Let's Celebrate Columbus Day

[Originally posted October 13, 2019]

Well, Columbus didn’t actually discover America. He discovered an island in the Bahamas archipelago now known as San Salvador, about 386 miles East-South East of Miami, Florida.

In the ten years from 1492 to 1502 Columbus made four voyages to the New World. He apparently believed until his death that he had discovered a new route to Asia, his goal from the beginning. But, his discovery of the New World led to the spread of Western Civilization and riches for Spain and other European countries. A truly history changing event.

Starting in 1992, the 500th anniversary, many virtue signaling social justice warriors began deriding Columbus. It was claimed he murdered Indians, excuse me... Native Americans, and that the idyllic life of the natives was forever disrupted, and on and on. Many jurisdictions began “Indigenous People’s Day”, observed in various communities in Alaska, California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Vermont, Washington. South Dakota observes it as “Native Americans’ Day” which is curious since America wasn’t named on any map until 1507, but I digress.

Certainly, there was brutality and barbarism employed by everyone represented by the Explorers and the Indians.

Some have suggested that Columbus Day should be a day of celebration for the indigenous peoples of the New World since it led to their liberation from the human sacrifice, cannibalism and all the horrors of slavery being practiced for centuries before Columbus arrived.

The abuse and subjugation of tribes by the Aztecs led to their defeat and destruction by Cortez and a few hundred Conquistadors, supported by tens of thousands, perhaps over 100,000 native tribesmen eager and willing to overthrow their murderous oppressors.

A current whine is about “illegal aliens” (European settlers) wiping out North American tribes with Smallpox by giving infected blankets to Indians. And, there are some documented cases of that happening. There are also documented cases of whole tribes being wiped out by Smallpox because they dug up graves of dead settlers to mutilate their infected cadavers, or after killing or driving off settlers, they looted the possessions left behind, that were…infected with Smallpox.

Man’s inhumanity to man goes back to the beginning of recorded history. The first known use of germ warfare was when the Mongols-Tartars, besieged the eastern Crimean city of Caffa (now Feodosiya, Ukraine) in 1346, and catapulted corpses infected with bubonic plague into the city. As the occupying Genovese fled by boat and the Mongols moved on, both spread the Black Death that ended up killing 50% of Europe.

The history of mankind is replete with instances of horror, and beauty. It is important that we learn to prevent, or avoid, the horror and appreciate and enjoy and add to the beauty.

Let’s celebrate Columbus Day for the courage it took to sail into the unknown. Let’s celebrate the culture and society in our country, developed over the last 527 years, that has resulted in tremendous personal freedom and unimagined prosperity.

Let’s stop the whining and virtue signaling about the terrible parts of human history, and let’s work together to improve what needs improving, while preserving the freedom and abundance that many take for granted.

Happy Columbus Day!

Christopher Columbus was the first socialist: he didn't know where he was going, he didn’t know where he was, and he did it all at taxpayers’ expense. - Winston Churchill

Columbus Day: Columbus Is Hated Like Brett Kavanaugh—Because He's A "White Male" - with links to related articles about Christopher Columbus, VDare, October 8, 2018.

Columbus Day: The Italian Mariner Versus The “Brutal Savages”, VDare, October 14, 2019.

Goodbye, Columbus Day, Prager U, October 8, 2018

Video: Enjoy Columbus Day While You Still Can, by Jared Taylor, American Renaissance, October 13, 2019.