Tag Archives: Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus Day

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Back in March 2013, I posted my first blog; a short paragraph regarding Christopher Columbus.

Well this week, someone else finally followed suit . . . the Seattle City Council. They voted to change the day to Indigenous Peoples Day, on which I have no opinion. What surprises me are the opinions of those who have reacted to this, and I have read on both conservative and liberal sites the opinions of others.

As I stated in my March 2013 blog, I have always been amazed with the history books crediting Christopher Columbus for “discovering America,” when Leifur Eiriksson’s heirs were hundreds of miles inland.Silhouette fedora

Let’s review for a minute—without emotion—the facts of what Columbus actually did, First, Columbus was not looking for America; he was looking for a short cut to the Far East to bring back goods to Europe. Second, when he got to America, he did not know where he was! Third, when he went back to Europe, he lied about where he had been. In conclusion, this is the man who we credited as the great explorer who discovered America!

As I stated above, Leifur Eiriksson’s heirs were well into the North American Continent around and past the Great Lakes. They had arrived here some three hundred (300) years earlier. There are a couple of reasons I can think of why Eiriksson was not given credit. Unlike Columbus, he did not go back to Europe and brag about where he had been. Plus, his trip had not been funded by elitist, arrogant Spanish Royalty.

For the moment, I will not go into the details of how Columbus got Queen Isabella of Castile (Spain) to finance his expedition. Also, I choose to stay out of the Indigenous Peoples Day debate. All I am saying is that Christopher Columbus did not discover America. This is not a race issue. If it is about who from Europe set foot on North American soil first, then it was not Christopher Columbus. To be clear, he did not even step on mainland North American soil: he landed in the Bahamas.

I say we should do away with Columbus Day, and instead, if we are going to honor the man who discovered North America from Europe, we bestow that honor on Leifur Eiriksson. But that’s just my opinion. What do you think?

Pet Peeves

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Silhouette fedoraI will start lightly with how the history that we were taught in school was not based on history.

I have always been amazed with the history books crediting Christopher Columbus for  “discovering America”, at a time when Leifr Eiriksson’s heirs were hundreds of miles inland. Remember Columbus was not looking for America; he was looking for a short cut to the Far East to bring back goods. When he got to America, he did not know where he was! When he went back to Europe, he lied about where he had been. And this is the great explorer, who discovered America!