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A Picture of Book of Christopher Columbus by David A. Adler in HD

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Columbus Day - Learning about Christopher Columbus

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HelloKids # Great Man 25 # Christopher Columbus # 크리스토퍼 콜럼버스 # 이탈리아 제노바 출신의 탐험가이자 항해가 크리스토퍼 콜럼버스 # Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer, born in the Republic of Genoa (Italy). Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents.

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Article to read

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Newsela | PRO/CON: Should we celebrate Christopher Columbus?

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Newsela | Primary Sources: Columbus' Letter to the King and Queen of Spain

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Columbus Day, the second Monday in October, is a nationally recognized holiday.

But it's not recognized in Los Angeles, where I live. The City Council recently voted to get rid of Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples' Day, commemorating "indigenous, aboriginal and native people."

This movement sees Columbus as a symbol of destruction, and thus not to be celebrated.

This new day was first adopted in Berkeley, California in 1992. Since then, it's spread across the nation with increasing speed, as more than 60 cities from Maine to Washington have supported the idea.

While there is plenty to criticize about Columbus, and what followed his arrival, I think this movement is missing the point.

History, in fact, is the story of conquest. We may not like it, but it's our shared heritage. Not just Europeans, but everyone. The point is not to excuse the worst that happened, but to understand it.

It is true that the conquest of the Americas by Europeans, which starts with Columbus, was very ugly, and involved a lot of violence. But that, for better or worse, is how history worked pretty much everywhere for thousands of years. (Though it should be noted a large portion of the deaths of Native Americans was due to disease, not violence--an inevitable consequence of Old World illness in New World soil. Europe, Asia and Africa, of course, suffered through numerous plagues of their own.).

History, in fact, is the story of conquest. We may not like it, but it's our shared heritage. Not just Europeans, but everyone. While there is only limited knowledge of what pre-Columbus America was like, it did feature war, slavery, torture and plenty of brutality.

The point is not to excuse the worst that happened, but to understand it. And to see that it is not the essence of Columbus, but rather part of the times. With all that, there are reasons to celebrate Columbus Day.

-- Celebrate Italians (though there is some question as to whether Columbus would have considered himself an Italian -- he was long thought to have been born in Genoa, then an independent city-state in what is now Italy, though everyone from Greece to Portugal to Poland have claimed him as their own). Nevertheless, Italians claim him today and Columbus Day is a good chance to recognize what Italians have contributed to America, and the world.

-- Celebrate the spirit of exploration. It took tremendous bravery to sail off into the unknown. One of the best parts of our humanity is that sense of discovery.

-- Celebrate the spread of Western civilization. Lately a lot of people have been putting down Western civilization, but its spread is one of the greatest things that's ever happened to humanity.

The West has its good and bad points, but its best ideas-equal rights, freedom of religion, free speech, due process, open scientific inquiry, property rights and so on-have helped all people who adopt them. (Not that the West solely had these ideas, but it put them in a package that wasn't generally available elsewhere.)

Indeed, the promise of the West has delivered freedom and bounty such as humanity has never known.

And, while we celebrate Columbus Day, we can learn from history and also take time to honor Native Americans. They were the original immigrants to the New World, and deserve their remembrance.

Once we do this, Columbus Day can be a truly inclusive holiday. It needn't be a battleground, but a chance to celebrate the best within us.

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Why celebrate Columbus Day? Here are a few reasons

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Columbus Day, the second Monday in October, is a nationally recognized holiday. But it's not recognized in Los Angeles, where I live. The City Council recently voted to get rid of Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples' Day, commemorating "indigenous, aboriginal and native people."

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In this 2014 piece, " Columbus Day, or 'Indigenous Peoples' Day'?," Jake Flanagin writes:

It's a controversial day with a turbulent history. "This historically problematic holiday - Columbus never actually set foot on the continental U.S. - has made an increasing number of people wince, given the enslavement and genocide of Native American people that followed in the wake of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria," writes Yvonne Zipp for The Christian Science Monitor. "The neighborhood wasn't exactly empty when he arrived in 1492."

Back in 1992 - 500 years after Columbus's fateful landing in the Caribbean - Berkeley, Calif., was the first American city to repurpose his day in honor of Native America. "Talk of an alternative Columbus Day dates back to the 1970s," writes Nolan Feeney for Time, "but the idea came to Berkeley after the First Continental Conference on 500 Years of Indian Resistance in Quito, Ecuador, in 1990. That led to another conference among Northern Californian Native American groups." Attendees brought the idea in front of the Berkeley City Council, after which they "appointed a task force to investigate the ideas and Columbus' historical legacy." Two years later, council members officially instated Indigenous Peoples' Day in lieu of Columbus by a unanimous vote.

