Columbus Day

"In 14 hundred and 92, Columbus sailed the ocean blue."

Today is Columbus Day. A holiday that closes the post office, banks, and all government entities, not to mention most schools (not mine, however). This holiday has always baffled me. We all learn about Christopher Columbus in school, but if we ever venture out and learn about other explorers we learn that Columbus didn't really do anything extraordinary, and I've learned he wasn't that great of a man...

A quick history lesson:

500 years before Columbus ever set sail (my math would tell me that would be 992ish) a man named Leif Ericson, a viking, founded the "New World".

Amerigo Vespucci, a famous Italian explorer, actually founded America. This was in 1497, and it makes sense why we are America, named after Amerigo.

Columbus sailed west but never touched foot on the American continent. He spent all of his time on islands, most of the time being in what is now Haiti. It wasn't until his 3rd voyage that he actually stepped onto the "new world" and it was actually South America.

It is rumored that as Columbus tried to colonize this new land he treated the natives very cruelly. He pillaged the lands and raped the women. There are many countries in South America that do not like Christopher Columbus at all.

Well, he did discover the Earth was round, right? Wrong! People had known and believed the Earth was round for years before Columbus had ever set sail.

Now, with all of these accolades, would you still believe he is worthy of a national holiday? I don't want to start a big debate. I think that we need to learn about Columbus, but lets not forget about Leif and Amerigo and the many of other explorers who discovered great things on behalf of the the human race!

Venture on!