I'm sure you know the rest.
As I sit here, feet kicked up on this lovely Columbus Day, I'm fondly remembering grade school. Columbus Day wasn't just a day off--it was an event, a week-long celebration of everything explorer, an excuse for half the class to dress like Native Americans and for our teachers to throw us into make-shift canoes in the middle of the classroom. Okay, maybe that was just my school, but for years, I blindly followed my teachers into believing Christopher Columbus was a hero.
Then I grew up, the world became more cynical, and I read Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States. I would never again look at good ol' Chrissy the same. Never heard of it? Here's an excerpt:
Zinn . (Ignore the angry URL)
Today, I read this and thought, "Maybe I've been wrong to be angry for so long. Maybe there's still something heroic left in the story of Christopher Columbus."
So what do you think? Should we celebrate Columbus Day? (And you know what I mean--there are no Columbus parties on my block, either. I mean as a holiday. Official. On the calendar.) Are there any other national holidays you find offensive? Worthless? Do you appreciate anything about today besides your lack of alarm clock?
Answer this question, with some intelligence please, in 300 words or more. Due Wednesday by 11:59pm.
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ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, I’ve only ever viewed Columbus Day as a legal way out of school. However, after reading the two links provided, as well as listening to angry little mutters from fellow classmates, I’ve been torn between morality and patriotism. Columbus disproved the popular notion that the Earth was flat. He found America, for us at least. Sure, Christopher Columbus wasn’t the adorable cartoon character with a white wig and three cute little boats hanging around Native Americans with colorful feathers but he was still a man who influenced the future of America. He had courage. He had the fight inside him to go on this journey even though the knowledge of that time told him that it would be impossible and that he would probably die falling off the edge of the Earth. Isn’t that what being an American is all about?
ReplyDeleteEveryone’s on Columbus’s case, forgetting that we as Americans celebrate various pointless holidays. Groundhog’s day is one of them. Who gave us the idea to celebrate that holiday? Groundhogs are not wizards in disguise and they don’t predict whether spring is coming early or not. You can replace the animal with any other burrowing creature. While, it is amusing to watch News crews huddle up in the woods staring at a hole in the ground waiting for some small creature to pop its head out of the ground, I still believe it is one of the reasons that the rest of the world think that Americans are, for lack of a better word, foolish.
While I believe that Columbus deserves his day, there is a hint of shame on my part. I see today as a break from my stressful (well, to me at least) school regime. I don’t bake cupcakes with little C's on them or strive to be “just like Mr. Columbus”. I don’t even watch the television specials. So as harsh it is to say it, thousands of people died so I could have a day off of school. At least Columbus didn’t sit in the woods waiting to see if a groundhog spots it’s shadow or not.
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ReplyDeleteColumbus Day is without a doubt, one of the most useless holidays around. We often hear the eagerness of our peers to have a day off from school, but not for its true purpose. In my opinion, if this man had not made a mistake of coming to America we most likely would not be here today. Many people doubted him and said that he would not get to India by taking a short cut and we would fall off the edge of the Earth. Everyone who thought the Earth was flat was incorrect, yet he did not make it to India. However, with his miscalculations, he found “the new world.” But the Native Americans already were inhabited in the North America. Columbus’ eagerness and determination led to a significant finding. Technically, he did not discover the land, since there was already existing civilization here. Therefore, it is wrong for us to celebrate it. Why do we celebrate Columbus Day? We don’t need to have a day off for someone that didn’t have a role of significance to our life time. Therefore, Columbus Day is not needed. On the other hand, it is a part of history and we should learn about past events.
ReplyDeleteAnother unnecessary holiday that is relevant to this topic is St. Patrick’s Day. I never knew why it was celebrated and people care so much about it. What makes this so wonderful, and makes people want to go all out to rejoice in it? This holiday has nothing to do with my culture. It would be useful to me if it allowed for us to have a day off from school. Other than people wearing all green or spraying their hair green for the day, there is no true use for St. Patrick’s Day besides acting in an atypical way than the norm. In other words, neither one of these holiday’s is necessary to partake in.
If i had to decide whether if Columbus deserved a day to celebrate him I would have to say he didn't. He spent so much time trying to take over the land.When the Arawak's(Native Americans)came and gave then things for example parrots and balls of cotton,water,food,gifts and much more they traded everything they had. What did Columbus do exactly after that he took some of them by force and in hope that they would tell him about the land. Even when they realized that they had brought disease to them. Columbus us still didn't try and help. All he did was watched while the Arawak's died.So therefore I really don't think that he deserves a day after him.The only thing i can thank him for is getting us out of school that day. Also another holiday that annoys me is Thanksgiving. When do you think that the Arawak's wanted to sit (at where ever they supposedly sat because I know that they did not sit a table)with the people that basically murdered there family members and let them live in bad conditions. To me the reason for thanksgiving is stupid as #@!!,im pretty sure if that thanksgiving even happened that nobody was happy. People always try to make it seem like a happy holiday when its actually not all the time. Somebody is bound to get pissed that day like I am right now. Christopher Columbus does not deserve his own day, and Thanksgiving just pisses me off.
ReplyDeleteColumbus Day is not a true holiday in my opinion. Celebrating a holiday about a man arriving on new land by mistake because he was lost and drifting until he arrive on land and making slaves out of the natives seem outrageous. I can see why people celebrate him because he was the one to discover the land in which the settlers and their descendent live on that land. However the settler descendent who called themselves American are not true Americans because the native descendent are true American. Since their family has been living on this land for century and these immigrants arrives and take over their land. Columbus day is a day where many children can sleep in which I enjoy very much. However holidays is supposed to have a meaning like Father Day is a holiday to show your appreciation to your father. Columbus Day is supposed to be a day where people honor Christopher Columbus, but people don’t how to honor him in anyway possible. One of the many holidays that I think is not important like Black Friday, which is a holiday celebrating about the United States financial crisis by lowering deals on products. Black Friday is worthless from trying to buy unless gifts no one want at a cheap prices and the violence that occur on that day is something people do not need to see. I appreciate the fact that Columbus discover the land in which my family live. I also appreciate Columbus brave courageous because many people told him he will die if he go off to sea. Columbus believed in himself and proved the people and his crew that he will not fall of the face of the earth. Therefore with my reasons Columbus Day should not be a holiday people should celebrate and have it marked on a calendar.
ReplyDeleteTYLER SARFERT
ReplyDeleteColumbus Day should be celebrated. It is patriotic in the sense that it was OUR countries discovery celebrated. It was a beginning of our technology, our culture, and our founding fathers. It was the beginning of what America is today. People should not look at Columbus Day as bad because Columbus may have made bad decisions. Everybody makes mistakes, and everybody feels differently about different situations. Columbus had his own, and whether it was morally right is not why we are celebrating Columbus Day. It is because of AMERICA. I really do not find any other national holiday’s offensive what so ever. No matter if it is a religious one, or a goofy one. Are we going take Christmas away because the basis of it is revolved around religion? If you think about it, good and bad are just generalizations made about other people/thing’s choices or actions. Somebody might agree with one thing and the person right next to him or her could completely disagree. It is because everyone was brought up differently and have there own opinions. It is actually more offensive to think that some national holidays should NOT be celebrated. They were national holidays to begin with for a reason, whether it is to remember, honor, celebrate, or just to have fun. I’m glad that this topic was brought up because I never really stopped and thought about why a holiday is significant, especially if it is a holiday that lies on a school day. If we have off I just figure we have off. People including myself should really appreciate holidays. We should stop and think more often about why those few special days in the year are actually SPECIAL. So yes, Columbus Day should be a national holiday no matter what people think. Yes, he has done some bad things but we all have; it shouldn’t matter because Columbus Day is about celebrating the discovery of America.
