What is Columbus Day?

History

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by Mya Kagan (whyzz writer) >> more about the author

In the United States, Columbus Day is a holiday celebrated in honor of the explorer Christopher Columbus landing his ship in the Americas on October 12th, 1492. While October 12th was once the observed date for the holiday, it is now always celebrated in the U.S. on the second Monday of October, so that more people can have a three-day weekend to spend with their families.

The reason why Columbus landing in the Americas is significant is because prior to his journey, people living in Europe did not know that this huge body of land existed! Although there were other people already living in what is now South and North America, it was unknown in places like England and Spain. Columbus, in fact, had not set sail looking for America… he’d actually hoped to go to India! But, his arrival in America became a very significant day in history – what is now the U.S. might not exist if he had never arrived!

Americans now celebrate Columbus Day to remember this important journey in the making of our country.

Columbus Day is a Federal Holiday in the United States, but it isn’t observed by everyone. – Although Columbus’s arrival in the Americas became a historically significant event, it had consequences too, particularly for the Native American people who were already living in the Americas at the time. The arrival of Columbus and his European shipmates exposed the Native Americans to diseases that they’d never encountered before and weren’t able to fight-off. They were also kicked off of their land and sometimes taken capture by the explorers.

As we honor Columbus for his bravery as an explorer, it’s important to also remember that we can learn from the lessons of history.

Columbus & Co.

What do you think it would be like to be an explorer like Christopher Columbus, and sail a ship to an unknown place!? Are there things you would expect to find or not find in a place that no one knew about?

What do you think are some things that might be difficult about arriving in a new place? For example, not being able to speak the local language might be one obstacle, and finding familiar food to eat might be another!

What do you think are some thing that might be exciting and cool about arriving in a new place? Learning about a new culture and new traditions, as well as exploring and discovering something for the first time would all be pretty cool!!