Today is the federal and state holiday of Columbus Day,
which is observed by the United States of America
and the fifty American States on the Monday closest to the anniversary of
Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World
on October 12, 1492. Although I would
prefer the day be observed only on the anniversary, it is nonetheless
appropriate to celebrate this day, a holiday that was intended not only to
acknowledge the event that led to the many blessings enjoyed by several hundred
million Americans, but the cultural and religious diversity of the U.S.A. in
particular.
In past
years for Columbus Day, I have made several observations in my blog posts. I have explained how Columbus’ discovery,
which was the result of his great observational and navigational skills, truly
met the definition of discovery, with
no slight whatsoever to the First Americans, as his accomplishment effectively
removed the cover that was the Ocean Sea that had been dividing the two
Hemispheres of the Earth, thus permanently bridging the two worlds. Although the Genovese discover who was
working for Spain did not ever see the territory that now comprises the U.S.,
Columbus’ achievement eventually led to its founding, as he had begun founding
European colonies in the Western Hemisphere.
Note: the holiday honors Columbus’
discovery, not his whole life.
I have observed in previous posts
how Columbus brought Christianity and Western European Civilization with him,
with its cultural contributions, such as modern science and the concepts of equality
and liberty that developed more fully, including into representative government,
the rule of law and the separation of powers—ideas that led to the recognition
of slavery as immoral and to its eventual abolition. I noted, for example, how Columbus
liberated the Native Americans of the Caribbean Sea
from the viciously cannibalistic Carib tribe.
Later Christian European colonists would end other abominable practices,
such as human sacrifice committed on a massive scale. I have also noted the exchange of goods and
people between the Old and New Worlds that continues today.
I have also acknowledged in posts
about Columbus Day the bad consequences of the meeting of the peoples of the
two Hemispheres, whether intentional or not, such as the exposure to diseases
for which the other population had no immunity, as well as the mistreatment by
some of the Europeans after Columbus of the Native Americans and the
suppression of Native cultures. The
attacks by some Natives on the colonists are noteworthy, but because of the
technological advantage of the Europeans, these were dwarfed by the atrocities,
oppression and enslavement committed by the Europeans. Columbus himself had discouraged the
mistreatment of Native Americans and it ought to be considered how there have
been good relations between many Natives and Europeans over the centuries.
Columbus
and the holiday that honors his discovery have been for decades the main target
of the recent wave of iconoclasm because of his introduction of Christianity
and Western European Civilization to the New World,
against which some on the Far Left and others are unappreciative or even
hostile. The opposition to Columbus has been based on
ignorance, the judgment of historic figures by more developed modern standards,
the unfairness of focusing only on the bad while ignoring the good, and certain
biases.
The celebration of Columbus Day as
a state and federal holiday was first advocated for in the late Nineteenth
Century by Catholics, particularly by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic
organization, as a way to counter anti-Catholic bigotry by the majority
Protestant Christians through the acknowledgement of the essential contribution
to America of a Catholic. The point of
the holiday, therefore, was to celebrate the diversity of America, as
immigrants could maintain their faith and the positive aspects of their culture
while accepting the American creed and thereby fully become Americans. I note how this idea is in total opposition
to the current idea of “white” European Nationalism. Columbus Day, therefore, was intended as a
celebration of the Western concept of multiculturalism. Indeed, its original celebrations and those
of the 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of the New
World in 1992 were culturally inclusive, which is the manner in
which its celebration ought to continue.
Although other days should focus on Native Americans more particularly,
they ought not to be excluded from the celebrations of Columbus Day.
Columbus Day is, nonetheless, a
holiday of affirmation particularly not only for Catholic Americans, but also
for Italian Americans. The celebration
of a Catholic Italian with an American holiday was opposed by some bigoted
Protestant Northern Europeans, such as the Ku Klux Klan, who hates Catholics
and non-Northern (“white”) Europeans, such as Italians. Therefore, the opposition to the celebration
of Columbus Day is contradictory if it is based on some mistaken notion of
cultural diversity. Indeed, the
celebration of this holiday is the act of religious and cultural diversity its
current opponents claim to support.
Happy Columbus Day! God bless America.