I never really understood the point of celebrating the life of some racist pinhead explorer who labelled the brown Native Americans as Indians, and opened the way for these innocent natives to be slaughtered. Sure, this is important to our national history, but I can definitely view this from a Native American's point of view as to why this may be offensive. It's almost like celebrating the day the Soviet Union collapsed. It is important to us, but may be offensive to any socialist or Russian immigrant who enjoyed living in the Soviet Union. (Which surprisingly there are)Furthermore, I just find Christopher Columbus not important to our history. Many speculate other foreigners have discovered the Americas centuries before Columbus did. In addition, Columbus did not even directly impact us as a nation for it to be considered a national holiday. Sure, the profound organization The Knights of Columbus was named for him, but not for any reason that promotes him as a good Catholic. Plus, there is a separation of church and state all together. Did Columbus fight for American independence? No. Did Columbus help us establish the United States as a superpower? No. Did Columbus contribute anything to our nation? No. It is pointless! Another holiday I find pointless is April Fool's Day. This holiday has no relevance or importance to anything. There is no point in celebration the buttmunch who makes you sit on a whoopie cushion, and laughs like a maniac as you are humiliated. Maybe the April Fool is no one other than Christopher Columbus, for he is also a sick and twisted false idol that we celebrate for no sensible reason. Though I do enjoy the day off, I believe there is no real point in this holiday, and Columbus Day should not be celebrated.
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ReplyDeleteColumbus Day shouldn't be celebrated. We should all be thankful for this discovery , but that's what Thanksgiving is for, why does Columbus need his own holiday? When you think about it, he never really did anything for us, other than find America and kill people. So what? Someone would have found it eventually. It's not like it was unable to be found like Neverland. Also I don't agree in giving him praise for his mistake. Yes, mistake. Columbus thought going east was a quicker way to India.No one knew America would be a block in his journey, but he's lucky it was. If it weren't for him accidentally discovering America he would have been dead by the time he got to India, just because of the length in journey. To add, I am not trying to imply that, because he killed people for knowledge is why we SHOULDN'T celebrate Columbus Day, more like why should we? Why should be celebrate Columbus Day? Was he one of the hundred presidents who helped guide our country to where it is today? No. Did he make the "I Have a Dream," speech and inspire thousands of people? No. Is he the big guy who goes in people's house's and puts gifts under the tree? No. He was just any other explorer doing what he did best, explore. I'm not saying we shouldn't be thankful that he found what we call everyday, America. But I don't see a drastic reason on why we should. Although I do enjoy the day off from school, is Columbus Day really necessary? Another holiday that pertains to this subject is Saint Patrick's Day. I don't know if it's just me, but am I the only one who doesn't know why exactly we celebrate this day? Other than going to school wearing green and four leaf clovers, Saint Patrick's Day is just like Columbus Day. Useless. Therefore, Columbus Day should not be known as a "holiday." But I will make exceptions to a day off from school.
ReplyDeleteThe opening paragraph of the first article made me not want anything to do with celebrating Chrissy Columbus not that I celebrate him any way I spent my Columbus day thinking it was a Sunday anyway, so any thought of the man this holiday is based on never even crossed my mind. That’s probably how many people spend this holiday just looking at it as a day off from school and nothing more than that. I also don’t believe it’s worth celebrating because honestly if Mr. Columbus never found the Americas someone else would have eventually so it’s not all that amazing of an accomplishment in my eyes. Back to Columbus being a useless jerk though, in this article and others I have read Columbus seems to have one recurring trait. He was a selfish jerk who spoke of the people that inhabited the “new” lands that he “discovered” as primitive and as if they weren’t people. I put discovered in quotations because let’s be honest he didn’t discover these lands people had already lived there for many years before he had even thought of sailing across the ocean. So yeah I don’t like or see the reason for Columbus Day, don’t get me wrong I enjoy the day off but it’s a day off for the wrong reasons maybe we should celebrate the day he was thrown in jail that makes more sense to me. On the topic of holidays I believe we should or shouldn’t or celebrate I don’t really believe any holiday’s shouldent be celebrated but I do think some holidays should be as blow out of proportion. I don’t think religious holidays should be used as such major steps in the year for everyone. Not that i'm not a religious person (well I’m sort of not) but I think religion in general is something that creates too much division between people. Maybe I’m being too idealistic but I think that if everyone just toned down the way they celebrate and speak of religion many people would be more accepting of others. To avoid turning this post into a rant I’m going to stop here but I think that discussing ideals and viewpoints on our country and the whole world would be a good thing to do in class. Sorry for the lame-ish ending. IF THIS POST DELETES ITSLEF AGAIN I AM GOING TO PUNCH MY COMPUTER!
ReplyDeleteO second thought we should outlaw April Fools day I hate that stupid day
ReplyDeleteWhen faced with a question on the validity of Columbus Day the arguments are slim to none. The truth is Christopher Columbus finding America was a fluke. People were already there and they weren’t lost and begging for Columbus to “find” them. What I’m really saying is should we really thank the guy who got us to call Native Americans Indians? Not only did he have disrespect for the name but, also for the people. Rather than being treated like an invader from a former land he was treated like a member of the V.I.P. This courtesy was not extended however; instead of being gracious he was malicious seeing them as prospective servants as opposed to people. He had the audacity to laugh at their ignorance to the modern tools of his land, manipulate them in thinking that he “came in peace”, and took advantage of their kind giving nature. All in all Christopher Columbus is the worst excuse for the basis of a holiday. Providing recognition for such a horrible human being is dumb, why should we have a holiday that no one believes in? People believe in making equal rights for all people, people believe in recognizing good moms and dads but, what most don’t believe in is enslavement, stealing, and of taking advantage of a good thing, all of which Columbus stood for and admittedly practiced. Columbus Day should be abrogated from being a holiday. Unlike Columbus Day I believe almost every other holiday has a purpose, a rhyme or a reason it may not make sense to everyone but, there is always a reason to celebrate. For instance, April fool’s day is celebrated for reasons unknown to me but, others may know and celebrate it vehemently. The one holiday I don’t believe in however is groundhog’s day the only productive thing having to do with that holiday is the movie. He never sees his shadow and yet people watch the news like it’s a spectator sport as if Phil is a magician and can magically make winter end early. Let’s just say that when Phil becomes a magician people will actually celebrate Columbus Day.
ReplyDeleteThis past Columbus Day I saw a quote that read “Let’s celebrate this Columbus day by walking into some ones house and telling them we live there now.”This is my general feeling about Columbus Day. Although I appreciate the fact that he found this continent, a whole day committed solely to Columbus is unnecessary. He has been put on a pedestal and declared a hero but no one ever thinks of him as the evil man that he is. The guy gets a lot of praise for someone who used the native Indians as slave labor and then put them through such fierce conditions that there population of 250,000 was diminished to zero in 60 years as a result of his actions. Also, as a result of this holiday thousands of children are mislead into thinking that Columbus was a hero. Therefore, I think Columbus Day is completely unnecessary. I mean there are much more deserving explorers that made a difference such as Amerigo Vespucci who actually concluded that the “New world” was actually a new continent and not just India. Although Columbus Day is pointless, it is not the only holiday that is unnecessary. Another pointless holiday is Groundhogs Day. This is just an insult to the intelligence of the general public. I mean who wasted that much of their life coming up with a holiday that determines the remaining length of winter (which no matter the outcome will not change) based on whether or not a groundhog sees his shadow while surrounded by flashing cameras. And then who were the people who decided that it was a good idea and then made it popular. Seriously, what a waste of time and energy.Like the groundhog, Columbus does not deserve a day dedicated solely to himself, because frankly his achievement isn't good enough to entitle him to it. After all his wrongdoings do cast a pall over his one success.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think we should not celebrate Columbus day. Columbus day is all about celebrating Columbus first discovering America, but do people know beyond that? True, Columbus had plenty of determination to get to Asia, and when the ship's spirits were down he kept believing, but his sole purpose to get to Asia was to set up a trade route. Basically, he was in it for the money. When Columbus arrived at America and met the Indians, he tried to control them and get them to show him where the gold was. While Columbus was told he would fall off the edge of the world by everyone, he wasn't going to be persuaded by a rumor. That shows his sheer determination, so we should celebrate it with his own day, right? Well did anyone ever inform the American population that the only reason he kept trying was to try and find gold in the new world he would soon find? Did anyone inform the American population that he tried to capture the Indians and make them do what he wanted? Anyone? That's what I thought. "But Jake, he discovered America! We should definitely celebrate Columbus day!" Well I don't see you making Columbus day cupcakes or throwing Columbus day parties. People say that we should celebrate Columbus day, but nobody takes it seriously. I think that people want to celebrate it just for the sake of having the day off. I do believe that strong determination through tough situations like sea sickness or diseases should be something that is appreciated, but the fact that he did it solely for getting gold is not something to be celebrated upon. There are a lot of holidays that don't serve any real purpose, such as international caps lock day, flag day, and president's day. Another one is Valentine's day, I mean do we really need a holiday that just makes single people feel even more lonely?
