Thomas Aquinas considered it a “product of original sin.” The Catholic Church and other churches, including the Eastern Church and the Reformation churches, disapproved, but sought only to mitigate its excesses. Slavery was a universal institution in the world, lacking opposition until the mid-16th and early 17th centuries. Slave trading was a major part of the economy of the Ute Native American tribes, according to Colorado historian Virginia McConnell Simmons in her book “The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.” Captives from battle were sold into slavery in places like Taos for horses and hides. Place blame on those who deserve it, not on Christopher Columbus.Ĭontrary to the expressed opinions of those who oppose Columbus Day, Columbus did not introduce slavery to the Americas. military officers who massacred Native Americans at places like Sand Creek. and Spanish governments, Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers, the Confederate States of America, the Ku Klux Klan, and the U.S. To blame Columbus for any of these, though, is to exonerate the policies, groups and individuals who practiced slavery and committed heinous crimes against humanity, including the French, English, U.S. Those who oppose Columbus Day blame Columbus – and only Columbus – for acts of genocide, the continued suffering of indigenous people, the slave trade in the entire Western hemisphere, the United States governmental policy of Manifest Destiny, and the erosion of rights of indigenous peoples throughout the Americas. Today, Columbus is a scapegoat for perceived European sins intentionally committed in the Americas by non-Native Americans over the past 500 years. His discovery led to the creation of the greatest nation on Earth, the United States of America. He opened the door to further discovery by explorers like Magellan, Cooke, Drake and Hudson. It is Columbus’ method of discovery and record-keeping that distinguishes him from other explorers who may previously have “discovered” the New World.

The real achievement worthy of holidays, monuments and namesake cities is that he opened a route that could be sailed again by himself and others. Most importantly, though, Columbus discovered the American continental coast and recorded the voyage in a way that enabled others to repeat the feat. In capitalistic spirit (admirable in the eyes of most Americans), he sought glory, wealth and a title of nobility by opening new trade routes to China and Japan. He supported the heliocentric concept of the solar system with Galileo, Copernicus and Kepler before it became known by that name. He challenged the Aristotelian philosophy of science that had guided scientists for centuries in favor of the newer philosophy of science that placed observation in a primary role of analysis. He challenged the conventional thought that the Earth was flat, seeking to “reach the east by going west,” an idea to which the scientists of the day were forcibly opposed. Even by his detractors, he is seen as a skilled sea captain of the highest order. Roosevelt and Barela recognized the significant achievements of Christopher Columbus, and rightly chose, with millions of other Americans, to honor him.Ĭolumbus possessed admirable qualities, of which all Americans can be proud. 12 of each year as a public holiday known as Columbus Day. Casimo Barela’s bill was signed into law, designating Oct. One hundred years ago this month, Colorado Sen. Roosevelt first proclaimed it such in 1934. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close MenuĬolumbus Day has been a federal holiday since President Franklin D.

Christopher columbus day