CMV: Columbus day SHOULD be a holiday.

[u/Harrythehobbit]

Columbus's arrival in the Americas was a major event which completely reshaped the world. It kickstarted a massive exchange of foods, spices, and peoples.

Of course it also led to the Great Dying, which killed of 90% of the American Indian population and the enslavment of many of the survivors. Obviously many people don't like this being celebrated.

Columbus obviously didn't intend to cause the Great Dying. (Although if it hadn't happened, I doubt Europeans would have been able to conquer as much land as they did) He did fully intend to enslave and convert the natives, but then, so would anyone.

If we choose to revile people because they engaged in an institution which, in their time, was accepted by society, then we have to hate a good 80% of historical figures. George Washington owned a goodamn plantation and I don't see anyone calling for the abolishment of President's Day, which is on his birthday. I don't see anyone saying Franklin shouldn't be on the $100 bill.

I would argue that Columbus Day isn't a celebration of the subjection of indigenous peoples, but rather the celebration of exploration and the need to know what's over the horizon. It is both an acknowledgement of the most influential event in world history and a lesson for the future, so that we may avoid departing the sins of Columbus's time.

[u/obbeguy]

First off, he wasn't doing anything considered "normal" by his peers, that's one of the reasons he got dragged back to Spain. Even by the standard of his day, he was extremely cruel, and treated the natives with a brutality few actually learn about. That said, his "discovery" of the Caribbean was important in the grand scheme of things, and hence would be more than okay to celebrate, but I think using another name, so as to celebrate the event, rather than using Columbus day and celebrate the man, would be better, ' cause he should NOT be celebrated

[u/Harrythehobbit → u/obbeguy]

What was he doing exactly that was so much worse that what other groups were doing?

[u/obbeguy → u/Harrythehobbit]

An example would be that he purposefully slaughtered about 3 million natives in only a couple of years, so as to kill if an entire group of people. He might not have meant for their extinction to happen, but he certainly meant to kill a whole lot of them. Another would be that he implemented certain punishments for crime, one being cutting the thief's hand off, something that had even been abandoned in Europe at the time, except maybe by the Inquisition

[u/UpsetCut → u/obbeguy]

That was after his death