ReplyDeleteColumbus himself had many qualities that made him a special figure in history. His courage to go forth to the unknown in the search of discovery, his faith in his ideas and himself, and his leadership are all admirable qualities not many other people have. Like many other pioneers before him, he thought of a nascent and novel idea on an easier way to navigate the world. The charge that Christopher Columbus was responsible for the genocide and robbing of an indigenous human race is misdirected. It is not Christopher Columbus that these people are so angry at but the ideology that his society and he represented. It is the philosophy of Imperialism, a very common practice among European countries. The morally corrupt notion that a nation can go around using vastly superior weapon technology, mainly the invention of the canon and gun, to claim another people’s land and resources seems to be the root of this hatred. It is misguided to blame Columbus for the naïve Imperialistic philosophy that clearly most every citizen in his country was a believer of. His discovery did lead to the fall of many Native American nations, but this was not because of him. It was the conquistadors and colonists that followed. But his work did a great deal of good as well. After all, without him who knows what the United States of America would be like, if it even would exist, and obviously what the world would be like without America. We do not blame Einstein for the deaths of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings so how can we justify blaming Christopher Columbus for the genocide of a whole indigenous species? I would not deem Christopher as a hero but certainly as an important pioneer. I do think it is pointless of giving him his own holiday. Why should we have a Columbus Day and not a Thomas Edison day or a Robert Taylor day or an Alexander Hamilton day? Columbus Day is not the only pointless holiday on the American calendar. Halloween, the famed cash cow of Hallmark, candy companies, and dentists, as well as Groundhog’s Day and Valentine’s Day are also whimsical holidays that really don’t signify much. I would not of course call for the abrogation of such holidays because I can’t see anything inherently wrong with a celebration. Columbus Day does let us appreciate a little bit more of our past. It is extraneous but I can certainly live with not waking up early that day. Alas, it is one of the quirky traditions that make up the fabric of the American culture.
ReplyDeleteColumbus Day, today, is so overrated. Why is it necessary to celebrate a day that is dedicated to a man for finding America? We all know if Christopher Columbus never came into this world, that overtime someone would have eventually found America. Any explorer has the ability to find a state or country, not only Columbus, after all, thats what they are meant to do. Have you ever asked someone what their favorite holiday is and their response was Columbus Day? I doubt it because nobody really treats this holiday as any other such as Christmas or Easter. We all don’t wake up and expect presents sitting under a tree in our living room on this day, or expect to have big dinners ready for our families and friends on this day. Don’t get me wrong, Columbus did an amazing job in finding America and we should appreciate that, but I honestly do not think that we should celebrate it to the extent that we do today. In my opinion, I think that we should have a day in school, named after Christopher Columbus, that we all remember what he has done for us, then get on with our normal day. I would rather be on the beach in June then not having school for Columbus Day. Another holiday that I could never understand is April Fools' Day. It makes no sense to have a day where everyone pulls outrageous pranks on each other just to make a laugh. I mean yeah, we all make jokes on each other everyday just to have fun, but this day is dedicated to jokes. Maybe its just me, but I certainly think that April Fools is a waste. Columbus Day and April Fools' Day are totally unnecessary and should not be a full day dedicated to jokes or to the founder of America.
ReplyDeleteHonestly when someone tells me that we have off of school on Monday, I don’t care what it’s for. When I get a dreadful Monday off from school and can sleep in, I’m not even concerned about what I’m celebrating. I think I speak for many other students as well when I say this. In all truth I didn’t even know it was Columbus Day last Monday until I read this post. Therefore I believe we shouldn’t have off from school on Columbus Day. Even though I would love to have an extra day on my weekend, I think we should go to school on Columbus Day to learn about Columbus and what he accomplished in history. Christopher Columbus helped shape our world, in the article Alexandra Petri stated, “But what we ought to celebrate about Columbus is his sheer tenacity — without him, we wouldn’t be here.” This is exactly what I believe we should do, we should celebrate what he did for us but in school. Most people are not even celebrating Christopher Columbus’ accomplishments on our day off from school; most of us don’t even know why we have off from school. I didn’t even appreciate Christopher Columbus one time on Columbus Day. I thought about hanging out with my friends and sleeping in, but if I was in school I would be learning about the contributions Columbus made to our society in my English and History class and most likely would be appreciating him more. Another holiday I believe we shouldn’t have off from school on is Martin Luther King Day. I think we should all be in school learning about the changes he made in America, rather than sitting at home not even thinking about King. Therefore we should still celebrate Columbus Day and Martin Luther King Day but by going to school rather than staying at home.
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ReplyDeleteAs controversial as this topic may seem, Columbus Day should most definitely be observed as a holiday. If Christopher Columbus had not sailed across the blue in the year 1492, it is highly possible that American may not have discovered. Without the discovery of America we (as an entire population) would be living in a completely different continent; or even worse, we may not have existed. Columbus should also be considered a true hero for his voyage across the turbulent Atlantic Ocean. Back in the 1400’s there were no such things as jet planes or air planes, so this journey did not take a few hours, it took him a little over two months before he set foot on American soil.
ReplyDeleteIt is understandable that when Columbus came to America the some of the Native Americans died because they were never exposed to the European diseases brought over by the ship’s crew. This however does not make Columbus guilty of genocide. The genuine definition of genocide is “the systemic killing of all the people from a national, ethnic, or religious group, or an attempt to do this”. The vital word in that statement was “systematic”. The death of those innocent people was unintentional. Columbus could not help the fact that the Native Americans were not immune to some of the diseases that he and his crew accidentally brought over the ocean.
Furthermore, Columbus Day is much more of a holiday than Ground Hog Day and April Fool’s Day. I personally do not see why anyone would choose a rodent over a highly trained meteorologist when it comes down to predicting the weather. The human being obviously did a lot more studying than the ground hog. With April Fool’s Day, it’s almost like human kind has been granted permission to pull pranks for one day with the feeling of no matter how serious the joke, there will not be any negative repercussions because it’s a day dedicated to foolery. Realistically, no one should require a specific day in order to act like a fool, like Nike says, “Just do it”. In conclusion, Christopher Columbus was not a genocidal murderer, but indeed a true American hero. Unrealistic holidays such as Ground Hog Day and April Fool’s Day should be removed off of the calendar altogether. A hero trumps foolery any day.
