Two Reasons why Columbus Day should not be Celebrated

“These Natives are so nice, we’d be crazy not to enslave them” is one contentious quote by Christopher Columbus. To begin, some people think Columbus is a hero because he found America, which is not true. Christopher Columbus was a murderer, rapist, and thief who did not actually find America, but indeed only visited a land where Native Americans have already been living. When Columbus arrived in 1492, he enslaved the Natives, and took control over their way of life, and also made his way into the Caribbean Island.

Should the United States continue to celebrate Columbus Day? Two reasons why Columbus Day should not be celebrated is that we shouldn’t have a day where we glorify someone who hurt and enslaved innocent people (Native Americans) and because he destroyed the tranquility in the slaves homes and land with genocide and abuse.

In another case, some people think Columbus was a hero because he represents a leader who went far and beyond to find America. Columbus wanted to expand knowledge about the world and what more it consisted of by going across the ocean. The things Columbus did such as capturing the Natives as slaves just made him the man of his time, saying everyone did this, and that he needed the help anyway. Columbus tried to build and has transformed the America we have today. Columbus was taking advantage of opportunities to find goods by getting the help of slaves. Columbus day represents an exploration that lead to many discoveries and examples of leadership and control. Why does learning about what Columbus did to Native Americans still matter today?

Columbus killed a tremendous amount of people (genocide), and got away with it because of better equipment, men and control. Columbus and his men raped and mistreated the slaves, especially young girls through ages nine and ten. The slaves were to do most of Columbus’s dirty work, as he was highly demanding of gold, crops, and land, which caused many of the slaves to be malnourished and sick. Columbus went on forth with a lot of violence, such as cutting off a slave’s nose/hands to signify power against them.

Furthermore, Columbus continued to enslave Natives and abuse their nation, damage their environment, and their rights as humans. Many of those enslaved would die, and were then easily replaced by some brought from the Bahamas. A lot of depopulation was caused by suicides, including some parents killing their own children to prevent them from living and growing up as a slave. Diseases were spread and were not able to be resisted by the sick slaves. Columbus’s men also killed off slaves whenever needed.

It’s important to learn about what Columbus did to Native Americans because not everyone knows the truth about him and his treatment of the Natives. There are still people who believe Christopher Columbus found America and that what he did was harmless because he was being a man of his time. Columbus’s actions aren’t taken into consideration as much as they should be. Columbus is also well known as a great explorer, and not the man he truly is, who hurt people in order for things to go his way and for him to get what he wants, which was power.”

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