Why do we celebrate Colombus day? (parade, legal, activist, radical)

[Fred314X]

If we don't celebrate Leif Ericsson Day, then we probably shouldn't celebrate Columbus Day either. (I begin to see that there are varying degrees of "celebration," anyway. The company for which I work doesn't give the day off).

[legalsea]

Any why celebrate Christmas? Christ never set foot in the fifty states (well, maybe Tulsa, Oklahoma, if you believe Oral Roberts).

I do think that Columbus day has become meaningless. I guess that it will be impossible to get it repealed, however.

[majoun]

Columbus Day is not celebrated in every US state. The reason why it is celebrated in many states is because of large and monied Italian-American populations, as a celebration of Italian heritage.

[Mightyqueen801]

Columbus was a guy who set out to find one thing, got lost, and found something else.

That happens to me a lot, so I'll continue to celebrate for that reason. We get the day off. : )

[arctichomesteader]

We wouldn't be here if he didn't make his little mistake. The earlier discoveries of the continent were pretty well forgotten by that time.

[legalsea]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

We wouldn't be here if he didn't make his little mistake. The earlier discoveries of the continent were pretty well forgotten by that time.

That is what I was taught: that Columbus was the first to travel to the 'new world', then return to Europe, tell others about it, and then sail back to the same area (twice). Hence, others soon followed him, carrying, for some strange reason, blankets full of disease and (I suspect) bedbugs.

Remember: if you ever go off exploring strange new worlds, take clean blankets with you. Don't haul around your nasty, yellow-fever infested blanket. They are not worth near as much as you think on the open market.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

Originally Posted by All American NYC

MLK was an American

So? By any account, MLK was a good man, but you can't compare what he did with the discovery of a new continent.

[JazzyTallGuy]

Originally Posted by cw30000

I don't understand why we celebrate anyone's birthday? I understand Labor day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and new yar, but other people's birthday?

There are some people who feel that some historical figures deserve to be commerated. Some of these people feel strong enough that these particular birthdays are national holidays. It's just that simple.

[JazzyTallGuy]

Originally Posted by Toyman at Jewel Lake

So? By any account, MLK was a good man, but you can't compare what he did with the discovery of a new continent.

We can debate the merits of having MLK's birthday as a national holiday all day long. But how can somebody "Discover" something that is already inhabited by other people?

Columbus "Discovered" the islands in the Caribbean for Europeans. It's important in the historical context in that Europeans then went forth and settled the land masses currently known as North, Central and South America.

[Quick Enough]

Here is why:

"In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation encouraging Americans to mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus' voyage with patriotic festivities, writing, "On that day let the people, so far as possible, cease from toil and devote themselves to such exercises as may best express honor to the discoverer and their appreciation of the great achievements of the four completed centuries of American life."

In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday, largely as a result of intense lobbying by the Knights of Columbus, an influential Catholic fraternal benefits organization. Originally observed every October 12, it was fixed to the second Monday in October in 1971."

Columbus Day — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts