Why do we celebrate Colombus day? (illegal, weapon, economic, education)
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I thought he did not step foot in the americas at all? Just the islands.
And he didn't know it was a new continent. He thought it was still asia till the day he died
That is the greatest idea posted on this board. There are none more noble than the Native Americans. Their society was not based on greed, gluttony and annihilation like the european culture that decimated them. Theirs is a culture worth celebrating and remembering.
Ummmm....... which Native Americans? There was no uniform "Native American society."
The Aztecs? Maya? Inca? The Aztecs were pretty damned brutal. The Maya as well.
While it's nice that indigenous Americans never developed (to the same extent) the kinds of vices that "the rest of the world" suffered from through thousands of years of societal development, let's not lend too much credit where it's not due. You don't get credit for not being a conquering subjugator if you lack the resources to do same even if you wanted to.
Indigenous Americans benefitted from their remoteness from the rest of human civilization --- Europeans, Asians, Middle Easterners and Northern Africans were conquering, murdering and trying to get rich since the beginning of time. Each new contact and invention led to improvements in either wealth building or war making.
With the availability of "Old World" weapons is a bit naive to think that the Native American culture (whatever THAT means) would have remained as peaceful and "non expansionist" as they were had "Old World" diseases not wiped out 90% of them. The US would be a very different place if not for the diseases (and no, Ward Churchill's "smallpox blankets") did not cause the Indians to die out!
Last I checked, white man's guns were very readily accepted and used by Native Americans, even against each other!
Edit: That being said, I completely understand some Native American's problems with the holiday. Symbolically, it's a significant date marking the end of a lot for their peoples. But, it's really just a bank holiday these days, devoid of any real symbolic significance.
Discover does not mean invent, create or bring into existence. It means to find, to become aware of or to learn about. The Europeans at that time did not know that the north American Continent existed. When Columbus, on his effort to a water route to India, which would have been, he thought, faster than the land route through Asia, landed in the Bahamas, he did in fact DISCOVER the American continents, as far as the Europeans were concerned. It marked the beginning of Spanish colonialization of this part of the world. And for the record, Spain still celebrates Columbus day, every October 12th, acknowledging his important, if accidental, discovery.
Sure, if you want to take the European view of things. Unfortunately, we are not in Europe.
Discover does not mean invent, create or bring into existence. It means to find, to become aware of or to learn about. The Europeans at that time did not know that the north American Continent existed. When Columbus, on his effort to a water route to India, which would have been, he thought, faster than the land route through Asia, landed in the Bahamas, he did in fact DISCOVER the American continents, as far as the Europeans were concerned. It marked the beginning of Spanish colonialization of this part of the world. And for the record, Spain still celebrates Columbus day, every October 12th, acknowledging his important, if accidental, discovery.
Wow, some of y'all are looking way too far into this. The reason we celebrate Columbus Day is far simpler. We do so because between Labor Day and Veterans day is far too long a stretch for kids and school staff to go without a holiday. Just like the period between President's Day and Memorial day has spring break in it it and Independence Day and Labor Day has summer vacation.
You have to admit that CC's sea journey ranks high in terms of well documented accomplishment. He broke the ice, so to speak, in terms of ending the concept of a world with definite 'ends'. He reached across to the other side, part of which was the NA continent. The nose of a football just need to break the white line to be considered a score.
Obama never earned a Pultizer Prize yet was awarded one, so I guess the trend continues.
As for the despised conquerer CC has lately been charged with, it is thru retrospective eyes that would diminish most historic luminaries and events without holding historic norms in perspective.
It seems to be a trend to diminish heroes of the past as if to rewrite and erase history.
Pete Rose is kept out of the BB HOF while OJ keeps his Heisman and even LT gets inducted.
What do Pete Rose and CC have in common that would deny them respect for their accomplishments ? Somebody have a grudge or personal agenda?
So long as you ignore the fact that he was a womanizer and plagiarized his PhD dissertation.
If we were going to condemn every key figure in American history that was a womanizer or a philanderer at some point in their lives their would not be a lot to talk about.
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Why?
