Today in History: Columbus Day
Today is Columbus Day, when the United States officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. Beginning in 1971, it was recognized as the second Monday in October to allow for national observance, including the closure of banks, U.S. postal service, and federal offices.
Christopher Columbus was a fifteenth century Genovese explorer who sailed from Spain to find India, but discovered the Americas, a new continent unknown to the Europeans. Determined to prove that the world was round and that he could find the other hemisphere, Columbus was joined by ninety other men on the Santa Maria flagship and her accompanying vessels, the Nina, and Pinta.
Though America was named after the Italian explorer named Amerigo Vespucci, a ceremony was held in New York honoring Columbus in 1791. A statue of Columbus was raised in 1892 at the beginning of Columbus Avenue in New York City. In later decades various states, including Colorado and California, began observing Columbus Day. In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed every October 12 as a federal holiday, and since 1971, Columbus Day has been celebrated every second Monday in October.
Yet there remains controversy over the discovery of the Americas, as well as his treatment of Native Americans. Some claim that the early Scandinavian Vikings or Irish missionaries first sighted the Americas. Others, like Howard Zinn, in A People’s History of the United States, assert that Columbus and later, the conquistadors, used murder, conversion, or enslavement to eliminate non-Christians. Also, that they brought small pox and other atrocious diseases to the new land, devastating the Taino or Arawak tribes, among many other indigenous peoples.
The debate to this day has led educators and others to question if and how Columbus Day, a federal holiday, should still be commemorated.
The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.
- How Should Columbus Day Be Celebrated?: To Typify Making of the Nation. (1913, Oct 05). Boston Daily Globe (1872-1922)
- Irving, B. R. (1926, Oct 10). Columbus--the Greatest Ulysses of Them All: True Story of Explorer Reveals New Pages in History of His Quest for New World. Los Angeles Times (1923-1995)
- Guerard, A. (1940, Jan 28). The Very Mysterious Magnifico: Senor de Madariaga's Quizzical Biography of Columbus: Just Who and What Was Christobal Colon? The Washington Post (1923-1954)
- Small, A. (1963, Oct 12). Columbus--Man Obsessed With One Idea: His Ocean Voyage Still 'Most Momentous' Discovery of a New World --The Intrepid Voyages of Christopher Columbus. Chicago Tribune (1963-1996)
- Honors for Columbus Shrink Before History. (1977, Oct 10). The Hartford Courant (1923-)
- Rosenberg, M. R. (1991, Sep 29). Schools Try a Multicultural Approach: Moving from Heroes and Holidays to Rethinking the Curriculum. Shools Weave in Multiculturalism. New York Times (1923-)
- Gordon, L. (1991, Dec 26). Charting New Courses in Teaching About Columbus: History: Schools Are Taking a More Critical Approach, Becoming Entangled in Difficult Educational Issues. Los Angeles Times (1923-1995)
- Beck, J. (1992, Oct 01). Those Who Condemn Columbus Ignore History's Complexity. Chicago Tribune (1963-1996)
- Hoxie, F. E. (1992, Nov 21). Goodbye, Columbus Day 1992. Chicago Tribune (1963-1996)
- Moran, J. (1995, Feb 27). A Lesson on Culture, a Look at History. Los Angeles Times (1923-1995)
Tips:
- Bradford, Ernle Dusgate Selby. Christopher Columbus. New York: Open Road Integrated Media, 2014. e-book
- Columbus, Christopher, and Richard Henry. Major. Select Letters of Christopher Columbus : with Other Original Documents Relating to This Four Voyages to the New World. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2016. e-book
- Columbus, Christopher, Clements R. Markham, and Clements R. (Clements Robert) Markham. The Journal of Christopher Columbus (during His First Voyage, 1492-93) and Documents Relating to the Voyages of John Cabot and Gaspar Corte Real. London: Routledge, 2016. e-book
Images:
- Columbus Sets Foot Upon the American Soil, by Glueck, the Ziegfeld Collection of International Children's Art, Courtesy of Teachers College, Columbia University
- Special News Slide, Courtesy of the Gottesman Libraries
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