Sure, you can talk about heroes and role models all you want, but at the end of the day there should never be a holiday celebrating a mass murderer. That's what Columbus is, after all. Not only that, but a thief and slaver. 'In fourteen hundred and ninety-three, Columbus stole all he could see' is an update of the traditional verse, and it tells the story of Columbus much better than many American history textbooks do. Columbus is hailed as one of the first 'American' heroes, celebrated for having 'discovered' the Americas. He didn't discover anything, he came into people's land, stole from them, and then enslaved them. We can raise Columbus to hero status for being a great explorer, for discovering these continents- but the thing is, he didn't. People lived there already. How can something be discovered when people already know about it? The natives had settled this land thousands of years ago, and even Columbus was not the first European to arrive. What of the Vikings, settling Greenland and then discovering Canada? Columbus shouldn't get all the credit. The only thing Columbus managed to do was pull the plug and let the tide of European imperialism come rushing across the world. Perhaps I come off as a bit harsh, but once you read about all the horrible things Columbus did it's hard to think of him as a hero, or praiseworthy. Sure, I love the day off as much as any other lazy student but we aren't celebrating the right thing. Exploring is a herioc thing, but the things that follow it are not nearly as good. If we are really going to have a holiday celebrating the discovery of the Americas, please, please take out Christopher Columbus's name. Make it more general, celebrating the advancement of humans, as we explore our world and come to know more about it. This is a thing worthy of celebration. After all, it is only through the growth of knowledge and tolerance that we are able to look back on Christopher Columbus's deeds and not see a hero but the villian he really is. (Sorry for the long post, but I have a lot of feelings about this! A lot of my information is from the fantastic book "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James W. Loewen. He wrote a whole chapter about how sucky Columbus was, go read it!)
ReplyDeleteBy the way Jasmine, Groundhogs Day is the best holiday ever!!! I went to go see Punxsutawney Phil up in Pennsylvania, and the three hour wait in four degree weather was totally worth it. It has a movie named after it, for one thing. Also I get cake on Groundhogs Day, which I fail to get on Columbus Day. Superior holiday. Groundhogs for life!
ReplyDeleteI can still Remember each year in elementary school when Columbus Day came around. We would spend a whole week talking about his exploration on the Pinta, Nina, and the Sanataria and his miraculous discovery that the world was not flat. We would act out plays, read story books, and dash inside the house when we came home to recite the facts we learned that day. This Columbus Day, the only thing that Oakcrest Students were aware of was that for some reason we had a day off from school and we could sleep in.
ReplyDeleteColumbus Day should be celebrated because it was a momentous time in history. I am aware that Columbus could be classified as a villain. His corrupt treatment to the native Arawak Indians by using them for free labor, separating them from their families and sometimes even killing innocent people for no apparent reason was deplorable. However, Columbus set sail in 1492 and found the new world in an attempt to find Asia and sent many expeditions to explore the area courageously. Columbus was the beginning of our civilization. He was the beginning of our technology, our customs, traditions, and all that America has come to be. He may have done some despicable things, but who even knows if our civilization would be alive with out him. We don’t celebrate Columbus because he killed innocent indians. We celebrate him because he was the founder of America.
There isn’t a holiday that I believe to be offensive. Even though some are unnecessary such as April Fools Day, and Ground Hogs Day, they are exciting and I look forward to their arrival each year!
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ReplyDeleteHero? I think not. Christopher Columbus is not a hero to America in an shape or form. First and foremost, I don't exactly believe in history; especially not dating back to when he was around. People say things and stuff gets mixed up. (Just take a look at Oakcrest hallway). Christopher columbus a thief, a racist, a rapist, and a murderer. He didn't care about other human beings. How can he discover America when there were already other inhabiting the land. Well, I guess he didn't consider them people, but property. When I was younger we would draw his ship and make tunes about him coming over and discovering our land; naive and ignorant I had no choice to believe it. Educating myself with information about the topic though I've come to my personal conclusion that he was just a bad man. Which, hey, I don't think should come down so hard on him. The man's dead and people still come down on him so harshly; why does he have to be good or a hero? Because people say he is? There are good people and there are bad people in this world today and my conjecture is there were good and bad people at his time, too. For the sake of this assignment I voiced my strong opinion, but as Mrs. Rock would say "in the grand scheme of life" it doesn't matter who founded the country we live on and if he was the years greatest humanitarian; we're living here and the all the people who were killed, raped, and degraded because of him now rest in peace.
ReplyDeleteThis is Jazmin Torres, My blog wasn't letting me post my response so here you go...
ReplyDeleteHahahah, I love reading everyone's opinions, and the article I just read got a good laugh out of me. I honestly think that the American government has made up so many insignificant holidays, not to commemorate someone, or to show respect; but to get a day off. I mean, as far as I'm concerned the Peruvian government has like five national holidays. (Tops) New years, Christmas, indepence day... Well that's basically it and there's an obvious reason to this. Because any country in South America doesn't need a holiday to unite with family, have a small get together, or just sit back and relax at home. On the other hand, the U.S NEEDS a pointless holiday like Columbus day to just stay at home and do nothing, or labor day to have a barbeque with family. Otherwise they don't have the time; because seriously. From what I read Columbus was a liar, and he discovered America by accident. By discovered, I mean found a place with people already living on it and took all the credit for every merit done by others. He lied and found land using miscalculations (what a genius). The only thing I give him credit for is to have the guts to sail out in the middle of no where without a Tom Tom. In my opinion, this guy doesn't even deserve an hour dedicated to him. But then again, there are so many people in history that we honor and look up to without even knowing their true story. Why? Because it happened so long ago that not even their ancestor's ancestor's are alive now. So we just assume everything, and make the bad ones look like heroes, and the good ones look like a piece of trash. But seriously there are so many pointless holidays out there, its just ridiculous. Groundhog day? Is the animal always correct or is it just a coincidence. Do kids in grade school really have to watch a little cartoon movie and color a picture of a weird little animal, every single year on that specific day? Shaking my head. And Martin Luther king day, as much as respect that day; we do not need a holiday to remember him or the effect he had on us. If you were a good enough hero, the changes you made will be seen throughout the country all the time. Don't you see African Americans and white people hanging out, being friends, and having a relationship/bond everywhere you go? Well there you have it, thanks Dr. King. He didn't want a holiday, what he wanted was accomplished and everyone respects him. But the mentality of the government to give just anyone a day in their name is bazaar. Let me just "discover' the Great lakes, change the name around, and bam. Couple years from now, you won't have school on November 2nd, you won't receive any mail, and you'll sit at home doing absolutely nothing. Heroes nowadays, you can't live with them; you can’t live without them.
Of course we should Celebrate Columbus day, where would we be if Columbus never thought of an alternate route to reach India and accidently discovered the North and South Americas? Without Columbus’s accidental discovery everyday life would change dramatically, the United States wouldn’t exist, the world would be an extremely different way of living and we wouldn’t be living. The world would probably never see our type of government since it was the U.S.A that achieved the simple goal of its Revolutionary War by defeating Great Britain and receiving its freedom. This changed the government of hundreds of other countries all within a span of 2 centuries and the results still show. The purpose of this holiday is to thank Columbus for his history changing discoveries and this all means thank him for our technology, knowledge, inspiration, life and plenty of other values.
ReplyDeleteColumbus Day is a holiday that should be cherished by all and one that should always be remembered. This is the kind of holiday we should celebrate because its purpose was to enrich the lives of others and show them the real meaning of a holiday. In other words, this is a holiday that shows people the real meaning of what to celebrate. For instance, Halloween is a holiday we do celebrate every single year with parties and ‘trick or treating’. Well why don’t we get a day off of school for that? This is because Halloween is a holiday for partying, not being thankful for something useful. Even though Halloween does have a meaning, about only 14% of the American can tell you the true meaning which shows the other 86% only care about the fun times and goodies even though no one actually celebrates the true meaning anymore. The same shows in Christmas, the majority of people who celebrate Christmas are in it for the presents and gifts galore but not the true meaning, the birth of Jesus Christ. This has a lot to show about how people take holidays because most of the time they celebrate for their own reasons and these reasons are why we can’t take anything seriously anymore and can’t tell fact from fake.
