Download Columbus Day honors the explorer Christopher Columbus, who first

Columbus Day honors the explorer Christopher Columbus, who first landed
in the New World on October 12, 1492. In 1937, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt proclaimed October 12 Columbus Day. President Richard Nixon
later declared Columbus Day a national holiday to be observed the second
Monday of each October. Although it is a national holiday, Columbus Day is
not without controversy. Some people choose to remember the victims of
European exploration and settlement by observing the day as Indigenous
Peoples Day.
Who was Christopher Columbus?
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. He was born into what
most would consider a middle class family. But like most children of the era, he
was expected to begin preparing for a career at an early age. In his later writings,
Columbus claimed he first went to sea at the age of 10.
In 1470, following a shipwreck off the cost of Portugal, Columbus took up
residence in that country. From there, he continued to sail, following established
routes and making voyages as far as Iceland. But Columbus wanted to do more.
Columbus wanted to find a shorter route to the lands described by Marco Polo
some 200 years before -- China, Japan, India, and the East Indies. What's more,
Columbus believed the secret to finding a shorter route lay in sailing west.
With plans in hand, Columbus approached King John II of Portugal in 1485. He
asked for three sturdy ships and enough money to fund a year's voyage of
discovery. King John II referred the matter to his advisors. The advisors reviewed
Columbus's plans. Columbus believed he could reach land in just five weeks, but
the king's advisors thought the proposed voyage would take much longer.
Ultimately, the advisors said the voyage would be a poor investment, and the
king rejected Columbus's request.
Columbus appealed to the court again three years later. By that time, though,
Bartholomew Diaz had successfully sailed around the tip of Africa, and Portugal
had lost all interest in western exploration.
So Columbus took his plans on to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I of
Spain. Again, plans were referred to committee. Again, the committee believed
Columbus had grossly underestimated the length of such a journey, and funding
was refused. But the king and queen of Spain did not want Columbus to take his
proposal elsewhere, so they provided him with an annual salary. They also
issued a decree stating that he was to be given free food and lodging throughout
the country.
Still, Columbus wanted more. He found private investors to underwrite roughly
the half the anticipated cost of his expedition and kept asking the crown for the
rest of the money -- along with certain other provisions. If Columbus discovered
new land, he was to be named "Admiral of the Ocean Sea." He was to be
appointed governor of any newly-found lands. He also requested 10 percent of
all revenues produced through new lands. At last, Columbus succeeded in
persuading Ferdinand to underwrite the venture, and on the third of August 1492,
Columbus set sail with 90 crewmen and three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the
Santa Maria. It was a dangerous voyage. No one had ever attempted to sail so
far or so long without seeing land.
After two months at sea, many of Columbus's crew wanted to turn back. They
had already traveled much longer than originally planned, with no land in sight.
Columbus insisted, however, that they press on. And on October 12, 1492, land
was spotted -- land Columbus would call "San Salvador." Columbus believed he
had reached an island off the cost of the East Indies and dubbed the native
inhabitants "Indians" as a result. Columbus was wrong. He had, in fact, stumbled
onto the Americas.