Today, attention is focused by many school teachers, most journalists, and the entire woke culture solely on the negative-connected history of Christopher Columbus and not his positive achievements, and this has resulted in Columbus’s legacy being “canceled” by our politically correct society. I propose that instead of cancelling Columbus, we should restore his reputation and resurrect his historical accomplishments. It is for his magnificent courage, the boldness of his conception, and his deep faith that Columbus should be rightly honored in the 21st century as he was in all six centuries prior. A devoted Catholic explorer, Christopher Columbus was the discoverer of the future “America,” and by that discovery, he was ultimately responsible for America’s evangelization. For this, Catholics and all Americans should forever honor him each October 12.
When I was a child, “Columbus Day” was celebrated, not just with banks and post offices closed on October 12, but with a day off of school as well, as America celebrated the hero who “in 1492…sailed the ocean blue” (as every kid of my era and earlier memorized). If you went back one hundred years in America you would see that every state had a parade to celebrate what everyone considered a really big deal – the annual anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of the new world.
Fast forward to today and mostly you only hear that Columbus Day should be a day of repentance, a day for whites to acknowledge a history of oppression and genocide against so-called BIPOCS. The Columbus-haters also point out that he actually didn’t make a real discovery at all, because there were people already in the Americas when he found them. They tell us that the anniversary of Columbus’s sailing should be an occasion to condemn him, not to praise him. This vitriol started its climb in 1992, when Berkeley, California became the first city in America to mark so-called Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a replacement for Columbus Day. These days, hundreds more cities nationwide along with a dozen states (Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin at last count) have officially canceled Columbus Day and in its place officially celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day the second week of each October.
The indigenous peoples are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North America, South America, and Central America, commonly known as Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and/or Indians. Of course, it is appropriate and right to recognize them, be it in history classes or in proclamations. My concern with these state governments and city councils who swapped out holidays is not that they want to honor indigenous peoples, but that they are purposely doing this as a way to slam the heroism of Columbus.
Yes, Columbus was flawed, but aren’t all heroes flawed? When we pick a hero from five hundred years ago and compare his lifestyle and actions to today’s culture, of course, we’re going to see he did some things that today would be frowned upon. It’s similar to how we know George Washington owned slaves but that doesn’t undermine the argument that he should be praised as the “Father of our Country” and our country’s greatest president. The imperfect Columbus was nevertheless a hero, achieving in a manner unequalled in the history of exploration, changing history forever. Instead of criticizing Columbus’s failings, we Catholics should dust off the playbook of festivities from prior eras and return to promoting the inspiration he gave and the evangelizing he did for the Church.
It’s important to remember that 1492 was the Middle Ages, with the Reformation not occurring for another 15 years. Thus, the sociological dimension of exploration and colonization wasn’t comprehensible to that mindset. Columbus saw the “Indians,” as he named them, as potential converts to Catholicism and potential allies to Catholic Spain, so as a faithful evangelist, he attempted to convert them. He may have had ambition for fame and wealth, but he also worked tirelessly on the conversion of the pagan peoples that he would encounter, as he saw this as his Christian duty.
All Americans, but especially Catholic Americans, need to proudly recognize Columbus’s accomplishments and put the negative actions of Columbus into perspective for the uniformed and misinformed by having them consider the century in which he lived. Yes, Europeans such as Columbus brought diseases to the New World, but they did so unintentionally. Nobody in the 15th Century understood the causes of diseases, nor did they know the native population would have no resistance. Yes, the actions of early explorers such as Columbus were cruel, such as his use of slaves, but so were many of the practices of the native populations. There is no evidence that Columbus thought that the indigenous people were congenitally or racially inferior to Europeans. In his ship’s log, Columbus wrote about the peaceful natives and called them “the handsomest men and the most beautiful women” he had ever encountered. He praised their generosity and their high natural intelligence.
It is just as important to realize that while these first natives that Columbus encountered were hospitable and friendly, Columbus and the explorers who followed him witnessed shocking practices of some other tribes who were brutal, practicing human sacrifice and cannibalism. In fact, it was reported that Columbus lost some of his own crew to cannibalism from some indigenous tribes.