@Evan--I loved your opening line. I'm totally using it next Columbus Day.
ReplyDelete@Jasmine--You should read the Zinn article I posted. Not only did Columbus not land in what we now call America, our home, but he did commit genocide. He, and his men, basically exterminated the entire Arawak population. It's not a word I throw around loosely, and neither did Howard Zinn.
ReplyDeleteAs the years go on, we are taught more and more about our past. To be honest, I always thought that Christopher Columbus was very significant through out history. However, reading the article changed my beliefs. Columbus should not be a holiday. To us Americans, we must praise Columbus for finding America. In the Native Americans point of view, they probably loathe the guy. He disrespected the native americans, and moved them out. Another event that is similar, but much more tragic is the Holocaust. In our point of view, (those against Hitler,) we think that Hitler is a terrible person. In Hitlers followers eyes, he was the greatest man and hero alive. The point I am trying to make, is that there is always two sides to a story. For this specific topic I am on the side that says we should not honor Christopher Columbus to the fullest extent where it becomes a holiday. There were other great men in our past who should probably be honored more than Christopher Columbus. His name is over rated, and it wasn't just all him discovering America. He was the one who made America official. But, there were many other people who traveled, passed by, and were living in the area. There are various holidays that are celebrated that have no purpose. April Fools Day? A useless and pointless day where pranks are pulled. Now, why does that day deserve to be a holiday? The answer is not available to my knowledge. So many ridiculous holidays are so unnecessary, and Columbus Day is one of the many few. Furthermore, nothing is appreciated on this day besides sleeping in and getting the day off. I find this day to be overrated, along with the man behind it all. Maybe if we went to school on the day itself and learned about everything behind the discovery, it wouldn't be as useless. But, as for now, the day is pointless.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Columbus is the first person to take that chance of completely disregarding what everyone else said about the world being flat. He took that chance for the sake of exploration. I appreciate that. Without him, we may not have discovered America until nineteenth century if it weren’t for him. I am thankful for what he did, but I don’t like what he did during the expedition. He completely took advantage of the Native Americans. I don’t approve of him coming into their towns and taking them as his captives because he couldn’t find gold. As an explorer, he should have actually done his job and explored. This just makes him sound lazy, and the fact that he actually would rather raid towns to make the Native Americans slaves than keep searching for gold makes him look like an even lazier person. If I were him, I would much rather have gold than people as slaves. Gold doesn’t die on the way back home. Columbus was truly a cold hearted and unrealistic person. He should have thought his plan through more thoroughly.
ReplyDeleteI really love the day off from school, but I don’t think it is necessary. I don’t believe that there should be a “Columbus Day,” but not for the same reasons most people have said. I understand that he wasn’t one of the great presidents that led our country. He didn’t exactly do anything for our country when it became a country, but he was the one who discovered America. Christopher Columbus was a horrible person. I am being judgmental when I say that he doesn’t deserve a day for that reason, but that is what I think. I do believe that there should be a day marked on the calendar that says “America was discovered” or something along the lines of that.
As we wake up at noon on a dreary Monday, excited that school is still another day away we don't ever stop and think why we have off on this day. No child in school realizes that this is the day that Christopher Columbus discovered America. I have an idea why no one realizes this day... cause it's useless! There is no reason that we need to be out of school on this day. Even though I love waking up late and being stress free I don't believe that staying home is really honoring what Columbus did. We should be in school learning everything about Columbus, his crew, his three boats, and his new discovery. The only way we can truely appreciate what happened on this day is if we learn about what were celebrating. I have never heard of anyone whos favorite holiday is Columbus day. I have never heard of anyone getting excited for this day either, as a matter of fact not many people are aware that this day exist until they realize that we have off school. I truely believe that this holiday was a way to. get out of work and school. However it is not the only holiday that we celebrate for no apparent reason. For example, we celebrate holidays such as ground hogs days and valentines day. Ground hogs day is another useless day that the government has thrown at us. There is no reason why people should get so excited over superstition. There is no way a ground hog can predict the future, I mean come on get real. Moreover, we celebrate valentines day for no reason as well. Valentines day is just a day that takes money from a boat load of people. It is also a day where people without loved ones have their hearts broken. Therefore I strongly believe that Columnus day is a wasteful holiday. However I will deffinatly accept the fact that I have one extra day with out school!
ReplyDeleteMy opinion was very much the same as yours Mrs. Rock. That this man ,Christopher Columbus, was a remarkable hero, leader, and explorer to our nation/country. A friendly man, well loved, and would go up too people shake there hands and kiss babies on the head, like some hotshot celebrity. Now after reading the link you provided for us too read to give us an idea of the true man Christopher Columbus was, makes me want to just take his name and feed it to my cats to poop out in there liter box. Columbus I believe is a disgrace to the discovery of our country. He didn't "discover" america first as he claimed. He simple just executed, wiped out , murdered almost the whole native American raise ,and to add ,mentally and physically abused them. Mr. Columbus took great advantage of the natives generosity , kindness, and friendship they had to offer to Columbus and his crew. Even though they were the foreigners/ aliens/ strangers to there already discovered and well managed land. Martin Luther King Jr. gave an " I have a dream " speech which inspired thousands if not millions of people all for the end of slavery. Christopher was a man for slavery , believed in making people of other cultures do hard labor. Us, as a country, celebrating Columbus day is a contradiction of what we believe is freedom (no slaves) , makes the words of another man so worthless ( Martin Luther King Jr. ), and encourages slavery can still exist in our country. I also believe us celebrating this "holiday" , is us really celebrating another man's mistakes and slaughter of another group of settlers , families, mothers, fathers, children, and etc.. Therefore I believe we should NOT celebrate Christopher Columbus Day. Although I do love the day off of school and it being one of the very few days I can actually sleep in. It is just another meaningless holiday in my eyes such as Valentines Day. Why do we need a day to show someone how much you care or love them? Shouldn't you just do that everyday? Why is it you need a special holiday, that a baby is wearing a diaper and shooting people with "arrows", to show someone you love them. All you really do is give your lover some candy to fatten them up , flowers just so they can die, a card that is written by someone else and given to millions of other people, and then later bring out your side of lust. Also this day is just a day to remind people of how lonely they really are and depress them of how they haven't found that special someone in their lives yet and are stuck with there cat fluffy till they do.
