Why Columbus Day Should not Be a National Holiday

There existed numerous explorers such as Prince Henry, Hernan Cortes, and the explorer most people know about Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and also a navigator born in 1451 in Genoa Italy. Columbus died in 1506 and was in a lifelong pursuit to discover a new direct ocean route from the west of Europe to China and India, but he unwittingly discovered upon the Americas instead of Asia. The majority of people would muse that Christopher Columbus was a great person considering he uncovered a new world for conquest and permanent European colonization. In 1892, President Harrison declared Columbus Day a national holiday but he as well committed villainous behaviors towards his discoveries. Christopher Columbus caused suffering to the Indians such as carrying diseases to the Americas which provoked a majority quantity of natives to die, made multiple of them as slaves, required them to convert religiosity, and violated them. As a matter a fact Columbus also became greedy and stole goods such as gold and silver, including taking their land. In the manner, Christopher Columbus also declared false information to people about his explorations. Overall Christopher Columbus was in a matter of fact a villain and not a hero due to the fact of the actions he committed. I suggest that Columbus Day should not continue to be a national holiday because it does not only show you his arrival in America but additionally it demonstrates the dreadful steps he took to discover and take over the Americas.

To begin with, Christopher Columbus and his crew caused tremendous suffering to the Indians throughout his discovery. They abused Indians, if the Indians did not convert religions he would sell them as slaves additionally Columbus and his crew mistreat a majority of the natives and women just to get gold and if they did not give them gold they are either punished or even killed in the book Christopher Columbus by Wendy Conklin it states “It did not take long for the crew to mistreat the natives. It did not take long for the crew to mistreat the natives. They kidnapped the women and stole gold. When the natives refused to convert to Christianity, the crew sold them as slaves. If the natives could not find gold, they were punished or killed”. This demonstrates how he would behave toward the natives if they do what he says. When Columbus and his crew brought the Indians as slaves to Europe most of them deceased due to the fact of the environment temperature difference it states in the book Race to the New World by Douglas Hunter it states

Approximately 200 of the Indians had died-I believe it was because they were unaccustomed to the air which is cooler than theirs-and we cast them into the sea. The first land we sighted was Cape Spartel in Morocco, and very soon after we reached Cadiz, where we unloaded all of the slaves, half of whom were sick. For your information, they are not men made for work, and they fear greatly the cold and do not live long.

This exemplifies how awful Columbus dealt with the natives until the point they die.

Another reason why Christopher Columbus is a villain is that he eradicated their culture by killing the Indians and also taking their land. Many of the Indians such as the Tainos died because of the diseases Christopher Columbus and his crew transfer to them. It states in the book Christopher Columbus by Peter Chrisp “The Spaniards and the Tainos each passed on unfamiliar diseases to the other, with devastating effect. Many Spaniards caught tropical fever and syphilis, while the Tainos died from smallpox and measles” this factor caused the majority of the Indians to die provoking their culture to die because of Christopher Columbus transmitting diseases. Columbus also made the Indians change their religion and forced them to move from their homes which altered a lot of their culture it states in the book Columbus and the Age of Explorers by Nadia Higgins “Europeans introduced Indians to guns and Christianity. Many Indians were forced to take on this new religion. Often, they mixed their own religious traditions with those of the new one. In some places, European colonists forced Indians to work for them. In other places, they drove Indians out of the best land”. Christopher Columbus really changed Indian culture due to the fact of him transmitting diseases, snatching their land, and forcing them to change religion to Christianity.

I reckon Columbus Day should not proceed to be a national holiday because yes he found out about the Americas however, he also committed horrible things to the Indians. Columbus also told an untruth about his own discoveries.