A national holiday in the USA, held in most states on the second Monday in October in commemoration of Christopher Columbus's discovery of America (12 Oct 1492). It is also celebrated in several countries of Central and South America.
| Columbus Day | |
|---|---|
| First Landing of Columbus on the Shores of the New World, after the painting by Discoro Téofilo de la Puebla | |
| Observed by | the Americas, Spain |
| Type | Historical |
| Significance | A celebration honoring Christopher Columbus' first voyage to the Americas in 1492 |
| Date |
second Monday in October (USA);
October 12 (actual/traditional) |
| 2006 date | October 9 (USA) |
| 2007 date | October 8 (USA) |
| Related to | Día de la Raza in many Latin American countries, Discovery Day in the Bahamas, Hispanic Day in Spain, Día de las Culturas in Costa Rica and Día de la Resistencia Indígena in Venezuela. |
Columbus Day is a holiday celebrated in many countries in the Americas, commemorating the date of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World on October 12, 1492. Similar holidays, celebrated as Día de la Raza (Day of the Race) in many countries in Latin America, Día de las Culturas (Day of the Cultures) in Costa Rica, Discovery Day in the Bahamas, Hispanic Day in Spain, and the newly-renamed (as of 2002) Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Day of Indigenous Resistance) in Venezuela, commemorate the same event.
United States observance
Italian-Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of Italian-American heritage. Here, the first state celebration was in Colorado in 1905 (where there was Genovese miners), and in 1937, at the behest of the Knights of Columbus (a Catholic fraternal service organization named for the voyager), President Franklin Delano Roosevelt set aside Columbus Day as a holiday in the United States.
Italian-Americans feel pride in the day due to the fact that Christopher Columbus, an Italian sailor, sailed to America and opened the world to a new era.
Día de la Raza
The date of Columbus' arrival in the Americas is celebrated in Latin America (and in some Latino communities in the USA) as the Día de la Raza ("day of the race"), commemorating the first encounters of Europe and Native Americans.
Opposition to Columbus Day
In the state of Minnesota, Columbus Day is not celebrated, because many people in Minnesota believe that Vikings arrived in North America (and specifically in Minnesota, see Kensington Runestone for details) before Columbus.
Some people oppose Columbus Day, claiming his achievements are not worthy of a holiday. Historically, Columbus was not the first to discover America, nor was he the first European to land in America, though he was the first European to successfully bring European culture to the Americas. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, "Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands Friendship Day" is celebrated on the same day as Columbus Day, due to the controversy surrounding the atrocities committed against the indigenous peoples of the present-day Caribbean during the Spanish colonization of the New World. In the state of South Dakota, the day is officially a state holiday known as "Native American Day", not Columbus Day. Thus, Ward Churchill (an associate professor of Native American Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a leader of the American Indian Movement), has argued that certain myths about Columbus, and celebrations of Columbus, make it easier for people today to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions, or the actions of their governments.
User Comments Add a comment…