ReplyDeleteEvery year on Columbus Day I get to stay home away from school to sleep in or whatever. Now it’s a great thing an all to have a day to chill out and not worry about anything, but it’s a whole day dedicated to this one guy who didn’t do too many good things. We shouldn’t celebrate Columbus Day, there’s no point even if he discovered America. If that man wasn’t born America still would’ve been discovered sooner or later by someone with just as much determination, but with maybe better intentions then Columbus. Sure he was this determined guy who wanted to get to Asia a different way, but all he wanted was the money in the end. Also I know he proved people wrong when he didn’t fall off the edge of the world, but that still isn’t enough. Did we forget about those Indians (Native Americans) he met? Apparently he thought he was in India, but was actually in America. Either way Columbus didn’t treat these people nicely. He took note on how they weren’t violent and they’d make good servants and do whatever they make them do. Then he captured them and some died, what hero is like this? Columbus was a big bully to them. He was searching for the gold there and taking the Indians (Native Americans) as slaves. It’s annoying that were off from school for someone who discovered America, but tried to capture Indians to be slaves. Another holiday that makes no sense to me is Groundhog Day. It’s almost worse than Columbus Day. A day where we determine the remaining time left in winter based on whether the groundhog sees his shadow or not. What a waste of time sitting there looking for shadows or no shadows, a groundhog can’t tell the weather. Like are groundhog friend Columbus doesn’t deserve a day all to himself because his achievement wasn’t enough to cover all the misconducts he committed.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Columbus Day is a "holiday" that should not be celebrated. Yes, Christopher Columbus did explore to America, but he did not discover it nor did he travel there on purpose. His main purpose was to find what he thought was a quicker way to India for trade. Everyone underestimated that the earth was round, not cubed. If he did not accidentally roam to what is now America, we probably would not be here. He is praiseworthy for that; however is it really necessary to celebrate someone who traveled to a continent that his people did not know of by accident? Christopher Columbus basically anchored at land walked up to the Native Americans and ordered that this is our home now. There is nothing to celebrate besides the fact that he got lucky and was educated more than those who lived on the continent. Nobody views this day as a real holiday, in fact students only celebrate the fact that they get an extra day off from school. Another holiday that I do not understand why we celebrate is St. Patrick's Day. I have never figured out the reason why we celebrate this day either. Nothing benefits us from it besides the fact that everyone gets to feel special by wearing green and looking for four leaf clovers. Also, we do not even get to have a day off on St. Patrick's Day so how can it be a real holiday? In conclusion, I believe we should not celebrate Columbus Day for two reasons. He never discovered America as there were already people living there in decent condition and he only found a way to rule and obtain gold by coercing the Native Americans on their own land. He is no noble hero and is credited for a mere accident.
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ReplyDeleteColumbus Day is, in my opinion, a holiday not worth celebrating. Christopher Columbus was given his own holiday because he was apparently the one that discovered the Americas, which is what most people know about him, but most people don’t know the trouble he caused the Native Americans living in that area (Arawaks). When Columbus touched down on the Americas he was showered with gifts by the Arawaks, but took advantage of their hospitality. He enslaved the Arawaks in hopes of gaining more information about land and to help him search of the “gold” that was thought to be in the area. The enslavement and treatment of the Arawaks caused many people to die, which led to their population dwindling. Columbus did not just cause many people to die due to this “discovery,” but gained credit for finding the Americas when it wasn’t really him that found it. It was the Arawaks that did since they were inhabiting the land before Columbus even found it so he shouldn’t get all the credit for stumbling upon the Americas and “discovering” it. He should get credit for informing the rest of Europe about the Americas, but I think that’s the only credit he deserves. Another holiday that I don’t think is worth celebrating is Groundhog’s Day. I apologize to Paige and whoever appreciates this holiday, but I think it’s a useless holiday. I don’t get the point in waiting for whether a groundhog will see its shadow or not. I think we should just leave it to meteorologists to predict the weather rather than relying on a groundhog. I also think April Fool’s Day is a useless holiday. We should not have a specific day were we are granted with permission to pull pranks on each other. We should be allowed to do this any day as long as the “prank” isn’t actually bullying. I appreciate not having school on Columbus Day, but that is the only reason I will ever appreciate that holiday since he shouldn’t have his own day.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Columbus Day is a totally pointless holiday. Throughout the years, we have learned about this man and celebrated a day for him. Every year we would get a day off in school, followed by a day or two full of dressing up as Pilgrims and Indians and talking about the well-known Christopher Columbus. When in reality, does he really deserve it? If you asked me, I’d say no. Sure, many people may argue how “Christopher Columbus discovered the New World” and “we wouldn’t be here without him”, but I think this is definitely debatable. For example, let’s say I walk into Oakcrest on my first day of freshman year. Even though there are students, teachers, and other faculty already there, I claim that I have discovered this brand new area. The school now belongs to my family because I have just seen it for the first time. The computers, books, and desks are now all my new inventions. Do I have the right to just push everyone else aside and take all the credit for myself? Of course not. Then why did he? Columbus walked right into North America, not even knowing where he was, and started to take things over. He treated the Native Americans, or according to him the “Indians”, so poorly. Which leads to another holiday that doesn’t seem to make sense to me, Thanksgiving. Yes, I do think we all need a day to settle down with our friends and families and be thankful for what we have. Do you really think that all of the Native Americans were thankful, or even happy, during that time though? Most of them were catching illnesses, having their belongings taken from them, and being moved away from their own homes. Personally, I wouldn’t be too thankful while walking over a thousand miles on the Trail of Tears. But, hey! A day off of school is a day off of school, I’m not complaining.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Columbus doesn't sound like a very nice guy. From what I read, I was actually surprized at what I heard, and I was raised on knowing that he wasn't the hero he was portrayed to be. The part that was the final straw, was whenhe took the 10,000 dollar reward from someone less fortunate than him, I think he was actually trying to be a raging jerkface. Another part that got me angry was when he impalked two native americans with his sword. I have never been able to imagine a person with the capacity to kill someone like that. Parent would kill their kids out of desperation to have them die amuch less painful death than Columbus would have given them. Honestly, I would say that he doesn't deserve a holiday dedicated to this, other than the fact that he discovered the area in which we live, and he allows me to take an extra day off of school. But that doesn't excuse what he did to those people.
ReplyDeleteFinally, there are no holidays that I find offensive or worthless, except for Arbor Day. Forget Arbor Day,
Columbus day is still very confusing to me. Even after reading over the given sources what is there to actually believe are there videos or diaries or some type of proof that maybe he was the good guy. Yes a lot of people died and lies were told but does this one event (while yes a very big one) really sum up his life. Christopher Columbus who we've never met could've been the sweetest thing. I agree with most people when they say that columbus day is a pointless holiday and I'd be the first one to tell you that I love having the day off, but that doesn't necessarily make it right. So in all aspects this is a pretty unreasonable holiday. Where maybe he does deserve some sort of honor and respect not with a holiday.
ReplyDeleteIn my honest opinion I believe that april fools day is the stupidest holiday in the entire universe. Lets see , most people stop even "celebrating" if u can say that after elementary school. So why make a whole holiday, for who and for what exactly!? Is there even a real point to April Fools Day or is it just another thing to mark off on our calendars?
Another thing that yes I love having as a holiday but question if its really necessary is valentines day? Yes I agree when people say that its a fun day and it makes them feel special when they get little cars that say will you be my valentine. But lets be honest other than that affect that it has on people what is the true purpose as to why we even have it as a holiday? In all respects I think every holiday could be questioned although this are the most questionable. I enjoy the days off and the green hair and iloveyou candies but are they really necessary or are they just one more thing to mark off on our calendars every year?
Even though I’m not of Italian decent, I still believe we should celebrate Columbus Day. My ancestors, the Vikings, were believed to be the first to discover the land we now know as America. We don’t celebrate a day for the Vikings however; it has been a tradition to celebrate Columbus Day for many years. Traditions, Such as Columbus Day, are slowly being taken away by newcomers to the country that want to celebrate their own holidays from where they came from. They celebrate their holidays from their home countries so we should continue to celebrate the traditional holidays of our country. If it weren’t for Columbus stumbling upon “the new world” then many holidays that we celebrate today wouldn’t even exist. Such as Martin Luther King Day.
ReplyDeleteOne of the Muslim holidays, Eid, in my opinion is a holiday we shouldn’t celebrate because it is offensive to many people. Eid is a Muslim holiday that some people are trying to make a national holiday. Some schools and companies are even given a day off for it. We can no longer celebrate Christmas as it was in the past. Some stores will sell you a holiday tree but not a Christmas tree. Another example is the winter break that schools have used to be called Christmas break. Another holiday that I find unimportant is New Year’s Day. New Year’s Day is celebrating the change to a new year. Nothing was accomplished to make the holiday important, it’s just the turning of a page in a calendar. If we keep getting rid of the old holidays for new holidays then our country will lose its identity.
