To Change or Not to Change? Columbus Day or Indigenous People’s Day

Who is Christopher Columbus? Columbus wasn’t educated, dropping out of school at 14. He didn’t know much about navigation. He struggled with this aspect through his expedition, frequently mixing up India and Asia throughout his expedition. Columbus didn't prove the earth was round, the Greeks had before him. He caused slave trading to become a dominant commodity. When first arriving to the Americas; the first tribes the sailors met were giving and welcoming and willing to trade. As soon as Columbus met the tribes he saw them as inferiors and slaves documenting observations of the natives in his diary. Spain only gave Christopher Columbus sailing rights for gold in return and he believed he would get ten percent of the profit of gold that he brought back for Spain.

Who is Christopher Columbus continued... After he went back to Spain, he barely brought back any gold because there wasn’t an abundance in the Americas which was highly believed among the sailors and Columbus. Instead of gold, he showed up with ships of starving and ill slaves to make up for his inability to find gold, originally he promised Spain to bring great wealth . He committed acts of rape, murder, destruction, all forms of genocide, and along with land and resource destruction during his expedition. His discovery of possible gold caused mass suicide for the Arawaks, the first tribe he met, they feared they were going to get captured like many of their relatives and taken back to Spain as slaves.

Background of Columbus Day The basic roots of Columbus Day trace back to the Italian and Catholic communities in 1792. On the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ journey President Benjamin Harrison called for national observance. In 1937, under intense pressure from the Knights of Columbus, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday.

Why Columbus Day should remain Pros: Though he did not really “discover” the New World–millions of people already lived there–his journeys marked the beginning of centuries of transAtlantic conquest and colonization. We still celebrate President’s Day even though many early presidents had slaves. Columbus’s moral actions may not have been good, but his actions had a huge impact on our country and the way it is today. Columbus Day has been a Federal Holiday in the United States since 1937. Cons: In Columbus’s settlement of Hispaniola, conditions were so bad that Spanish authorities had to send a new governor to take over. Christopher Columbus was arrested and returned to Spain in chains. The consequences of his explorations were severe for the native populations of the areas he and the conquistadores conquered.

Why the holiday should be changed to Indigenous Peoples’ Day Pros: Indigenous people had been living in the "New World" for centuries by the time he arrived, and his voyages established lasting connections between Europe and Americans that paved the way for its colonization, leading to the subjugation and decimation of the indigenous population. It would signify that we as a district and as a community are willing to look towards the future while still appreciating the past Many other districts have already made the change, the very first district being East Aurora. Cons: There is not a huge Native-American demographic in our district. Many cities have made attempts at changing Columbus Day, but their actions haven’t made an effect on officially changing the federal holiday.

Suggestions: Open up a survey about the possible change to the public, students, and teachers. Changing the curriculum to help elementary students understand the wrongdoings of Christopher Columbus, respectfully and carefully for the young minds. Emphasize Native American Heritage Day, a national holiday which is observed the day after Thanksgiving. Placing this holiday on our school calendar will bring recognition to the Native Americans and bring a new element of education for the elementary level students. Recognizing this as a holiday may decrease the negativity towards Columbus Day.

Work Cited http://www.biography.com/people/christopher-columbus-9254209 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-kasum/columbus-day-a-bad-idea_b_742708.html We also had a few articles from history classes that we used for information, that were collected within our district