Free Custom «Should Columbus Day Be Celebrated in the U.S.?» Essay Paper

Numerous individuals are astonished to find out that Christopher Columbus and his people kept the native occupants, from the West Indies, as slaves. Columbus and his men forced these slaves to convert to Christianity and, in a bid to get rich; they were subject to extreme violence. However, for one reason or another some of the American people do not think that Columbus Day should be celebrated. In my opinion, Columbus Day ought to be abolished.

We should cease to celebrate this holiday because of three major reasons: one is that celebrating this day sends a hostility message to the very people that sincerely and painfully paid to establish this great nation. Columbus was involved personally in violence against the natives (Dobbs, 1997, para. 9). He encouraged his people to rape the native women and do not forget the young ones, aged between 8 and 10 years. Cutting off ears and noses was a punishment for minor offenses committed by the indigenous persons. Furthermore, Columbus used people as dog food and hunted the natives as his way of sports.

 

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Secondly, Columbus claimed that he discovered places even though these areas were already inhabited. Therefore, it was absurd to utter such a statement. According to Dobbs, different authors sited that these lands in the hemisphere and north of Mexico had over 18 million people living there before the time of Christopher Columbus (1997, para. 3). Evidently these lands could not be empty at the time Columbus arrived. How could one discover a land that numerous people already knew about?

Finally, Columbus did not add value to the knowledge of the Europeans. He claimed that, in his voyages around the world, he discovered new lands across the Atlantic. Nevertheless, this is not remotely true. Dobbs asserts that there is plenty of evidence that people form Europe had sailed the seas and visited America for trade, refuge, settlement and even fishing (1997, para. 7). Clearly, Columbus did not advance the knowledge because people already had ideas of there being other lands masses on earth and shape of the earth.

Celebrating this day is reminding the American people of the slavery thus Columbus Day should be abolished. Even though, he remains as a historical figure and a hero to those who believed in his claims, Columbus is a reminder of great pain and sorrow that Native Americans experienced in his hands.