Some holidays like Columbus Day are important; they remind us of our past and allow traditions to continue. You can’t make everybody happy all the time.
Columbus Day, one of the many unnecessary holidays. He may have been a hero hundreds of years ago, but do we celebrate the day George Washington became president? They both did things to build this country to what we are today, and yet the one who was least influential in our history has a day dedicated to him. Little do people know but Columbus was far from a hero, he took advantage of the Native Americans living in the land he "discovered." They were welcoming him into their home with open arms and he judged their kindness for weakness, enslaving and killing many natives. He literally pushed his way through until he came out on top, and he looked like the hero, the man who discovered new land, the foundation of our country, but if you think about it, if Columbus never found North America, wouldn't we all have descended from Native Americans anyway? The United States do not have a different species, they were no different than any other country, with out Columbus we'd be in the same position we are today. Is there a point in celebrating Columbus day? easy answer, No. Just like there is no point in thanksgiving, yet another holiday about pilgrims.Another to add to the list would be,Halloween, i do enjoy the thrills and frights but still pointless. All in all, i think its safe to say Columbus was as much of a hero as Roy Hobbs, Only difference is Columbus used what other people had built their lives on and claimed it as his, and we praise him for that. Aren't we teaching our children today not to steal? Whats the point in celebrating a day about a man who did nothing but steal. Columbus never was and never will be a hero.
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, it wasn’t until Monday night that I even knew what we had off for, Columbus Day. In my opinion Columbus Day isn’t the most necessary holiday, but are holidays like Halloween and Valentine’s Day? No, but we appreciate them more because we feel we get more out of them, like dressing up and getting heart shaped candy. Really, Columbus Day has more meaning then both of those holidays to me. When I finally found out that it was Columbus Day, I took a minute to think about it. Christopher Columbus was a hero in my eyes, regardless if he was the first or not to find America. He still had a humongous amount of courage to travel to new land when he thought the world was flat and he could just instantly fall off the face of the Earth. Learning the ways of the Natives that he found and to be brave enough to come on their land and live with them. That is a pretty big risk that only a hero would take. After Christopher Columbus discovered America it allowed two countries to come together and explore, to share ways of living with each other. This was a huge step especially when most of Europe at the time believed that the world was flat. So to me, Columbus Day isn’t too necessary but neither are some other holidays that we celebrate and look forward to. So for that I think that Christopher Columbus should be honored and believe that it is extremely important to know who discovered the land that we all live on today. Whether to you he is viewed as a hero or he is not, what he did was without a single doubt a huge change that impacts all of our lives today.
ReplyDeleteColumbus day should not be celebrated as a national holiday. It is a false and fake holdiday founded by a jerk. First off, Columbus had awful calculations. His target was to land in India when in reality he landed on the opposite side of the world. Secondly, this holiday is fake because we are all celebrating a day where many native americans lost their families, homes, children, and their land. Sure, Columbus founded the world we live in today, yahoo. But sooner or later, another explorer could have easily found that land as big as America. Even though I love having a day off from school, if everyone knew the real reason why we were off from school, they would never celebrate such a ridiculous holiday.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I feel every holiday we celebrate is important to atleast one person in the world, so there really isn't an exact answer to this question. Some of the pointless holidays get you off of school, but the major holidays bring you even closer with your family. Also I feel like different peoples opinions are based on their beliefs. Mostly all religions celebrate Christmas, but for the ones that don't, don't think anything of it. This is the case with mostly all holidays, so really this could be answered so many different ways.
The best thing though about this holiday is that my birthday is the day after, so ever since third grade, I've had off on my birthday. The only bad thing is now freshman year was the start of my birthdays in school again. :(
I’d like to start this by saying that the great Christopher Columbus disgusts me, plain and simple. When I think about what I learned of him as a child it was almost nothing- I only remember some vague notion of three ships, pilgrims, and turkey. By the time I really knew what he did that made him such a ‘hero’ I was also old enough to get the gist of some his less than commendable deeds, but thankfully my 11 year old mind was saved from the true scars that knowing all the despair and destruction he and the other European settlers would’ve caused. Frankly speaking I think I deserve a holiday more than he does; no one deserves a pat on the back for being one of the world’s most famous -I’m-going-to-go-get-lost-in-the-ocean explorers if his vanity and sense of self-importance were only outweighed by his ignorance. I understand perfectly well that were it not for his so-called ‘discovery’ of the Americas a lot of us wouldn’t be here, but nothing about that or the baby article of Alexandra Petri could change my mind about the kind of monster I believe him and his people to be. Just about every other holiday has value to me, even the ones everyone seem to hate like Groundhog’s Day. Though it seems more than a bit silly and impractical, I think it’s an interesting and kind of cute day where people get all hyped up over an overweight gerbil-beaver thing that crawls out his hole to poke around a bit. Though the expedition of Punxsutawney Phil may not be the great voyage across the Atlantic, his holiday deserves more respect and recognition than that of dear old Columbus – even if he gives an over-worked 14 year old like me an extra day off.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, no, I don't think we should have off for Columbus day but it should be a national holiday. He found the land on which we live on now and it should be celebrated but not neccessarily to the point where we're out of school for it. He's no hero after how he treated people and miscalculated some things but he did discover that the Earth was indeed, a sphere and not square. It was an important day in history but should we take a day off? I surely don't think so. There are no parties or presents or rejoicing because I'm sure if he hadn't found it, then someone else would have. In my opinion, Columbus day isn't completely worthless. I just don't fully understand why we have off of school. I mean, sure, it's great to have a three day weekend and sleep in, but there's really not a good reason behind it. There are no national holidays that we have off that are worthless that come to mind. Most holidays are religious and that's why we have off. Anything religious isn't worthless or pointless. However, for holidays that are just celebrated and on the calendar such as Valentine's Day is definitely pointless. Of course it's cute to get your crush candy and say "I love you" to your boyfriend or girlfriend but there's nothing really extremely important about that day. On the other hand, Christmas is something we off for and it's widely celebrated and a huge religious holiday. In conclusion, Columbus Day we should not have off for because there's no real point in taking a day off of school for something that's not even really celebrated.
ReplyDeleteThe controversial holiday Columbus Day is in debate on whether we should even celebrate such an act. Some people say yes we defiantly should celebrate this historical day back in 1492 when Columbus traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to discover our country America. And then you have some people saying we should not celebrate the discovery because of what he did when he arrived here. Once he arrived he raided the so called “Indians” of supplies and gold and then would proceed to kill them. And some people don’t really care and just glad they don’t have to wake up for work that Monday. I personally believe that we should defiantly celebrate the discovery of our country and maybe not so much celebrate it as “Columbus Day”. I do agree with the people that say we should not celebrate Columbus for coming here and killing many people and taking whatever they own. Now we really don’t take that day to think about Columbus or how so many years ago form this date he discovered our country. We take the day to sleep in and do anything we didn’t get to do that weekend. But yet we don’t have a day to remember and pay respect for 9/11? Even in school we don’t even talk about it much anymore. We are just like “yeah this happen this day what a shame”. Now I think we should have a day to remember events like 9/11 and Pearl Harbor. That way people 20 years and more down the road won’t forget those tragic events that changed our country in a blink of an eye. And one other thing, I don’t think if Columbus did not find America that we would have never found America. Eventually someone would have found this country.
