Columbus Day is the day we celebrate when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, starting an age of exploration and discoveries, but should we celebrate this day? No! Columbus was a truly despicable person who ordered his men to kill and torture the Native Americans. They forced them to be his slaves, and tortured them if they didn’t work hard enough or do tasks up to his expectations? We should not celebrate the day when these horrific acts started.
Many people agree that Columbus wasn’t a hero to be celebrated, one such person is Howard Zinn. In his book “A People’s History of the United States” 1980, Mr. Zinn cites the writing of Bartolome de Las Casas, a Catholic priest who moved to the New World in 1508 and was an eyewitness of what happened in the New World. Mr. Zinn highlights how “From 1494 to 1508, over three million people had perished from war, slavery, and the mines. Who in future generations will believe this? I myself writing it as a knowledgeable eyewitness can hardly believe it...." What Howard Zinn cited from Bartolome de Las Casas shows how Columbus treated the natives after he discovered the New World. He forced them into slavery and made them work in mines to find gold. There is also the fact that Columbus wasn’t the first person to discover the Americas. According to an online “Petition to Abolish Columbus Day” created in 1995, it states “American Indian people have been on this continent at least 10,000 years, and scientists have proven that numerous other explorers had arrived on this continent from other parts of the world long before Columbus.” The other people that came onto America before Columbus were the Vikings. Additionally, ABC27.com comments, “the most certain, best-documented evidence for European contact with America before Columbus is the Vikings. Icelandic sagas record that Lief Eriksson took a ship west from Greenland in the year 1001 and set up a settlement in an area they called Vinland”, almost 500 years before Columbus landed in America. Also, “remains of a Viking settlement were unearthed in L’anse aux Meadows, at the northernmost tip of Newfoundland”, which is in Canada.
Some people disagree, and think that Columbus is a great person who does deserve to be celebrated. Alphonse Lamartine believed this, and in his book “The Life and Times of Christopher Columbus”, 1887, he wrote “He was worthy to represent the ancient world before that unknown continent on which he was the first to set foot and carry to these men of a new race all the virtues, without any of the vices, all of the elder hemisphere.” Alphonse Lamartine was incorrect in these statements. Further research shows, how an online petition in 1995 asked Congress to change the name of Columbus Day to First Americans Day, “American Indian people have been on this continent at least 10,000 years, and scientists have proven that numerous other explorers had arrived on this continent from other parts of the world long before Columbus”. This shows that America was not an “unknown continent”, but many other people have already discovered it. They also state the holiday is “Eurocentric”, which means it is focused too much on Europe, and not enough on America, even though it is an American holiday. That is because it pays no mind to the millions of Native Americans that were killed starting from when Columbus came to America. Lamartine also states that Columbus carried “to these men of a new race, all the virtues, without any of the vices”. In Howard Zinn’s book, he cited the work of Bartolome de Las Casas, which states “Over three million people had perished from war, slavery, and the mines”. This disproves the statement that it had all of the virtues because causing death and slavery are not virtues. They are horrible acts that ruined the lives of the thousands of natives that Columbus forced into slavery. I found out from the dictionary that vices are immoral, or wicked acts, therefore, it is reasonable to believe that Columbus committed many vices, forcing the Native Americans to work for him, quite the opposite of what Lamartine stated.
With this evidence, it is clear that Columbus was a terrible person, and Columbus Day is not a day to be celebrated. He enslaved many native Americans and forced them to work in the mines. Many died either from working or from punishment from Columbus and his men. Some people say that Columbus was a good person, who paved the way to discoveries, but with new evidence found, those claims are proven wrong. In all, Columbus was a horrible person who should not be remembered or credited.