Columbus Day

4 Pages 897 Words

An Extra Day Off Sounds Nice
“It is only radical or currently unfashionable ideas that the texts leave out—it is all ideas, including those of their heroes.” (FitzGerald) USF does not recognize a major holiday. A lot of schools do not recognize this holiday. This upsets and disappoints me. The holiday that I am speaking of is Columbus Day. My barber shop is not open, neither is my favorite liquor store. Why is my school still open? The reason is simply because many people see Christopher Columbus as a tyrant and do not think we should observe this holiday. If we are going to celebrate Presidents Day and Independence Day then why not celebrate Columbus Day. Our country can kill and it is justified, and Columbus killed yet it is some how frowned upon. I believe we need to respect and show thanks to the man that lead to our founding as country.
Christopher Columbus set sail for the East Indies in the year 1492. “Columbus outfitted three pitifully small ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, and set forth from Spain.” (Lowen 39) This shows that Columbus did not set off on an easy voyage. It shows that we need to look at the hardships he went through to bring the new world to Spain. Whether or not he killed, raped, and pillaged the people he came across in the new world he still made it there and brought the news back to Spain. That is reason enough to respect and give thanks to him for me. I certainly would not have the guts to set sail into the unknown to find something that I might not reap the full benefits of.
Some say, “Columbus did not even know for certain where he was going. Evidence says he was seeking Japan, India, and Indonesia.” (Loewn 55) This does not matter. Who cares where he thought he was going. He found a new land that had not been discovered and that land is the land where millions reside.
People say if Columbus did not bring this news back to Spain someone else would have. That I agree wit...