Christopher Columbus was a mass-murderer, a slave monger, a trader in child sex slaves, and generally an abuser of native people. He was not the first, European or otherwise, to "discover" the Americas. His predations in the Americas led directly to the African slave trade. By celebrating Columbus as a federal holiday, we besmirch the United States of America with the blood of at least thousands of innocent people slaughtered by Columbus to enrich himself and Spain. We can, and should, use the imprimatur of a U.S. federal holiday to honor better people than Christopher Columbus. Please take a moment to sign my petition asking for the Obama Administration to ask Congress to abolish Columbus Day.
It is hardly esoteric knowledge that Christopher Columbus was not the first European to come to America. The following facts are published on wikipedia:
1. In his first voyage to the New World, Columbus took 10 to 25 natives back to Spain with him, of which only 7 or 8 survived the trip.
2. In his second voyage, a childhood friend, Michele de Cuneo, accompanied Columbus to the New World. Columbus gave de Cuneo a "gift" of a "Carib woman". After beating her soundly, de Cuneo raped her.
3. Having discovered, during his first voyage, that he "could conquer the whole of them with 50 men" and govern them as he pleased, Columbus returned, on his second voyage, with 17 ships and 1200 heavily armed men. Columbus, on pretext of retaliation for a native attack on a Spanish fort, exacted tribute of a "hawk's bell full" of gold powder or 25 pounds of spun cotton from every native over 14 years of age every three months. The penalty for missing a tribute payment was to have your hands cut off and be left for dead.
4. A priest, Bartolome de las Casas, testified to numerous crimes committed by Columbus against native peoples. Las Casas became a Catholic priest to atone for atrocities committed by the second voyage, in which he took part. Las Casas wrote that Columbus forced new mothers to work, leaving their children to starve, and "for this reason, while I was in Cuba, 7000 children died in three months." In all, "from 1494 to 1508, over three million people had perished from war, slavery, and the mines."
5. Testimony of others corroborated the writings of las Casas, prompting the Spanish Crown to revoke Columbus's commission as Governor, and ultimately landing Columbus in prison.
6. Elsewhere, it is readily found that the mass killing of native slaves in the Caribbean motivated import of African slaves, the first of which was brought by Columbus's own son, Diego.
Christopher Columbus is afforded the same honor in this country as Presidents Washington and Lincoln, war veterans, and even Jesus Christ. We sully our country by bestowing such honor on a documented mass-murderer, abuser, and slave trader.
Please sign my petition requesting the Obama Administration to lobby Congress to abolish Columbus Day.
Thank you for your attention.