Columbus Day

Do you know why we celebrate Columbus Day?  Do you think we should celebrate it?

Columbus Day is celebrated to honor Christopher Columbus' arrival to the Americas on October 12, 1492.  Columbus Day first became an official state holiday in Colorado in 1906, and became a federal holiday in the United States in 1937, but people have been celebrating it since the colonial period.  Its funny that as a federal employee it means the day off with pay.  There are also lots of Columbus Day sale commercials.  Other than that I don't know of much locally that even recognizes it. 

It is interesting that when you Google Columbus Day you get about 44,000,000 results.  They include the history of the Holiday, facts about Columbus and lots of news stories.  New stories about Columbus Day..Yes.  Some cities have decided to celebrate "Indigenous People's Day".  They are doing it to shift the attention from Columbus to the people he encountered when he arrived in the America's. 

There is a lot of information out there about Columbus.  Some sites talk about how he came in and couldn't find gold so he took slaves back to England with him.  They say his crew abused the slaves, the ones that lived during the boat ride back to England.  These slaves were the Natives, the people that already lived upon the land.  He really didn't discover America, it had already been discovered.  It does make you wonder what is really true in our history and what is not.  When you think about it there is definitely reason to wonder if Columbus is as deserving of a National Holiday as the Presidents, MLK, and our Veterans?  The Internet is an amazing tool that puts so much information at your fingertips.  I encourage you to Google "Columbus Day" and see what you think about the Holiday and the person.