Columbus Day

The voyages of Christopher Columbus to the New World are bits of history that Americans young and old have familiarized themselves with. But there is more to the story of this explorer than the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria.

Cristoforo Colombo was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451, according to history.com. He was the oldest of three boys and the son of a wool-worker and small-scale merchant. Growing up, he did not receive much of a formal education, yet he still learned to read Latin and write Castilian

Following a shipwreck just one year after his first major voyage, he moved to Portugal and joined his younger brother Bartholomew as an expert chart maker. In 1479, he married Dona Filipa Perestrello e Moniz, and their son Diego was born the next year. But when Filipa died five years later, Columbus began a relationship with Beatriz Enriquez de Harana and also had a son, Ferdinand, with her

For years, Columbus focused on a desire to discover a westward route to Asia, and in 1484 he asked the king of Portugal to fund this westward voyage and was turned down.

Not one to let rejection get the best of him, Columbus took his son Diego to Spain the next year to ask Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand for their support. After two rejections, Columbus finally secured the support of the king and queen. According to the history of Christopher Columbus at usa.gov, the king and queen agreed that if Columbus succeeded, “he would be knighted, appointed Admiral of the Ocean Sea, made the viceroy of any new lands, and awarded 10 percent of any new wealth.”

They agreed to the terms in January of 1492. Then Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

Columbus made four voyages to the West Indies, but arthritis and malaria eventually got the best of him, according to history.com. He brought a small portion of gold from Hispaniola, which was enough for him to live comfortably for the last year of his life. He was disappointed in the monarchy, however, and followed King Ferdinand from Segovia to Salamanca to Vallodid seeking the wealth he had been promised. He died on May 20, 1506.

And although Columbus did make new and exciting discoveries, he died still believing he had reached the eastern side of Asia. There are also many conflicting beliefs surrounding the celebration of this explorer. Some argue that Columbus is too often given credit for discovering the Americas when explorers such as Leif Erikson and Amerigo Vespucci made arguably more important discoveries. There are also arguments that his poor treatment of the Native Americans is nothing to be celebrated.

But despite the controversy, the Society of St. Tammany in New York held a celebration to recognize the European discovery of America. On Oct. 12, 1792, they celebrated the 300th anniversary of Columbus landing in the New World.

In 1869, a group of proud Italians decided to honor one of their own in their first Columbus Day celebration.

Then on the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ first attempt to find a direct route to Asia, President Harrison urged citizens to join in the celebration and recognition of Columbus’ accidental discovery. This was also the first time the Pledge of Allegiance, written by Francis Bellamy, was publicly recited.

And although Colorado was the first state to observe the holiday in 1905, protests are held today because of the controversy surrounding Columbus’ potential initiation of a slave trade.

Still, President Roosevelt dedicated October 12 as Columbus Day, and President Nixon declared the second Monday of October as a national holiday.

Despite the controversy surrounding Columbus the explorer, Monday, October 13 should be a day of reflection on a piece of this nation’s history.

Crystal Henry may be contacted at Crystal@towerpublications.com.