We Should Abolish Columbus Day - 1389 Words

Nichole Oliver Professor Scott ENG-ENF 3/III April 23, 2016 We Should Abolish Columbus Day Only two federal holidays in the United States bear the name of two specific men, ironically one of them fought racism -- Martin Luther King Jr., and the other was a genocidal racist – Chistopher Columbus. Opposition to Columbus Day (observed on the second Monday of October) has intensified in recent decades, while the former passes each year with relatively little controversy. The issue of if we should still celebrate Columbus Day is widely discussed. The topic remains important because it concerns fundamental moral and economic questions related to the origin of how Christopher Columbus got his recognition. In my essay I will touch on the†¦show more content†¦He never actually landed on the mainland of North America. There were three additional voyages that followed. It is highly accepted that his first voyage following the appeal, from which he received from Queen Isabella I, can be argued in favor of being the most important. It†™s also the journey that gave him credit for discovering the New World, not America (Christopher Columbus). Not only were Native Americans present when he reached the New World, but also Africans, Asians and Europeans, among others, had been sailing to the Americas thousands of years before Columbus ventured across the Atlantic. (KnowledgeNuts, Columbus didn’t discover America). Evidence of the early Africans is widespread and varied. Dozens of majestic stone heads have been found at ancient sacred sites, such as La Venta and Tres Zapotes in southern Mexico, ranging up to 9 feet and 4 inches tall, a circumference of 22 feet, and weighing 30 to 40 tons. These colossal statues were depictions of helmeted Black men with large eyes, broad fleshy noses and full lips. They appear to represent priest-kings who ruled vast territories in the ancient New World from provinces near the Gulf of Mexico. Vasco Nunez de Balboa and at least a dozen other European explorers also reported seeing or hearing of Negroes when they reached the New World. Even penned by Columbus himself in his journal, he w rote; â€Å"The Native Americans told me that black-skinned people were trading in gold-tipped medal spears and hadShow MoreRelatedEssay On Christopher Columbus1530 Words   |  7 PagesDurgen! (Spongebob) We were taught in school the saying, In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue, to help us remember when Christopher Columbus discovered America. We learned the Spanish monarchy funded him and he set sail on the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria in hopes of finding a route to the riches that were in the west indies. He landed on an island, and this was how what we know as America was discovered and referenced as the New World. 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