The general argument made by Silvio Laccetti and the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board in their work, Pro/Con: Should we Celebrate Christopher Columbus , is whether or not we should continue to celebrate Columbus Day. Silvio Laccetti claims that we should still celebrate Columbus Day. He writes, “He was also a great explorer, an intrepid adventurer, a man of fervent faith and a defiant leader who blazed a path to the modern world” (para 9). In this passage, Laccetti is suggesting that Columbus was a brave explorer who overcame adversity and started the Age of Exploration. The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board claims that we need to recognize the suffering of indigenous, American people.…
Did you know Columbus Day is a lie? If you don’t know who Columbus is, he was a man who was claimed to discover America. Many think that Columbus found the New World looking for new undiscovered land but he was in fact trying to find gold and an all-water route to Asia as well as Queen Isabella’s mission for spreading Christianity to Asia. Columbus Day shouldn’t be celebrated because he was not actually the person to discover the Americas and Columbus thought he landed in Asia. First, Columbus Day shouldn’t be celebrated because Columbus thought he landed in India and didn’t think he discovered new territory.…
Every year kids around our nation take off from school on October 10th, Columbus Day. In parallel with this annual vacation day for most in the United States, children are also taught about a heroic explorer, who courageously stood up for his belief, that the world was round, rather than flat, by asking many monarchs for the opportunity to prove his belief by finding a shortcut to the Indies, and then proceeded to discover the Americas. Yes, children nationwide are captivated by the story of this brave explorer, Christopher Columbus, who was responsible for finding their continent, and for giving them a day off. However, one key part of the voyage and adventures of Christopher Columbus is left out when children learn about him, namely that…
Christopher Columbus has always been a controversial topic. Some individuals believe he was a hero and founded the Great America at no one’s expense. On the other hand, some individuals believe that Christopher Columbus was a deleterious, inconsiderate, and clueless explorer. Was Columbus a thief and a murderer and should he have his own holiday, is the topic of theologian Dr. Tink Tinker and BBC producer Mark Freeland’s article, “Thief, Slave Trader, Murderer: Christopher Columbus and Caribbean Population Decline” (Tinker and Freeland, 2008, Pg.25). After deliberation and a close look at sources Tinker and Freeland argue that Columbus was a thief and murderer who should not be honored.…
It's that time of year again; pumpkin spice lattes, Halloween decorations, and the national recognition of a man responsible for mass murder, pillaging, and enslavement. It's no secret that Christopher Columbus was a horrible man, or that he didn't even "discover the new world", yet every year on October 12, he is recognized for his "accomplishment". It seems as though more and more people are unwilling to celebrate Columbus, even going so far as to put an axe in the head of his statue. While there has been opposition of Columbus Day for many years, there is only a handful of cities that refuse to recognize it.…
Celebrating Columbus Day: Should We? The issue of whether the United States should continue to celebrate Columbus Day or not has been a topic of interest for quite some time. To some people Columbus Day is a ridiculous day on which we glorify genocide of the Arawak Indians while to others it is considered a day of great importance and a celebration of an honorable man in history. Columbus Day is actually the latter description, but to prove this an agreeable definition is needed. What exactly is an “honorable man”?…
Columbus Day is an unnecessary holiday that, for some reason, we still honor today. The holiday is also an affront to the indigenous population. The false sense of patriotism is wrong to memorialize. The whole day is based off of a fabrication of the true events. When children are in elementary school, they are taught that Christopher Columbus was a hero, to shield the truth.…
We shouldn't celebrate Columbus Day. Not just because he was a bad person. Yes, it is because spread so much disease, and I really don’t want to be celebrating someone who committed near genocide. But mainly, I don’t want to have a day where the Native Americans in our country feel hurt and betrayed as we celebrate the man who killed so many of their ancestors. The majority of people in America aren't Native American.…
Compare and Contrast: Columbus Day On the second day of Monday in October, we celebrate a holiday. We celebrate a man that was very brave. And this man’s name is Christopher Columbus. We celebrate him because he sailed the ocean with three different ships.…
Although Columbus Day is a national holiday honoring a famous historic figure, many people take it as an opportunity to hang out with friends, finish homework, or even catch up on sleep. Columbus was known for many brutal attacks and events in history such as multiple rapes, enslaved people, and deaths. It is also well-thought that Columbus was the first one to discover the Americas , where many people don't know that the native Americans where the first to arrive in America. Instead of rewarding Columbus for all of these brutal and terrifying actions, we should abolish Columbus Day because of all of Columbus's lies and mislead ideas. When Columbus came to the Americas, in addition to bringing multiple slaves, he also disrupted their lifestyles.…
For example, from a certain point of view, the benefits of Columbus might overshadow the negatives. However, that point of view constitutes a holiday that frequently ignores the negatives, devaluing Native American societies. Another dispute is that without abolishing Columbus Day completely, there is no way to utterly eliminate the Eurocentric ideal of his voyages that is celebrated annually. However, rather than wholly eliminate one side, the holiday should celebrate the connection of the Old and New Worlds. Preservation of the holiday allows for the appreciation of both European and Native American cultures before and after…
Politics of Indigenous Recognition Analyse the broad shifts that have taken place in Australian society since the end of the Second World War, and how those historical changes have shaped the contemporary nation There has been an abundance of injustices suffered by the original owners of our land which still continue to this day but since WW2, which occurred from 1939-1945, Indigenous Recognition has been one of the rapidly changing important issues in Australian society. Although there has been a shift towards recognition, which has helped to shape this nation into a more diverse and accepting nation, we have still not come far enough to ‘Closing the gap’. Indigenous Recognition is defined as having a voice to parliament, treaties and truth…
The only piece of history in his favor is the fact that he accidentally discovered America, which could be disproved in the next few years considering all of the extensive research being conducted to find another discoverer of America. His great accomplishment was the destruction of an entire population. How is that heroic? So the next time Columbus Day is celebrated, consider yourself educated and spread the word on how Christopher Columbus was everything but a hero. This will in hope eventually bring an end to the celebration of a man who is quite contradictory to what America stands…
Every second Monday in October, people all around the world take the day off to celebrate the so-called “discoverer” of the New World, Christopher Columbus. Columbus Day has been a celebrated federal holiday since the year 1943. But what is there to celebrate? Columbus enslaved, killed, and tortured the Natives living on the islands. Christopher Columbus should most definitely be judged by today’s standards, and the idea of continuing the celebration of this absurd holiday should not be up for discussion.…
Most of us know very little who roamed our lands before we “discovered them”, and instead praise one man’s inaccurate claims. That is why we should replace Columbus Day, which credits a man for deeds he did not do and ignores acts he did commit, and instead utilize the holiday to honor the indigenous peoples who were here before…