Not by coincidence, the occasion usually falls on Columbus Day, the second Monday in October, or replaces the holiday entirely. Since 1991, many cities, universities and a growing number of states have adopted Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a holiday that celebrates the history and contributions of Native Americans. He also unleashed centuries of brutal colonization, the transatlantic slave trade and the deaths of millions of Native Americans from murder and disease.Ĭolumbus was honored with a U.S. Columbus died in Spain in 1506 without realizing the scope of what he did achieve: He had discovered for Europe the New World, whose riches over the next century would help make Spain the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. He was the first European to explore the Americas since the Vikings set up colonies in Greenland and Newfoundland in the 10th century.ĭuring his lifetime, Columbus led a total of four expeditions to the "New World," exploring various Caribbean islands, the Gulf of Mexico, and the South and Central American mainlands, but he never accomplished his original goal-a western ocean route to the great cities of Asia. The explorer returned to Spain with gold, spices, and “Indian” captives in March 1493 and was received with the highest honors by the Spanish court. He established a small colony there with 39 of his men. Later that month, Columbus sighted Cuba, which he thought was mainland China, and in December the expedition landed on Hispaniola, which Columbus thought might be Japan. On October 12, the expedition reached land, probably Watling Island in the Bahamas. On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, with three small ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Nina. However, after the Spanish conquest of the Moorish kingdom of Granada in January 1492, the Spanish monarchs, flush with victory, agreed to support his voyage. He was rebuffed and went to Spain, where he was also rejected at least twice by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. With only the Atlantic Ocean, he thought, lying between Europe and the riches of the East Indies, Columbus met with King John II of Portugal and tried to persuade him to back his “Enterprise of the Indies,” as he called his plan. However, Columbus, and most others, underestimated the world’s size, calculating that East Asia must lie approximately where North America sits on the globe (they did not yet know that the Pacific Ocean existed). Contrary to popular legend, educated Europeans of Columbus’ day did believe that the world was round, as argued by St.
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