Today is Columbus Day \u2014 a day that marks Christopher Columbus\u2019 first voyage to America. He landed on the island of Guanahani in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It only became a legal holiday in 1971 but before then, many states celebrated Columbus Day on October 12. When it became a legal federal holiday, the celebration was moved to the second Monday in October \u2014 this year that just happens to be October 12. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was 300 years before the first Columbus Day celebration was held in the United States. That first celebration was organized by The Society of St. Tammany in New York City \u2014 on the 300th anniversary of Columbus\u2019 landing.
A hundred years later, in 1892, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation establishing a celebration of Columbus Day on the 400th anniversary of Columbus\u2019 landing.
The first state to declare Columbus Day a legal holiday was Colorado in 1907.\u00a0
The first federal observance of Columbus Day occurred in 1937 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.\u00a0
And in 1971, Presidential\u00a0 Proclamation PL90-363 made Columbus Day a legal federal holiday and set its observance always on the second Monday in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many\/most historians agree that Columbus was not the first person, nor the first European, to discover the Americas. It is well known that indigenous people had been living in the Americas centuries before Columbus\u2019 arrival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To recognize that fact, many cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver, Phoenix, San Francisco, etc, have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day. Some states including Alaska, Vermont, Oregon and Minnesota also celebrate Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day instead of Columbus Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this day of political correctness, the move towards Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Day attempts to bring awareness to Columbus\u2019 treatment of indigenous people and to celebrate and respect indigenous culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously Columbus left his mark in the new world \u2014 the Republic of Columbia in South America and the District of Columbia in the US are named for him, and are numerous towns, streets, rivers and public buildings.\u00a0
So whatever you\u2019re celebrating today, it\u2019s a holiday worth pondering \u2014 happy Columbus\/Indigenous People Day.
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Today is Columbus Day \u2014 a day that marks Christopher Columbus\u2019 first voyage to America. He landed on the island of Guanahani in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. It only became a legal holiday in 1971 but before then, … Continue reading