The California state senator Lori Hancock, then the mayor of Berkeley, remembers encountering Italian-American pushback similar to that in Seattle. "We just had to keep reiterating that that was not the purpose," she told Mr. Feeney. "The purpose was to really affirm the incredible legacy of the indigenous people who were in the North American continent long before Columbus."

And it's worth noting that not all Italian-Americans tote Christopher Columbus as a symbol of cultural pride. "Those supposed leaders in the Italian-American community who oppose Indigenous Peoples' Day on the same day as Columbus Day do not speak for all of us of Italian descent," writes Margaret Viggiani of Seattle in a letter to The Seattle Times. "They certainly don't speak for me. I, and many others, agree wholeheartedly with the long-overdue change and applaud the Seattle City Council for doing it."

"Why should anyone take pride in honoring the life of a man who brought misery and degradation of the native peoples of this hemisphere?" she asks. "It's time to give due to the important and overlooked accomplishments of the many indigenous people who inhabited this hemisphere long before it was named the Americas."

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

- Why does the United States celebrate Columbus Day? In your opinion, is the holiday problematic?

- What do you think of the argument for changing the name and focus of the holiday from Columbus to "indigenous peoples"? Does it dishonor the heritage of Italian-Americans, a group that has also faced discrimination? Or does it serve to recognize and affirm the overlooked history and contributions of Native Americans?

- Do you think changing the name of the holiday can change the way indigenous peoples are treated and remembered in United States history? Or is this move largely symbolic?

- Do you think the United States should continue to recognize Columbus Day as an official holiday? If so, why? If not, should we celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day instead - or something else?

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Should the United States Celebrate Columbus Day?

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In this 2014 piece, " Columbus Day, or 'Indigenous Peoples' Day'?," Jake Flanagin writes: It's a controversial day with a turbulent history. "This historically problematic holiday - Columbus never actually set foot on the continental U.S.

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Debate.org is a dynamic social community where you can voice your opinion on today's hottest issues.

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Christopher Columbus Leaving Palos, Spain, Aboard the Santa Maria on His 1st Voyage

"Christopher Columbus Leaving Palos, Spain, Aboard the Santa Maria on His 1st Voyage, " circa 1910, by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, Gift of Archer Huntington, The Mariners' Museum.

Introduction
We know that In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. But what did he actually discover? Christopher Columbus (also known as (Cristoforo Colombo [Italian]; Cristóbal Colón [Spanish]) was an Italian explorer credited with the "discovery" of the America's. The purpose for his voyages was to find a passage to Asia by sailing west. Never actually accomplishing this mission, his explorations mostly included the Caribbean and parts of Central and South America, all of which were already inhabited by Native groups.

Biography Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, part of present-day Italy, in 1451. His parents' names were Dominico Colombo and Susanna Fontanarossa. He had three brothers: Bartholomew, Giovanni, and Giacomo; and a sister named Bianchinetta. Christopher became an apprentice in his father's wool weaving business, but he also studied mapmaking and sailing as well. He eventually left his father's business to join the Genoese fleet and sail on the Mediterranean Sea.
Early Life
¹ After one of his ships wrecked off the coast of Portugal, he decided to remain there with his younger brother Bartholomew where he worked as a cartographer (mapmaker) and bookseller. Here, he married Doña Felipa Perestrello e Moniz and had two sons Diego and Fernando.

Christopher Columbus owned a copy of Marco Polo's famous book, and it gave him a love for exploration. In the mid 15th century, Portugal was desperately trying to find a faster trade route to Asia. Exotic goods such as spices, ivory, silk, and gems were popular items of trade. However, Europeans often had to travel through the Middle East to reach Asia. At this time, Muslim nations imposed high taxes on European travels crossing through. ² This made it both difficult and expensive to reach Asia. There were rumors from other sailors that Asia could be reached by sailing west. Hearing this, Christopher Columbus decided to try and make this revolutionary journey himself. First, he needed ships and supplies, which required money that he did not have. He went to King John of Portugal who turned him down. He then went to the rulers of England, and France. Each declined his request for funding. After seven years of trying, he was finally sponsored by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.

