Columbus Day

On Monday October 14th we will celebrate another Columbus Day. Although Columbus Day is actually the 12th, we celebrate it on the 14th so we get another three day weekend. Yeah, let’s hear it for more holidays. Now I do not want to be one of those American history haters, although I was disappointed when I learned, in college, half the stuff I learned as a child was made up. It’s kind of like politics now, and then.

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue …  yada  yada  yada…. Well OK what is the historical Columbus then? I’m glad you asked, but I will leave out the gory details. For starters, as we all know, his first trip of discovering America was actually to find a route to the markets of eastern Asia.  His success of this new route would have made him very wealthy. Of course what he did discover was the Caribbean, which at the time didn’t offer much in the way of riches in gold or trades. Because he didn’t really know where he was, the populace of the new world were called Indians, old Columbus thought he was in India.

Columbus called the island (in what is now The Bahamas) San Salvador. What ever actual island in the Bahamas he landed on is an unresolved topic; some possibility’s are Samana Cay, Plana Cays, or San Salvador Island (named San Salvador in 1925 in the belief that it was Columbus’ San Salvador).

Since he ended up where he did, he had a theory, which he held onto his entire life, that was, not only is the earth not flat (not news by then) but it was pear shaped. This would explain his misguided adventure to the new lands. As we know he made a total of four trips to the new world, with colonization along the way.  Including some raping and pillaging here and there.

Columbus has been vilified and praised depending on whom and where, in history, you ask. He was a bit of both seemingly. He was an amazing sailor and navigator. He was a great captain and a horrible governor.  He was kind to some Indians and horrible and cruel to others, as slavery was one of the profit ventures he partook in. Many of the things he was blamed for had nothing to do with him though. The looting and slaughtering of thousands’ of natives of the Aztec and Inca nations were done by Conquistadors that had merely followed in Columbus footsteps.

So the whole thing can be confusing as to celebrating Columbus Day. But this depends on your own point of view. I’d love to share mine, but won’t. Either way it’s a day off. And that is worth celebrating!