It’s difficult to choose a right and wrong, to identify a black and white when cultures collided five hundred years ago. Today’s cancel culture, however, is very certain that they know it was entirely the evil Columbus’s fault during the Middle Ages and that all the indigenous people at that time were pure innocents. The woke crowd is either ignorant about or purposely concealing the positive realities that get lost in today’s retelling of history, such as that due to Columbus’s discovery and connection with natives, an interracial culture developed in much of Latin America. Moreover, human sacrifice and cannibalism were eventually ended, and many indigenous pagans were converted to Christianity.
Just as important for our children to learn about the positive qualities of North American natives, it’s also crucial that we teach them that many explorers, especially Columbus, had admirable qualities of being daring, ambitious, and devout Christians. Your kids will be taught by the secular culture that they should doubt the goodness of Columbus’ character because of how he supposedly treated the natives and because of the perception that Columbus sailed solely for gold and glory. But listen to what Columbus himself said about his reason for sailing:
It was the Lord who put it into my mind to sail to the Indies. The fact that the gospel must be preached to so many lands—that is what convinced me.
One long-forgotten story that is most likely only being taught these days by homeschooling parents is about what happened when Columbus and his crew on his three ships had been out of sight of land for a full month. This was a longer voyage out of sight of land than any other in the history of the world up to that time. Columbus’s men became both scared and angry, and the crew came to the verge of mutiny when Columbus tells us in his log how he answered them:
They [the crew] could stand it no longer. They grumbled and complained of the long voyage, and I reproached them for their lack of spirit, telling them that, for better or worse, they had to complete the enterprise on which the Catholic Sovereigns [Isabel and Fernando] had sent them. I cheered them on as best I could, telling them of all the honors and rewards they were about to receive. I also told the men that it was useless to complain, for I had started out to find the Indies and would continue until I had accomplished that mission, with the help of Our Lord.
Columbus’s dedication to Christ was also evident in how he named his famous ships “The Santa Clara” – referring to Saint Clare (but later nicknamed “The Nina”) – and “La Santa María de la Inmaculada Concepción” – referring to Holy Mary of the Immaculate Conception and later shortened to The Santa Maria. Also indicating his Godly focus, he gave his first few landing places Christian names:
- “San Salvador” – which means “Holy Savior”
- “La Navidad” – which means “The Nativity”
- “Santa Lucia” – which means “Saint Lucy”
- “Trinidad” which means “The Trinity”
Christopher Columbus’s defects have been blown out of proportion and his admirable qualities have been forgotten during the raising of the most recent generations of children. I urge Catholic parents to share with their kids the opposing, pro-Christopher view to counter what much of the media, progressive educators, and woke culture are propagandizing this time of year. Columbus Day is worth celebrating if only for the basic reasons that it celebrates character qualities that were foundational to America and it recognizes America’s first preacher/evangelist.
I make this claim of first missionary because it was on October 12, 1492, when Columbus made the first landfall in the Americas (North and South America) on an island we know now as the Bahamas but he named “San Salvador/Holy Savior,” that he knelt on the beach to give thanks to God, and prayed in Latin this prayer which is said to be the first Christian prayer recited in the Americas:
O Lord, eternal and omnipotent God, Thou hast, by Thy holy word, created the heavens, the earth, and the sea; blessed and glorified be Thy name; praised be Thy majesty, who hast deigned that, by means of Thy unworthy servant, Thy sacred name should be acknowledged and made known in this new quarter of the world.
Columbus was a hero of the Catholic Church and of the United States for eons because he was considered a bold navigator, a man of original ideas who was persistent and determined in carrying out his plans, and a success in overcoming the obstacles of his voyages. Those things haven’t changed; they were just forgotten or buried, and they need to be recaptured. Above all, Columbus has always been a model of courage who admirably drew his life’s vision from Jesus Christ. Let’s celebrate him loudly on October 12 (or on the first Monday of October – the 9th this year – which is the national day of observance).
14 thoughts on “It’s More than Okay to Celebrate Christopher Columbus Day”
Fact #1: Christopher Columbus brought the Faith and civilization to America. In fact, Pope Leo XIII issued a glowing encyclical, Quarto Abeunte Saeculo, to celebrate Columbus’ providential mission.
