christopher columbus day should not be celebrated

They then decided to support Christian expansion and back the exploration and evangelistic expedition of Columbus. It was in that year that Christendom-still suffering from the loss of Constantinople to the Muslim Turks 40 years prior-drove Islam out of Spain and Europe with Isabella and Ferdinand playing the pivotal role. But because of his seafaring skills, conviction in his vision of a westward passage, and his bravery and willingness to lead an armed flotilla to rescue the Holy Sepulcher from Muslim hands in the eastern Mediterranean, they had a change of heart toward Columbus.įew years in history have been punctuated by such pivotal events as what happened in 1492. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain had turned down Columbus several times. Recognizing that such an undertaking would need state sponsorship, Columbus and his brother spent the next six years traipsing across Europe seeking support from sovereignties of the leading maritime countries, only to find rejection and ridicule. By his late 30s he felt “called,” writing in his diary, “It was the Lord who put into my mind, I could feel his hand upon me…that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies.” In Portugal, Columbus’s exposure to celestial navigation further confirmed his confidence to sail west across the Atlantic and find a trade route to India and the Spice Islands. But for a seafarer with his ambition and vision, as fate would have it, there was no better place to wash up than on the shore of Portugal, a nation that had developed the world’s most advanced tools of navigation and map-making. Experiencing the militant face of Islam at the eastern end of the Mediterranean that created a blockade to Europe’s important overland trade with the Orient, he knew that finding a western sea route would have far-reaching benefits.Ĭolumbus faced death when the Flemish-flagged ship on which he was crew was attacked and sunk off the coast of Portugal. Born and raised in Genoa, Italy, he was the consummate self-made man who shipped out at an early age.

If he had not been a man of character and determination with deep faith in God, self-confidence to ignore critics, and go against the crowd and remain steadfast in his vision and his calling, he never could have accomplished what he did, which was of course the discovery of the New World of the Western Hemisphere.Ĭolumbus left voluminous writings that bear witness to what motivated him to do what he did.

His quest was twofold: to find a western passage to the Spice Islands and India, and second, to carry the good news of Jesus the savior to people in new parts of the world.Ĭolumbus had grown up in a working-class family and his life was one of hardship, punctuated by near death and failures that would have been the demise of most ordinary people. The American story began with the seafaring discovery momentum created by Columbus’s feat of sailing from Europe some 4,000 miles south and west across the Atlantic Ocean in the late 15 th century.

There is not only a great deal to celebrate in Columbus, but the man embodied a range of attributes that are necessary to solving many of our contemporary problems and even saving our country from further decline and collapse resulting from group think, corruption and abuse of power. The history of Christopher Columbus is actually less messy and more consequential than many of the other heroes of our national holidays. In fact, Columbus never set foot on or came close to any territory that later became part of the continental United States. Powell OctoDiscovery Institute Originally published at TownhallĪmong the federal holidays, Columbus Day has become one of the least honored, partially due to controversy about misdeeds associated with colonization. Why Columbus Day Is Worth Defending and Celebrating Scott S.

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Christopher columbus day should not be celebrated