Tag: Christopher Columbus

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Happy Columbus Day! Today we celebrate Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World, inaugurating European settlement in the Western Hemisphere. The day is a federal holiday in the United States. In recent decades, however, Columbus Day has been under attack by those who wish to delegitimize European civilization in the Americas. We wish to direct your attention to the following resources about Columbus, Columbus Day, and the European settlement of the Americas on this site: (more…)

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Happy Columbus Day! Today we celebrate Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World, inaugurating European settlement in the Western Hemisphere. The day is a federal holiday in the United States. In recent decades, however, Columbus Day has been under attack by those who wish to delegitimize European civilization in the Americas. We wish to direct your attention to the following resources about Columbus, Columbus Day, and the European settlement of the Americas on this site: (more…)

Lorenzo Delleani, Columbus in Chains

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In 1492, Columbus sailed west from Spain to find a passage to Asia to bring back spices. On October 12, 1492, Columbus spotted land, which we know now was certainly one of the islands of the Bahamas. He went on to discover Cuba and Hispaniola. (more…)

Christopher Columbus vandalized in Detroit

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Commemoration of the 15th-century European discovery of the Americas has seen better days. From Seattle to Caracas to Buenos Aires, the Spanish-Italian explorer Christopher Columbus is increasingly considered a villainous embodiment of pure evil. While the American government still observes October 9th as Columbus Day, that hasn’t stopped a number of city governments (more…)

Christopher Columbus vandalized in Detroit

2,766 words

Commemoration of the 15th-century European discovery of the Americas has seen better days. From Seattle to Caracas to Buenos Aires, the Spanish-Italian explorer Christopher Columbus is increasingly considered a villainous embodiment of pure evil. While the American government still observes October 9th as Columbus Day, that hasn’t stopped a number of city governments (more…)

Christopher Columbus vandalized in Detroit

2,768 words

Commemoration of the 15th-century European discovery of the Americas has seen better days. From Seattle to Caracas to Buenos Aires, the Spanish-Italian explorer Christopher Columbus is increasingly considered a villainous embodiment of pure evil. While the American government still observes October 9th as Columbus Day, that hasn’t stopped a number of city governments (more…)

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Salvador Dalí, The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, 1959

James Reston, Jr.
Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inquisition, and the Defeat of the Moors
New York: Anchor Books, 2006

When reading James Reston, Jr.’s highly entertaining book about the final Spanish push against the Moors, one is struck by just how remarkably similar that conflict was to the oh-so-familiar violent divides of today. The Spanish Reconquista story parallels the smoldering West vs. Islam conflict that is the Global War on Terror as well as the sharp ethno-domestic conflicts in the United States. (more…)

Salvador Dalí, The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, 1959

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In Latin America, the voices that seek to give a poetic tinge to the past so as to legitimize their chosen future decided to name Columbus Day, October the 12th, Día de la Raza, the “Day of the Race.”

Expressions and meanings are not always univocal, and what in Iberia could be understood as the presence of the same race both on the peninsula and on the other side of the sea, in America came to carry a brand new meaning. Anything could result from the clash of one culture against many, as well as the interaction between two races, but never a race, (more…)