Celebrate Columbus Day

In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

During his voyage, Columbus discovered the Bahamas archipelago and the island which is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic. On his ensuing voyages, he explored the region of Central and South America. He never got close to what is now called the United States.

So, we celebrate a holiday for a individual who did not actually discover North America. Why is that? The early US was fighting with England and thus did not want to acknowledge that explorer John Cabot discovered Newfoundland in England’s name, which opened the door for England's expansion into North America. Instead, the colonialists turned to Spain’s Columbus as their hero to be honored. In addition to a holiday in October, we have the District of Columbia, not District of Cabot.

To give him his proper kudos, Columbus did help establish knowledge about trade winds, namely the lower-latitude easterlies that blow toward the Caribbean and the higher-latitude westerlies that can blow a ship back to Western Europe. Also, while Columbus wasn't the first European to reach the Western Hemisphere, he was the first European to stay. His voyages directly initiated a permanent presence of Europeans in both North and South America.

Posted by Jeff Rae on Oct 11, 2011 at 5:57 AM