves.’”
(Than). For instance, it is estimated that 90% of those native people living in coastal New England died from Hepatitis
A within three years, and, overall, “Within [the] first years of European contact, 95% of native populations died.”
(Dangl) That’s between 85 million and 106 million people who died as a direct result of European contact –
as a direct result of Columbus.
And this is consistent with studies published by the National Geographic Society.
Research based on genetic studies shows that within just a few years of Columbus’ arrival in the New World the indigenous
population reached an all-time low, which was caused by “a wave of disease, warfare, and enslavement in the New World
that had devastating effects for indigenous populations across the Americas.” (Than)
If we give Columbus credit for discovering America, then perhaps we
should give him credit for the genocide of upwards to 100 million people. If so, he is probably the biggest mass murderer
of all time... hands down. What a guy! In all fairness, Columbus is an historical figure that represents perhaps
the worst in all of us. But why do we celebrate such a figure? For that, we give credit to the Italian-American
community.
The
first official celebration of Columbus Day in the United States was in 1792, “when New York's Columbian Order–better
known as Tammany Hall–held an event to commemorate the historic landing's 300th anniversary.” (Columbus Day)
One hundred years later, In 1892, “President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation encouraging Americans
to mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus' voyage....” (Columbus Day) It was in 1937 that Columbus Day was
declared a national holiday by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, (Columbus Day in the United States) “largely as
a result of intense lobbying by the Knights of Columbus, an influential Catholic fraternal benefits organization.” (Columbus
Day) Not content with just a national holiday, in 1971 President Nixon declared Columbus Day to be a Federal Holiday,
meaning that federal employees, among others, now get the day off. (Columbus Day: Celebration and Controversy)
It was also in 1971 that Columbus Day moved from being observed on the traditional day of October 12 to the second Monday
in October. (Columbus Day in the United States) Columbus Day continues to be celebrated across the United States
through various events, such as parades and even special church services. Although, “Most celebrations are concentrated
around the Italian-American community,” especially in San Francisco and New York. (Columbus Day in the United
States)
Columbus
Day is, understandably, not without opposition, which “...dates back to the 19th century, when anti-immigrant groups
in the United States rejected the holiday because of its association with Catholicism.” More recently, Columbus
Day has been opposed by Native Americans, who see it as “...an event that indirectly resulted in the colonization of
the Americas and the death of millions. (Columbus Day) The result of this opposition is that many communities across
the United States, and even entire states, have stopped celebrating Columbus Day. For instance, Columbus Day is no longer
“a public holiday in California, Nevada and Hawaii.” (Columbus Day in the United States) In Hawai‘i
it has become Discoverer's Day, “which commemorates the arrival of Polynesian settlers,” (Columbus Day) in South
Dakota, Columbus Day is now known as Native Americans’ Day, and in Berkeley, California, it is known as Indigenous People’s
Day. As well, Columbus Day is known as Dìa de la Raza (Day of the Race) in many Latino communities, both in the
United States and throughout Latin America, and since 2002 it has become Dìa de la Resistencia Indìgena (Day
of Indigenous Resistance) in Venezuela. (Columbus Day in the United States)
Columbus Day, regardless of what you call it, will be observed in 2014
on Monday, October 13th.
