Columbus Day is here. Once again, the banks will be closed, libraries, some schools, and of course federal employees get the day off. Why?
Regress back to the lesson plans of elementary school and you might recall the teacher telling you that Columbus discovered the Americas. He or she probably painted a pretty picture of three happy little sailboats anchoring in the harbor followed by a harmonious encounter with the Indians, in which you were told that Columbus made friends with them. The Indians didn’t value the same things the Europeans so they decided to help Columbus and his buddies gathered what they needed and happily waved good-bye as the ships headed back to Spain.
Junior high and high school probably weren’t too much more informative about the subject either. Maybe one or two of your teachers made references to the Columbus standard of brutality but probably didn’t spend more than 20 minutes on the topic before jumping ahead to the Mayflower and the Pilgrims. And you might have decided to sleep in instead of going to the college class that talked about Columbus.
If you did, this is what you missed. Columbus Day became a federal holiday in 1968 after President Johnson approved the day following the adoption of the holiday by numerous states.
Did you ever give much thought to why we celebrate or why our nation recognizes Columbus as a character in history worth honoring nationally? I can’t quite figure it out.
What I’ve learned about Columbus, it seems as if he should be viewed more as a Cortes, or Hitler, or Hussein, or Stalin instead of somebody honored for a national U.S. Holiday.
Let’s get it right people. Columbus wasn’t the first European to discover the Americas; it was Leif Ericsson, a Nordic explorer, who happened to reach Newfoundland in 1001 CE.
The truth is Columbus exploited the kindness of the natives he encountered when landing on where is modern day Haiti in 1492. Take for instance a quote from Columbus’ log upon arriving in the Caribbean:
“They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance…With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”
When he returned to Spain after that first expedition, Columbus lied by reporting to Ferdinand and Isabella that there were vast fields of gold to plunder.
The Spanish Royalty and sent Columbus back the Caribbean with 17 ships for the second journey under the assignment of acquiring as much gold as possible.
In order to make the gold quota, Columbus enslaved several thousand of the natives (Arawaks) and forced them to labor in merciless conditions. If the natives provided them with the “proper” amount of gold they received a copper medallion to wear around their neck.
Those who did not provide enough gold to receive a medallion had both of their hands chopped off.
These are just a few examples of Columbus’ cruelty. The fact remains that from 1492 to the late 1500s Columbus and his successors (who followed by the example he had set) completely wiped out the Arawak Civilization. So this October 10 (October 12 is the day he landed officially) when you try to go to the bank and you find it closed, remember that our country is paying tribute to a lying, murdering, exploiting, genocidal madman.