Celebrating Columbus Day

Mariner greatly underestimated the size of the earth

Christopher Columbus Sets Sail

The roots of Columbus Day actually began on August 3, 1492. On this day, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain trying to find a new route to Asia and India. Backed by Queen Isabelle of Spain, he sailed on a ship named the Santa Maria, accompanied by the Nina and the Pinta. Contrary to popular belief, most educated people at the time believed that the world was round, but Columbus and his crew greatly underestimated the size of the earth.

Ten weeks after they set sail, one of the sailors spotted land on October 12 th, 1492. The next morning, Columbus and 90 of his crew landed on the Bahamian island of Guanahani. Expecting to find that he was in India, he called the islanders “Indians” and christened the land San Salvador, claiming it for Spain. Because he believed that the globe was much smaller than it actually was, when he next landed in Cuba, he believed that he was in Japan. Despite his miscalculations, his impact on the culture was so great that the period before 1492 is described as pre-Columbian.

Christopher Columbus didn't actually reach the mainland of North America until his third voyage in 1498, and he was not the first European to visit the continent. Records show that Vikings and other explorers had made contact as early as 500 years before Columbus' voyage. In fact, America was ultimately named for another explorer, Amerigo Vespucci who explored South America a few years later.

So why do we celebrate Columbus Day and not Vespucci Day?  Although he was not the first to explore North America, it was his voyage that made most Europeans aware of the continent. This led to trade and ultimately European settlement in the New World. The publicity that surrounded him after the trip of 1492 was so great that he was named the Admiral of the Ocean Sea and became famous throughout Europe.

The History of Columbus Day

The first recorded celebration of Columbus Day in the United States was on October 12, 1792 to commemorate the 300 th anniversary of the voyage. This celebration was started by a Columbian Order known as The Society of St. Tammany. Soon after this celebration, the city of Washington was renamed the District of Columbia and became the capital of the United States. There was also an elaborate drama/ballet/operatic event by showman Imre Kiralfy called Columbus and the Discovery of America that was produced for the circus in 1892 and for the World's Columbian Exposition that opened in Chicago in 1893. The World's Columbian Exposition started as a celebration of the voyage of Christopher Columbus, but became a celebration of American culture.

For the next few years the Knights of Columbus, an international Catholic organization, worked with state legislatures to recognize October 12 th as a state holiday. Colorado was the first state to officially recognize Columbus Day in 1905, and New York followed in 1909. On October 12, 1909, New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes led a parade that included the Knights of Columbus, the crews of two Italian ships and several Italian-American societies. Because Christopher Columbus is generally believed to have been born in Genoa, Italy, this celebration became very important to the Italian community in New York .

President Roosevelt declared October 12 th as Columbus Day, but it wasn't made a federal holiday until 1971. President Nixon declared that the second Monday in October was Columbus Day, paving the way for the traditional three-day Columbus Day weekend. Today, Columbus Day celebrations are held all over the world. In the United States, mainly in cities with large Italian-American populations, celebrations are held that focus on the contributions of Italians throughout history. The largest Columbus Day parade is still held in New York City down Fifth Avenue. San Francisco's Italian-American population celebrates Columbus Day with an Italian Heritage Parade. These are usually held on the Sunday before the actual holiday, with the rest of the weekend spent relaxing with family and friends.

Columbus Day Around the World

Latin American countries celebrate Columbus Day as Dia de la Raza, or the Day of the Race. Many countries, including Mexico, Chile, Venezuela, and Costa Rica celebrate their Hispanic heritage and traditions of their ancestors. Art festivals and fiestas are held on October 12 th where families gather to celebrate the ethnic and cultural contributions of their Spanish forefathers. In Spain, the national holiday is called Dia de la Hispanidad or Hispanic Day and is also celebrated on October 12 th . The main event is a military parade in Madrid that is presided over by the King.

In recent years, there has been a large amount of controversy about Columbus Day. A movement has begun to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day.  Descendents of the North American natives who were here when Columbus first visited view the holiday as a celebration of genocide and conquest of their people. New evidence suggests that instead of the popular notion of a friendly meeting between the Spaniards and the natives, it was a much more violent altercation.  When Christopher Columbus sailed out of the harbor back in 1492 he was simply trying to win the race to discover new trade routes for Spain. While he made some major miscalculations in his voyage, the publicity generated by his contact with the New World started a long history of Europeans in North America. Although many people now view this as the start of the domination of native peoples, the Columbus Day holiday has come to be a celebration of the many cultures that contributed to the formation of North and South America.

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