Columbus day. To be, or not to be?
500 years ago a man had a dream. It was an ambitious dream, but a dream it was. His dream was to cross the Atlantic ocean to what he thought was Asia and his name was Christopher Columbus. Eventually, Columbus did achieve his dream. Once Columbus reached the new world he met natives who inevitably, were afraid of him. He took advantage of them and when they did not comply he murdered them. This was perfectly acceptable of the time period but in the twenty-first century actions such as these are simply not acceptable by any nation in the world currently. Compared to today's standards Columbus would not be a figure worth celebrating because if what he did happened today, multiple nations would declare war, …show more content…
The definition of terrorism is “The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.”(Dictionary.com, http://www.dictionary.com/browse/terrorism) This is exactly what Columbus and eventually his successors did. By today's standards Columbus is, by definition, a terrorist, so the question comes up. Do we celebrate a national holiday for a terrorist? The answer is yes, yes we do. The U.S. claims that “Many generations later, that same spirit of exploration inspires Americans to pursue brave new frontiers in business, science, and technology.” (Obama. Barack, “For Immediate Release: Columbus Day 2009,” (Press Release). October 9, 2009.) This quote by the president of the United States of America capitalizes on the exploration of Columbus but has no mention of the actions Columbus took out upon the natives of the lands that he discovered. If we truly want a national holiday at the beginning of October so bad then it should be, without a doubt, named for something less controversial to the morals we, as a nation, strive to
500 years ago a man had a dream. It was an ambitious dream, but a dream it was. His dream was to cross the Atlantic ocean to what he thought was Asia and his name was Christopher Columbus. Eventually, Columbus did achieve his dream. Once Columbus reached the new world he met natives who inevitably, were afraid of him. He took advantage of them and when they did not comply he murdered them. This was perfectly acceptable of the time period but in the twenty-first century actions such as these are simply not acceptable by any nation in the world currently. Compared to today's standards Columbus would not be a figure worth celebrating because if what he did happened today, multiple nations would declare war, …show more content…
The definition of terrorism is “The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.”(Dictionary.com, http://www.dictionary.com/browse/terrorism) This is exactly what Columbus and eventually his successors did. By today's standards Columbus is, by definition, a terrorist, so the question comes up. Do we celebrate a national holiday for a terrorist? The answer is yes, yes we do. The U.S. claims that “Many generations later, that same spirit of exploration inspires Americans to pursue brave new frontiers in business, science, and technology.” (Obama. Barack, “For Immediate Release: Columbus Day 2009,” (Press Release). October 9, 2009.) This quote by the president of the United States of America capitalizes on the exploration of Columbus but has no mention of the actions Columbus took out upon the natives of the lands that he discovered. If we truly want a national holiday at the beginning of October so bad then it should be, without a doubt, named for something less controversial to the morals we, as a nation, strive to