 ...assuming you celebrate it. From a text I found last night (sorry, I forget where):
The first recorded celebration honoring the discovery of America by Europeans took place on October 12, 1792 in New York City. The event, which celebrated the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landing in the New World, was organized by The Society of St. Tammany (also known as the Columbian Order).
San Francisco's Italian community held their first Columbus Day celebration in 1869. In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison urged citizens to participate in the the 400th anniversary celebration of Columbus' first voyage. It was during this event that the Pledge of Allegiance, written by Francis Bellamy, was recited publically for the first time.
Colorado was the first state to observe the holiday in 1905.
In 1937, President Roosevelt proclaimed October 12 as "Columbus Day" and in 1971, President Nixon declared the second Monday of October a national holiday.The first recorded celebration honoring the discovery of America by Europeans took place on October 12, 1792 in New York City. Now it's common knowledge at this point that Christopher Columbus didn't discover "America" per se, but rather, on contract for King Ferdinand of Spain, sought a quicker route from Europe to Asia, and wound up finding Hispaniola, San Salvador, Cuba and the Bahamas. Upon landing, and seeing the peaceful Arawak natives, Columbus is said to have written in his diaries: "It appears to me, that the people are ingenious, and would be good servants and I am of opinion that they would very readily become Christians, as they appear to have no religion. ... I could conquer the whole of them with 50 men, and govern them as I pleased." Nice. He also is credited with kicking off the Atlantic slave trade, something he tried to accomplish by shipping the natives he found back to Europe. Unfortunately, the "Indian" slaves died. Amerigo Vespucci in 1502-1504 published a series of travel journals that convinced European scholars that what Columbus "discovered" was not Cathay, or India, as Columbus believed, but actually a "new" continent. The continent was named "America" after Vespucci, because Vespucci's maps were the first to cartographically represent this new continent to the people of Europe. So is Columbus due a holiday? Probably not, based on his actual accomplishments. In terms of the history of naval exploration, his contract with Spain accomplished something, if only to convince Europe that the journey from West to East could be made in a single voyage without resupplying. But for that, a holiday? Labels: Christopher Columbus, Columbus Day, holidays |