ReplyDeleteWhen i was in elementary school they perceived Christopher Columbus as this explorer who found the great ol' America. However, do they ever tell you about the mass genocides he led on Native Americans? If we're celebrating Columbus day then we might as well have an annual Hitler day for his genocides too. By having an actual day just for Columbus we are just supporting the fact that America was founded by a mass-murderer. My perspective of Columbus shifted throughout these years, I used to think of him as Christopher Columbus 'the founder of America', but now I think of him as just ' Christopher Columbus the idiot who thought he found India but was really America and claimed he found it'. It is just a pointless Holiday in my opinion. Another holiday that is unnecessary is Thanksgiving because the Pilgrims as well slaughtered many Native Americans. When I heard Pilgrims were killing Native Americans I felt tricked, because I remember in 2nd grade my teacher would have the class split into Pilgrims and Native Americans and we would make a bunch of feathered hats and buckled black hats. However, in reality is that the Native Americans taught the Pilgrims how to live in their area but as they did the same as Columbus, the Pilgrims took advantage of the Native Americans and fought them to gain more land. Naturally, the Native Americans were very giving people towards the Europeans so basically the Europeans would just take whatever they wanted. However, Europeans are greedy so they went on a spree of kidnapping and stealing and the Native Americans would not tolerate this so this led to the trigger of many wars. Ultimetely, the savage Europeans won.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion Columbus day isn’t necessarily a holiday that lives up to its name. I love the extra sleep, free time, and even more extra sleep just like everyone else that has off, but all us students do is get a craft or multiple worksheets until it’s time to go home. Younger students learn the songs and do the worksheets but do they really go home with the knowledge of the “real” Christopher Columbus. The Columbus that knew that the earth wasn’t flat and that he killed many people which is the person that hopefully most high school students know and love today. Even though he wasn’t nominated for the person who has the best people skills he still made some things possible for us today, for example he discovered America as much as a land with people already on it could be discovered. Without good old Columbus where would we be now? There are some worthless holidays out there that we acknowledge but just like Columbus day what do we know about it? It’s kind of obvious that April fools day is a day for pranks but what is the point? Another holiday that is kind of questionable is presidents day which is a big sale day but do we really get anything out of it besides a name even though it is a day to celebrate presidents? Finally, I fully understand that MLK day is a day dedicated to Martin Luther King and I do appreciate to the fullest extent that he fought for civil rights, but when we have a day off on a day that students could be educated about him it defeats the purpose of celebrating this influential figure.
ReplyDeleteThe United States of America, "land of the free and the home of the brave." Ironic phrase considering America's heinous past. Our hands are stained red with the immense bloodshed of our ancestors and nation's founders. One set of hand particually are the hands of Christopher Columbus.
ReplyDeleteHe is thought to be the man who discovered the Free World. How did Columbus discover America if people were already here long before? "Oily marks appear on walls. Where pleasure moments hung before the takeover.
The sweeping insensitivity of this still life.
Hide and seek.
Trains and sewing machines.
Oh, you won't catch me around here.
Blood and tears.
They were here first." (Imogen Heap).
Look at the colonization of America from the Natives' perspective. Taken from your home and killed for no reason there is a word for such inhumane violence: genocide.
Columbus was as much a hero as Hammurabi, Napolean or Adolf Hitler. Do they derserve holidays as well? No, Columbus day should not be considered an offical holiday. It is a refreshing break from work or school but the history behind this holiday is very disturbing. Aside from Columbus Day no other national event offends me.
As Americans, many would think that we appreciate Columbus Day and all that Columbus has done for us that lead us to our country today. In reality, most appreciate the holiday just because it is an excuse for a day off. Columbus Day should not be an official holiday that is celebrated nationwide. Columbus Day can be considered offensive; especially to Native Americans. It seems a bit unsatisfying for a Native American, even nowadays, to even consider celebrating a day where we honor a man who claimed America as his own discovery(even though there were innocent Native Americans that obviously found the land first), made the Native Americans his prisoners(and exploited the idea of slave trade and slavery) and "opened the door" for the colonization of Europeans(a.k.a. entering land that isn't yours and calling it your officially new homeland). Although Columbus was considered a hero to some others because he had "found" America for us and gave us the base to build today's country, he had still made some unheroic actions that is considered insulting to certain people. In my opinion, we should not have an official holiday for Columbus Day but a day of remembrance and appreciation for the actions that were considered heroic. Yes, he took a long risky journey and yes, many of us would not be living here if it weren't for him, but I don't believe he can be considered a real hero considering the unheroic things that came along with his heroic actions. If we were to apply what he did to an everyday situation during modern times, I don't think many would appreciate him then! Because we all have different opinions and the right to free speech, we should compromise and make Columbus Day an unofficial holiday where we remember and appreciate him for those who choose to do so. Also, I think it is unfair not to make 9/11 an official remembering and appreciating holiday. If we made Columbus Day a holiday then why didn't we make 9/11 that type of holiday to remember. I think many would agree that remembering the loss of many innocent lives is way more important than remembering and appreciating a guy from far back who basically stole land from another race, held the other race as his slaves, let his own people invade the new land, and then live in the land that is not originally their own. Besides Columbus Day, Labor Day is a useless holiday as well. Labor Day is meant to celebrate and appreciate the working men and women. Some businesses don't even let their hard working employees off on Labor Day. What kind of appreciation is that? For the employees who work on Labor Day, it is basically like going to a birthday party and not giving the birthday boy/girl a present. To those Labor Day workers, that holiday is like an insult as not receiving a present from a guest at your own birthday party. Labor Day is not appreciated by some in the same way Columbus Day is not so appreciated, except it is by many. To sum it up, a majority of people do not appreciate Columbus Day enough to make it an official holiday. So why make it an official holiday at all?
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ReplyDeleteIf we were to look at this from an unbiased view, would your opinion change? This is what you had to do. Columbus has invaded an already owned land, whether they be smarter or not, took them as slaves, used them, and when they got in his way killed them, basically for the sake of money. Many will argue that he shape the America today, however he never set foot in the current USA he didn’t get farther north than Cuba. So why is it that we, the USA celebrate him. I have yet to find an acceptable answer for this question, therefore all you can conclude is that its pure idiocy. This is an unworthy holiday that excites because they thought there weren’t enough days off in October. If we were to celebrate the killing of not only people but of a culture. However this is not where the foolishness ends, there are multiple holidays that we celebrate that other laugh at. For example; April fool’s day, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick day, may day, arbor day, groundhog day, and many others. These are all unnessacary and yet we celebrate them all.
@Kim...I have Viking background, too. Why dont' they have a holiday for our ancestors???
ReplyDelete@Neil...Einstein said:
ReplyDelete"I made one great mistake in my life... when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification - the danger that the Germans would make them."
Clearly, he blamed himself for Hiroshima.
All graded, folks. I really enjoyed the posts by Dave, Vincent, Paige, Jill, Tatianna, Jazmin, Steph, Danielle Salv., Courtney, & Tati. Rod.
ReplyDeleteGood job: )
im kinda late so...
ReplyDeleteBut anyways i do believe that we should revere Columbus. I know that he would go on to commit genecide against the native americans, but i still do think that we should celebrate Columbus day. I do consider him as a hero because if he had never had the determination and imagination th think that there was a way that he could sail around the world from Spain to India. And even if he didn't reach India, as a matter a fact he didn't even reach America, but if he had never made that voyage then nobody else would of sailed across the atlantic, then there is a chance that the United States would not of been settled. We should revere Christopher Columbus because he did what many people said could not of been done, which was to sail to India.
- In my opinion i think we should celebrate Columbus Day because Columbus Day celebrates the beginning of cultural exchange between America and Europe. And without him we us ( Americans ) would NOT be at peace , we would be at war . ! ! I think Wednesday before thanksgiving is an hoilday we should not celebrate and we should not have off for school for Wednesday before thanksgiving.
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