Fact #2: Columbus was “extremely zealous for the honor and glory of God”, wrote Bartolome de las Casas. “He deeply yearned for the evangelization of these peoples and for the planting and flourishing everywhere of people’s faith in Jesus Christ”.
Fact #3: Leftist professors hide this fact: Slavery was widespread among the Natives in the Caribbean; this was a long-established fact… long before Columbus arrived.
NO, it was NOT Columbus or his men that enslaved the natives to work for them… THAT happened LATER, after Columbus’ voyages… no matter what your Leftist Professor said!
Fact #4: The first tribe Columbus and his men encountered was the Taíno-Arawak tribe. The first encounter between Europe and the Americas went well. The Taíno were friendly, curious, and helpful. Columbus was emphatic that his crew treated them with kindness and respect.
Lest you think that Columbus stumbled on the Garden of Eden, the islands were also inhabited by the Caribs, a tribe of cannibals for whom, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Samuel Eliot Morison, babies were a delicacy—or, in Morison’s words, “a… toothsome morsel.”
Like every place else on Earth, in every time in history, the local peoples were a mixed bag. Some good, some not so good, and some were terrible.
Fact #5: Columbus insisted on the fair treatment of the Indians. He wrote: “I recognized that they were people who would be better freed [from error] and converted to our Holy Faith by love than by force”.
Regarding the Paintings and Statues of ‘Columbus’
BTW: Do a web-search for pictures of “Columbus”, they show vastly different paintings of vastly different looking men, THEY ARE ALL WRONG, that is not what he truly looked like. There is not one painting of Columbus that was ever done by anyone who actually saw him or was painted while he was still ALIVE.
Even the very earliest paintings of “Columbus” were all done by people who had never even met him and had no idea what he looked like!
“But reports of the savagery, slaughter, and enslavement committed by Columbus could not be ignored indefinitely. In 1500, the Spanish sovereigns finally lowered the boom. They commissioned Francisco de Bobadilla to investigate and report on the admiral’s conduct. After gathering information from Columbus’s supporters and detractors, Bobadilla filed a no-holds-barred indictment detailing the cruelties committed by Columbus and his lieutenants.
“Punishments included cutting off people’s ears and noses, parading women naked through the streets, and selling them into slavery,” reported The Guardian when a copy of Bobadilla’s statement was discovered in 2006 in a state archive in the Spanish city of Valladolid.
The charges were taken seriously. Very seriously: Bobadilla had Columbus arrested and shipped back to Spain — in chains — to stand trial. It was, in Stone’s words, a “harsh and humiliating” downfall. Columbus eventually received a royal pardon, but Ferdinand and Isabella refused to restore his position as governor of the Indies.”
This is from yesterday’s Boston Globe article by Jeff Jacoby, whose opinion of Columbus used to be similar to yours. It’s on the Boston Globe website (no paywall).
Some historians, like some scientists, have agendas. Bobadilla’s report is the only historical document that paints Columbus as a cruel tyrant and those historians who wanted to discredit Columbus pounced on it. But as an article about Columbus in the Dartmouth Review states “Though his [Bobadilla’s] report is accepted as a piece of objective history by Columbus’ opponents, it should be viewed as a piece of political slander to discredit Columbus, furthering Bobadilla’s selfish bid to become Governor of the Indies.”
David – Thanks for “tag-teaming” and helping prove my point.
Happy Columbus Day!
Gene
At least you read my comment and didn’t blow by it like others did.
The Bobadilla report was discovered only in 2006. Columbus’s near-genocidal enslavement of the native Taínos was well documented before then. I recommend to you Alistair Reid’s article, “Waiting for Columbus”, in the February 24, 1992 issue of The New Yorker, esp. pp. 64 – 66. The first eyewitness account to these horrors were written by the Dominican Monk, Barotolomé de las Casas.
Another good source is “The Slave Trade” by Hugh Thomas which has an entire chapter on Bartolomé.