Voyages Columbus' voyage departed in August of 1492 with 87 men sailing on three ships: the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María. Columbus commanded the Santa María, while the Niña was led by Vicente Yanez Pinzon and the Pinta by Martin Pinzon.
Principal Voyage
³ This was the first of his four trips. He headed west from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean. On October 12 land was sighted. He gave the first island he landed on the name San Salvador, although the native population called it Guanahani. ⁴ Columbus believed that he was in Asia, but was actually in the Caribbean. He even proposed that the island of Cuba was a part of China. Since he thought he was in the Indies, he called the native people "Indians." In several letters he wrote back to Spain, he described the landscape and his encounters with the natives. He continued sailing throughout the Caribbean and named many islands he encountered after his ship, king, and queen: La Isla de Santa María de Concepción, Fernandina, and Isabella.

It is hard to determine specifically which islands Columbus visited on this voyage. His descriptions of the native peoples, geography, and plant life do give us some clues though. One place we do know he stopped was in present-day Haiti. He named the island Hispaniola. Hispaniola today includes both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In January of 1493, Columbus sailed back to Europe to report what he found. Due to rough seas, he was forced to land in Portugal, an unfortunate event for Columbus. With relations between Spain and Portugal strained during this time, Ferdinand and Isabella suspected that Columbus was taking valuable information or maybe goods to Portugal, the country he had lived in for several years. Those who stood against Columbus would later use this as an argument against him. Eventually, Columbus was allowed to return to Spain bringing with him tobacco, turkey, and some new spices. He also brought with him several natives of the islands, of whom Queen Isabella grew very fond.

Subsequent Voyages
Columbus took three other similar trips to this region. His second voyage in 1493 carried a large fleet with the intention of conquering the native populations and establishing colonies. At one point, the natives attacked and killed the settlers left at Fort Navidad. Over time the colonists enslaved many of the natives, sending some to Europe and using many to mine gold for the Spanish settlers in the Caribbean. The third trip was to explore more of the islands and mainland South America further. Columbus was appointed the governor of Hispaniola, but the colonists, upset with Columbus' leadership appealed to the rulers of Spain, who sent a new governor: Francisco de Bobadilla. Columbus was taken prisoner on board a ship and sent back to Spain.

On his fourth and final journey west in 1502 Columbus's goal was to find the "Strait of Malacca," to try to find India. But a hurricane, then being denied entrance to Hispaniola, and then another storm made this an unfortunate trip. His ship was so badly damaged that he and his crew were stranded on Jamaica for two years until help from Hispaniola finally arrived. In 1504, Columbus and his men were taken back to Spain.

Later Years and Death
Columbus reached Spain in November 1504. He was not in good health. He spent much of the last of his life writing letters to obtain the percentage of wealth overdue to be paid to him, and trying to re-attain his governorship status, but was continually denied both. Columbus died at Valladolid on May 20, 1506, due to illness and old age. Even until death, he still firmly believing that he had traveled to the eastern part of Asia.

Legacy Columbus never made it to Asia, nor did he truly discover America. His "re-discovery," however, inspired a new era of exploration of the American continents by Europeans. Perhaps his greatest contribution was that his voyages opened an exchange of goods between Europe and the Americas both during and long after his journeys.
⁵ Despite modern criticism of his treatment of the native peoples there is no denying that his expeditions changed both Europe and America. Columbus day was made a federal holiday in 1971. It is recognized on the second Monday of October.

1. Fergus Fleming, Off the Map: Tales of Endurance and Exploration (New York: Grove Press, 2004), 30.

2. Fleming, Off the Map, 30

3. William D. Phillips and Carla Rahn Phillips, The Worlds of Christopher Columbus (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 142-143.

4. Phillips and Phillips, The Worlds of Christopher Columbus, 155.

5. Robin S. Doak, Christopher Columbus: Explorer of the New World (Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2005), 92.

Bibliography

Doak, Robin. Christopher Columbus: Explorer of the New World. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2005.

Fleming, Fergus. Off the Map: Tales of Endurance and Exploration. New York: Grove Press, 2004.

Phillips, William D., and Carla Rahn Phillips. The Worlds of Christopher Columbus. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Map of Voyages

Click below to view an example of the explorer's voyages. Use the tabs on the left to view either 1 or multiple journeys at a time, and click on the icons to learn more about the stops, sites, and activities along the way.

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Christopher Columbus is credited with the discovery of the Americas in 1492, though Leifr Eiriksson explored the North American continent centuries prior.