The day we call “Columbus Day” is soon approaching stirring up a debate that has occurred in the last couple years. People are torn on whether Christopher Columbus is a hero or villain. Despite the dispute, the United States of America should continue to celebrate Columbus Day and not treat Columbus as a villain.
Spanish exploration before Columbus was rather limited, the Portuguese had gone up and down the coast of Africa before Spain could come in and lay claim to a lot of land. In 1492 Columbus came to America and claimed the land for Spain (even though he thought the land was Japan). When Columbus arrived he brought with him a cocktail of lethal diseases, such as smallpox or measles, which in turn destroyed the native population. The …show more content…
Columbus’ act to enslave the people was common after someone is taken over, he was only doing what all explorers before him would have tired to do. Slavery was a common part of life in Africa and Europe at the times, so why should we blame him now, when what he did was “acceptable” for his period (By the People and Columbus & Colonial Legacy). Columbus’ Day should also be celebrated because without him, nobody in America would likely be alive. Columbus changed the world forever when he landed in the Bahamas. Now I’m sure someone else would have come along and “discovered” America eventually but who know’s who long until someone would have. Without Columbus, the USA wouldn’t even be an idea, and neither would the people living in it. People are attempting to change “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous Peoples Day,” my question to them is how can you celebrate someone who couldn’t even stand up to a man that thought of himself as not a large force, “For I, with the force I have under me, which is not large could march over all these islands without opposition” (Columbus). So again, tell me why anyone wants to celebrate someone who couldn’t protect
Spanish exploration before Columbus was rather limited, the Portuguese had gone up and down the coast of Africa before Spain could come in and lay claim to a lot of land. In 1492 Columbus came to America and claimed the land for Spain (even though he thought the land was Japan). When Columbus arrived he brought with him a cocktail of lethal diseases, such as smallpox or measles, which in turn destroyed the native population. The …show more content…
Columbus’ act to enslave the people was common after someone is taken over, he was only doing what all explorers before him would have tired to do. Slavery was a common part of life in Africa and Europe at the times, so why should we blame him now, when what he did was “acceptable” for his period (By the People and Columbus & Colonial Legacy). Columbus’ Day should also be celebrated because without him, nobody in America would likely be alive. Columbus changed the world forever when he landed in the Bahamas. Now I’m sure someone else would have come along and “discovered” America eventually but who know’s who long until someone would have. Without Columbus, the USA wouldn’t even be an idea, and neither would the people living in it. People are attempting to change “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous Peoples Day,” my question to them is how can you celebrate someone who couldn’t even stand up to a man that thought of himself as not a large force, “For I, with the force I have under me, which is not large could march over all these islands without opposition” (Columbus). So again, tell me why anyone wants to celebrate someone who couldn’t protect