Years ago, living in the South, I babysat for a friend of mine, a black woman who took her children to a Pentecostal church. For kicks I took them to an Indian mound outside of town, and explained that the original inhabitants used to bury people there. A tribe that was now extinct. Tina (age 7 at the time) asked, “Were they ‘Saved’?” Then Lawanda (age 9) asked, “What did they do when the good people came?” The kids were descendants of slaves. How do you answer questions like that??
Alastair Reid was a poet, not a historian and he was very sympathetic to Latin America. His 1992 article for the New Yorker reflected those sympathies.
As for Barotolomé de Las Casas, he didn’t even arrive in the new world until 1502. Columbus was relieved of his duties as governor in 1500. Las Casas was a critic of the encomienda system, which was set up by the landowners. Columbus was also critical of the encomienda system, to the point that the landowners were happy to see him go. The Spaniards wanted their Italian overlord gone. Do you think just maybe they fabricated some “evidence” against him?
Your real beef is not with Columbus but with those who followed him to the new world and made slaves of indigenous peoples.
“Indigenous peoples in the Americas were engaged in constant warfare, torture, kidnapping, slavery. They made extensive human sacrifices to their gods. The Aztecs sacrificed 30,000 to 50,000 innocents annually. During their ceremonies, Mayans and Aztecs would cut the hearts out of living persons. Mayans would drown their sacrificed people in their Sacred Cenote. Mayans also played a ball game called pitz in which the losers, like Roman gladiators, were executed.” (https://spectator.org/its-columbus-day-not-indigenous-peoples-day/)
Too bad that meanie Columbus had to arrive and break up this paradise.
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The price of Christianity was forced conversion and enslavement. The Church really thought these people were better off dead than pagan. Occasional lofty thoughts were expressed but such are meaningless considering what was actually done.
Columbus does get points for courage in his conception (even though he was working from an incorrect idea as to the circumference of the earth — the serendipitous existence of the New World saved his life and that of his crew). But there is nothing good that indigenous peoples got out of what he started — and I mean nothing. The terms “genocide” and “annihiliation” are too strong but not by much. The conquerors being Christian actually made it worse. Non-Christian conquerors usually don’t punish their subjugated peoples if they don’t convert.
Wish you would have read my article thoroughly and clicked the links to learn how the pagans were fortunate to learn about Christianity and how many indigenous tribes were more savage than any “white man.” Your last line is comical. Have you heard of Muslims?
I did read the whole article, and clicked the links.
It is no answer to say that the pagans did bad stuff too. They did have their human sacrifices and a (very) few tribes engaged in cannibalism, but they did insure their people against hunger and want, in a way that Christians did not.
As for Muslims, the Ottoman Empire was notably more tolerant than Christians countries. The sultan even had a Grand Rabbi in his cabinet. By contrast, when we read that a medieval Pope was “devout”, what that usually means is he liked to burn heretics and punish Jews.
“Non-Christian conquerors usually don’t punish their subjugated peoples if they don’t convert.”
Hmmm… I guess you never heard of Islam?
Oh my. Popes lighting bonfires under heretics while benevolent Ottoman Caliphs serve kabobs and baklava to the kafirs. I smell Chardonnay Satan faculty-lounge flatulence.
Your Marcusian trope generator is running at capacity, better drip some lube in there before you throw a bearing.
“The price of Christianity was forced conversion and enslavement.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church – Paragraph # 160. 160 To be human, “man’s response to God by faith must be free, and… therefore nobody is to be forced to embrace the faith against his will. The act of faith is of its very nature a free act.” “God calls men to serve him in spirit and in truth.
News for you…if anyone forced anyone to convert, they were acting against Catholic dogma. At one point, the Bishop of Mexico City told his priests to break up the altars, consume the Host, and leave the city so the Spaniard “encomienda-istas” would get the message their cruelties were not going to be rewarded with the Sacraments. In other words, they were excommunicated. The same Bishop Juan de Zumarraga, “Protector of the Indians,” to whom St Juan Diego presented the Blessed Mother’s gift of Castilian Roses and the Tilma. 9 million voluntary conversions in the 10 years that followed. The rest is history.
You call that nothing. I call it God’s gift, as well as not having hearts cut out….but maybe you’re from California. Things are a little..different…there these days,. Bon appetit.
Viva Cristo Rey! And Cristoforo Colon’…..