COLUMBUS DAY.   Term Paper ID:29414 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Discusses the European-American encounter of 1492.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Discusses the European-American encounter of 1492. Questions whether celebration of Columbus Day should be changed to a different kind of commemoration as a means of making historical amends to Native Americans. Contends Columbus Day has lost its significance as the Columbus myth has proved to be false. Paper Introduction: The question of how to commemorate the European-American encounter that began in 1492 is controversial because it goes to the heart of the very nature of the country. Is the United States founded on the idealistic desire of Europeans to flee oppression in Europe to establish a new nation based on freedom and justice? Or is the United States founded by hypocrites who sought rights and liberties and opportunities for themselves which they failed to grant to others? These questions should be answered based on no considerations but the truth and historical accuracy. This would require radical changes in the way the United States celebrates the date and its meaning and significance, for the current commemoration is based on the Eurocentric lie that Christopher Columbus "discovered" a land which had long been inhabited by a well-developed civilization. A truth-based comme Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. As Harjo writes,"Little kids are told big lies in the name of education" (Harjo 32). The alternative is to allow a lie to continueto be celebrated, and to simultaneously pretend that 1492 did not bringgreat affliction to the people who lived here in "pre-history." Works CitedCowley, Geoffrey. After all, these same Europeanswere to institutionalize slavery throughout that same world. Perhaps the widespread revelation of the falsity of the Columbus mythis the major reason that the holiday has increasingly lost its significanceas a cultural and historical landmark, as Harjo also notes (32). Is the United States founded on the idealisticdesire of Europeans to flee oppression in Europe to establish a new nationbased on freedom and justice? AThe Great Disease Migration.@ Newsweek. 54-56.Harjo, Suzan Shown. It is also required that this new "commemoration"include an active pursuit of justice for the descendants of the NativeAmericans who have been exploited and slaughtered by leaders and citizensof the nation for hundreds of years. Cynicism,sarcasm, and dismissive smugness will not wash away that blood or thespiritual need to acknowledge and atone, for starters, for the wrongs donethe Native Americans. Krauthammer's cynical response fails to address the centuries ofsuffering and injustice imposed on Native Americans by Europeans and theirdescendants, focusing instead on specious claims such as that the"denunciation" of Columbus Day is somehow a "denunciation" of the "Spanishlegacy." In fact, the British, Spanish, French and other Europeans are allindicted not by "the left" but by history itself and the bloody footprintsEuropeans left throughout the New World. AHail Columbus, Dead White Male.@ Time. 74. Harjo also writes importantly that it is not enough to simply do awaywith the lies of the conventional commemoration (that Columbus discoveredAmerica, that Europeans brought civilization to the uncivilized "Indians,"that there was not even a "history" in this land before Columbus, butmerely "pre-history"), or to simply replace those lies with the truth ofthe matter (that Columbus and his European brethren through the centuriesbrought imperialism, exploitation, cruelty, land-stealing, genocide,slavery, and slaughter). This would requireradical changes in the way the United States celebrates the date and itsmeaning and significance, for the current commemoration is based on theEurocentric lie that Christopher Columbus "discovered" a land which hadlong been inhabited by a well-developed civilization. These questions should be answered based on noconsiderations but the truth and historical accuracy. This commemoration should be seen as a kind of soul-cleansing for thenation and a beginning of historical amends to Native Americans. The question of how to commemorate the European-American encounterthat began in 1492 is controversial because it goes to the heart of thevery nature of the country. Cowley supports this position with hisstudy of the diseases brought to the Americas by Europeans starting withColumbus. History cannot be undone, but transforming ColumbusDay into such an acknowledgment/atonement would be a healing act for bothNative Americans and the descendants of Europeans who remain largely incharge of the United States. Special Issue, Fall/Winter, 1991, p. 32.Krauthammer, Charles. SpecialIssue, Fall/Winter, 1991, pp. Harjo is correct in charging that both thegovernment and the Church (the latter played a vital role in subjugatingNative Americans to European rule, culture and religion) should include inthe new commemoration socioeconomic programs designed both to right thewrongs of the past and prevent further wrongs to Native Americans today. Whycontinue the charade, particularly insofar as it is perpetuated in schoolswhich are supposed to be the repositories of the truth? May 27,1991, p. Allliterate people today are aware that the Christopher Columbus tale is adeliberate deception designed to romanticize the origins of the country andconceal the truth about the brutal way Native Americans were treated. A truth-basedcommemoration would portray the European-American encounter as one whichdeveloped into the Europeans' imperialistic domination, exploitation andslaughter of Native Americans. AI Won=t Be Celebrating Columbus Day.@Newsweek. Death cannot be undone, but providing good health care tosurviving Native Americans, most of whom do not enjoy such care, would be astep toward making amends. Or is the United States founded by hypocriteswho sought rights and liberties and opportunities for themselves which theyfailed to grant to others? Ifchildren continue to be taught such lies and see them celebrated, in fact,then those children could begin to doubt their entire education as far ashistory goes. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.