Why Is Columbus Day Celebrated?
“In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue…” On October 12, 1492, the Italian seaman Christopher Columbus first stepped foot on the soil of the Americas, bringing with him European culture, goods, religion and practices. While other Europeans and Asians had arrived in the “New World” before him, Columbus publicized his discoveries throughout Europe, which spurred a wave of exploration and expansion throughout the Americas. Ironically, Columbus did not plan on discovering a “New World”. He left Iberia with the blessing (and financing) of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, hoping to arrive in the Indies, a series of islands in South East Asia that Spain frequently traded with through long and expensive journeys on land. His goal was to find a quicker, water-based route instead. But what Columbus wasn’t aware of was the existence of the land masses of North and South America. So when he sailed west, he didn’t land in the Indies, but rather he anchored in the
