Columbus Day: Objective Analysis
Columbus Day is one of the most famous and controversial holidays in America. It causes many questions and troubles yearly. Nevertheless, it is still one of the oldest and the most important celebrations for Americans. It narrates about the history of Columbus' discovering of America in 1492 and begging a new modern American history.
Of course, everyone knows that it is a little bit a myth because Scandinavians have already discovered America five centuries before. However, Columbus’ discovering played a much more crucial role, because America became as America, a new unknown land. Many historians claim that 1492 is a born of modern America we know today.
The history background
The first and the most massive celebration was on the 12th October in 1792 in New York. Americans celebrate 300 years of Columbus discovery. It was the first time Americans together recognized the vital role of Italian emigrants, which also significantly influenced the development of America.
Then, in 1915 Columbus Day became a federal legal feast thanks to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Of course, there were unpleasant situations and severe conflicts during some of these celebrations. The reason – different points of view concerning this holiday among supporters of the interpretation of this day as a unifying and divergent. Thus, Columbus Day has a long, complicated history of its implementation and celebration.
We celebrate this holiday on the 9th October, because of the congress decision in 1971. Each state celebrates it. Nevertheless, each one has very different reasons and meaning of this feast. For instance, Hawaii and Bahamas honor the discovery of their land and own cultural features on Columbus Day. Canada combines Columbus Day with Thanksgiving paying attention to the necessary to be thankful for all they have now. Latin America, for instance, Venezuela remember this day as the day of the first meeting between Native Americans and New Americans.
As you see, there is some difference between North and South America celebrating: the first one pays attention to Columbus discovering more, the second one memorizes this day as the day Native Americans’ resistance. Nevertheless, for most states, it is the feast of respect and honor to each other, the day of creating a great American nation.