Today we take for granted that the world is round. In the fifteenth century, however, most
people believed the world was flat. They thought that monsters or a trip over the edge of the
earth waited for anybody who sailed outside the limits of known territory. People laughed at
or jailed others who dared think that the world was in the shape of a globe.
There were educated persons, however, who reasoned that the world must be round. An
Italian named Christopher Columbus was bold enough to push this notion, and ask for money
to explore the seas, and find what he thought would be the other hemisphere of the earth.
Portugal, Italy and England refused to support such a venture.
At that time, spice merchants were looking for an easier route to Asia. They travelled south
past Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope, and continued eastward. Christopher Columbus
convinced Queen Isabella of Spain that it would be easier to sail directly west and find the rich
treasures of India and Asia. A new route would be found, he said, and possible new lands for
Spain.
Columbus first asked Queen Isabella for help in 1486, but it was years before she agreed...
provided that he conquer some of the islands and mainland for Spain. Columbus would also
be given the title of "Admiral of All the Ocean Seas," and receive one-tenth of the riches that
came from any of his discoveries.
Finally, on August 3, 1492, he and ninety men set sail on the flagship Santa Maria. Two other
ships, the Nina and the Pinta, came with him. They sailed west. Three long months went by.
His men became tired and sick, and threatened to turn the ships back. Columbus encouraged
them, certain that they would find the spice trail to the East. On October 11th, ten o'clock at
night, Columbus saw a light. The Pinta kept sailing, and reported that the light was, in fact,
land. The next morning at dawn they landed.
Christopher Columbus and his crew had expected to see people native to India, or be taken
to see the great leader Khan. They called the first people they saw "Indians." They had gone
ashore in their best clothes, knelt and praised God for arriving safely. From the "Indians" they
learned that the island was called Guanahani. Columbus christened it San Salvador and
claimed it immediately for Spain. When they landed on the island that is now Cuba, they
thought they were in Japan. After three subsequent voyages, Columbus was still
unenlightened. He died a rich and famous man, but he never knew that he discovered lands
that few people had imagined were there.
Columbus had stopped at what are now the Caribbean Islands, either Watling Island, Grand
Turk Island, or Samana Cay. In 1926, Watling Island was renamed San Salvador and
acknowledged as the first land in the New World. Recently, however, some people have
begun to dispute the claim. Three men from Miami, Florida have started a movement to
recognize Conception Island as the one that Columbus and his men first sighted and landed
on. The controversy has not yet been resolve.
Few celebrations marked the discovery until hundreds of years later. The continent was not
even named after Columbus, but an Italian explorer named Amerigo Vespucci. In 1792, a
ceremony was held in New York honoring Columbus, and a monument was dedicated to him.
Soon after that, the city of Washington was officially named the District of Columbia and
became the capital of the United States. In 1892, a statue of Columbus was raised at the
beginning of Columbus Avenue in New York City. At the Columbian Exposition held in
Chicago that year, replicas of Columbus's three ships were displayed.
Americans might not have a Columbus Day if Christopher Columbus had not been born in
Italy. Out of pride for their native son, the Italian population of New York City organised the
first celebration of the discovery of America on October 12, 1866. The next year, more
Italian organisations in other cities held banquets, parades and dances on that date. In 1869,
when Italians of San Francisco celebrated October 12, they called it Columbus Day.
In 1905, Colorado became the first state to observe a Columbus Day. Over the next few
decades other states followed. In 1937, then- President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed every
October 12 as Columbus Day. Since 1971, it has been celebrated on the second Monday in
October.
Although it is generally accepted that Christopher Columbus was the first European to have
discovered the New World of the Americas, there is still some controversy over this claim.
Some researchers and proponents of other explorers attribute the first sightings to the early
Scandinavian Vikings or the voyages of Irish missionaries which predate the Columbus visit in
1492. The controversy may never be fully resolved to everyone's satisfaction, but 1992
marked the 500th anniversary of the Columbus discovery.
Source: Celebrate! Holidays in the U.S.A., English Language Programs Division,
USIA, 1994
