Why Columbus Day Should Be Abolished: A Historical Case
This essay argues that Columbus Day should be abolished and replaced with a holiday honoring indigenous peoples. It begins by challenging the myth that Columbus "discovered" America, noting that he never set foot on continental North America. The paper then traces the political origins of the holiday — rooted in Catholic and Italian-American advocacy — before examining Columbus's documented brutality: the enslavement of the Taino people, the near-extinction of indigenous populations, and extreme acts of violence described in historical sources. Drawing on James Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me and primary accounts, the essay concludes that celebrating Columbus represents a dangerous complacency toward historical atrocity.
- Introduction: The Myth of Columbus as a National Hero: Thesis: Columbus Day should be abolished
- The Origins of Columbus Day: Holiday rooted in Catholic and Italian advocacy
- Columbus's Conquest and the Enslavement of Indigenous Peoples: Columbus enslaved and destroyed Taino people
- The Inhuman Brutality of Columbus's Campaigns: Sadistic violence documented in historical sources
- Conclusion: Abolishing Columbus Day: Holiday represents complacency toward historical atrocity
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper uses direct historical quotations — including Columbus's own journal — to ground its argument in primary evidence rather than opinion alone.
- It anticipates and refutes a common counterargument (that enslaving practices were "typical of the era"), which strengthens its persuasive credibility.
- The argument moves logically from the weakest claim (Columbus never touched U.S. soil) to the most morally serious (documented sadistic violence), building rhetorical momentum toward the conclusion.
Key academic technique demonstrated
This essay demonstrates effective use of source integration in persuasive writing. Rather than merely summarizing secondary sources, the author embeds direct quotations — from Columbus's journal, from James Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me, and from contemporary scholars — and then immediately interprets each quotation to connect it back to the central thesis. This "quote-then-analyze" structure is a core technique in argumentative academic writing at the undergraduate level.
Structure breakdown
The essay follows a classic five-part argumentative structure: an introduction that states a clear thesis, two body sections developing distinct supporting arguments (the holiday's dubious origins; Columbus's documented violence), a third body section addressing a counterargument, and a conclusion that synthesizes all claims. Each body paragraph is anchored by at least one cited source, maintaining a consistent evidence-based tone throughout.
Introduction: The Myth of Columbus as a National Hero
For decades, school children have been taught the misinformation that Christopher Columbus "discovered" America. As historical awareness grows and society becomes more conscious of the realities of the past, it becomes increasingly unacceptable to celebrate false heroes — whether corrupt politicians, Confederate generals, or cruel explorers. Christopher Columbus fits the last category. A close examination of history demonstrates that he brought tremendous despair and horror to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. The fact that the United States still has a federal holiday in his honor is both bizarre and troubling. This essay discusses the numerous compelling reasons why Columbus Day should be abolished and, ideally, replaced with a holiday that appropriately honors indigenous peoples.
The Origins of Columbus Day
One of the most compelling reasons to abolish Columbus Day is that Christopher Columbus was a non-American, non-native who never actually set foot on the soil of the continental United States — and it may even be accurate to say he never laid eyes on the continental landmass of this country. "During four separate trips that started with the one in 1492, Columbus landed on various Caribbean islands that are now the Bahamas as well as the island later called Hispaniola. He also explored the Central and South American coasts. But he didn't reach North America, which, of course, was already inhabited by Native Americans, and he never thought he had found a new continent" (Strauss, 2013). Why Columbus was chosen to embody a national hero of this country is, therefore, rather thought-provoking.
The first celebration of Columbus Day occurred in 1792 in New York as a commemoration of the anniversary of Columbus's "landing." After that first occasion, other celebrations began emerging around the nation as a means of acknowledging Columbus's Catholic and Italian heritage. The Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic fraternal organization, were the ones who lobbied most forcefully for Columbus to receive his own holiday — something that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt designated in 1934 (Indian Country Today, 2016). It should therefore surprise no one that Columbus Day was selected as a means of furthering the visibility of the Catholic Church and the Italian-American community. Columbus was merely a misguided choice in accomplishing that goal.
Columbus's Conquest and the Enslavement of Indigenous Peoples
When one abandons a rose-colored Eurocentric perspective of Columbus and simply examines the facts that shaped his actions, it becomes apparent that the man engaged in repeated, monstrous behavior. "Two days after he 'discovered' America, Columbus wrote in his journal that with 50 men he could force 'the entire population be taken to Castile, or held captive.' On his second voyage, in December 1494, Columbus captured 1,500 Tainos on the island of Hispaniola and herded them to Isabela, where 550 of 'the best males and females' were forced aboard ships bound for the slave markets of Seville" (Strong, 1989). Columbus led the Spanish attack on the Taino people of Hispaniola, showing mercy to neither women nor children. The attack was ruthless, and a people once numbering between one and two million were effectively extinct within a few decades (Strong, 1989).
Conclusion: Abolishing Columbus Day
The preservation of Columbus Day represents the worst kind of complacency — delusional complacency. The preservation of this holiday is a denial of the realities of Columbus: who he was and what he did. Continuing to celebrate this holiday ignores the fact that he never set foot on this nation's soil and has little meaningful connection to American history. More importantly, ongoing celebration disregards the tremendous suffering he inflicted on native peoples and his direct role in the expansion of slavery. Giving him his own holiday also ignores his personal savagery and his cold-blooded capacity to dehumanize native peoples, subjecting them to unspeakable suffering. Columbus Day, in its current form, has no legitimate place on the national calendar.
References
Flanagin, C. (2014, December 22). Columbus Day, or 'Indigenous Peoples' Day'? Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/learning/should-the-united-states-celebrate-columbus-day.html
Indian Country Today. (2016, October 8). Why Is Columbus Day a Thing? The History Behind the 'Holiday.' Retrieved from https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/archive
Loewen, J. (2018). Lies my teacher told me. The New Press.
Strauss, V. (2013). Five myths about Christopher Columbus. The Washington Post.
Strong, S. (1989). Columbus and the myth of discovery.
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