Seen within the big picture, Columbus Day is worth keeping and honoring as a great American holiday because it remains foundational to the establishment of a new nation by people who largely shared his qualities of character: self-made, adventurous, and reverent toward God. In fact, he chose to call himself Christopher Columbus because he liked what this name meant. In Latin, Columbus means dove while Christopher means Christ-bearer.
Some modern-day revisionist historians have taken cheap shots at Columbus, taking a chapter out of Lenin in charging him with being an imperialist. Others blame Columbus for unfair treatment of the various Indigenous people without considering that it wasn’t so much Columbus, but the mix of his Spanish machismo crew encountering ruthless indigenous tribes that included cannibals and the warrior culture of the Aztecs that contributed to the strong force needed to survive.
In fact, Columbus never set foot on or even saw any territory that later became part of the continental United States, having made four expeditions to the New World between 1492 and 1504 that were focused exclusively on Caribbean islands and territories which are now Latin America — Central America and South America. The primary legacy of Columbus was that in discovering the New World, he opened the door to exploration and colonization of those new territories by Europeans who followed.
Columbus left voluminous writings that reveal what motivated him to do what he did. Born and raised in Genoa, Italy, he was the consummate self-made man who went to sea crewing on various ships at an early age. As an inspired Christian, Columbus was deeply affected by the militant face of Islam at the eastern end of the Mediterranean that created a blockade to Europe’s important trade with the Orient. It was then that he felt God’s conviction to find a western sea route, knowing it would have far-reaching benefits.
Rediscovering America, was #1 Amazon New Release in the history genre for eight weeks. Reach him at scottp@discovery.org
Image: Library of Congress
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