Columbus Day is a federal holiday celebrated by the United States, celebrating Christopher Columbus’ discovery of various islands in The Caribbean, essentially “discovering America”. However, that statement has been disproven because Native Americans already discovered the islands that Columbus discovered. Along with discrediting the Natives, he subjected them to slavery and torture, killing millions. And with that, Columbus Day should be abolished.
One reason why Columbus Day should be abolished is because Columbus himself had intentions of enslaving Natives. A journal entry from Columbus from October 13th, 1492 states that “They do not bear arms and do not know of them, for I showed them a sword and they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance…They would make fine servants…With fifty men, we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” This explicitly states that Columbus wants to control the natives for his intents, even if it could kill them. Another part of Columbus’ journal says “As I arrived on the Indies, on the first Island, which I found I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information about what are in these parts” This proves his intents by executing what he intended to do, also showing that slavey was not his men’s doing, it was his. In short, Columbus encourages slavery, something that directly goes against the USA’s beliefs.
Another reason why Columbus Day should be abolished is the murder of the Natives that lived on the island. An excerpt “A People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn states “When he arrived on Hispaniola in 1508, Las Casas says “There were 60,000 people living on this islands, including the Indians; so that from 1494 to 1508, three million people had perished form the war, slavery, and the mines.” This shows that this evidence is credible because it comes from an eyewitness, and a very large number of people died from Columbus’ order of slavery and fights between Columbus’ men and the Natives. The text also states that when you read Las Casas’ letter, although there may be exaggerations,that there was “conquest, slavery and death.”, and that adaptations of Columbus’ story only described him as a great adventurer and without bloodshed. This shows that even though Columbus has a history of violence, most popularized tellings of Columbus’ story does not describe the slavery and death which goes against the values of America. In short, Columbus was guilty for the murder of many.
Some critics say that we should celebrate Columbus day because he “discovered” America. However I could not disagree more. An online petition written by Citizens of a United America in 1995 states that the idea of discovering America is “Euro-centric” and overly insulting, and that Native Americans were there first for at least 10,000 years. This explains that in order for Columbus to truly discover America, he should have discovered it 10,000 years ago, and proves the claim is BLATANTLY inaccurate.
That is why Columbus Day should be abolished. Instead of Columbus day, it should be officially renamed Indigenous People’s Day, honoring the Natives that were lost. Thanks for reading!