A Columbus Day Retention Petition
- da: Pablo Ricardo Quintana, NMHCPL
- destinatario: President Obama, The United States Congress
There is a movement afoot to eliminate Columbus Day as a national holiday. 17 states and Brown University have already done so. Now the Albuquerque Public Schools are in the process of doing the same. This must stop. Advise all you rfriends, especially Italian Americans, Hispanos and Knights of Columbus to sign this petition.
It has become fashionable for people, through ignorance of history and the influence of Black Legend propaganda, to bash Christopher Columbus and his accomplishments. What this reveals, in fact, is a hidden agenda to express hatred of the Italian-American and/or the Hispanic people in a socially acceptable manner.
The truth is that, if there was any genocide, it was not perpetrated by the Spanish, but by the English and Americans. It is they who deliberately infected whole tribes with smallpox by giving them infected blankets, by destroying the herds of buffalo and imposing death by starvation, and by removing them from their homelands in order to take their land.
On the contrary, the Spanish ensured that the tribes retain their lands by giving them land grants, made them citizens of Spain and intermarried with them. It is because of this that there remain Indians in the West and in South America. The only war with the Pueblo Indians was declared by the Acomas themselves and ended peaceably. The Saint Lawrence Day Massacre was also instigated by the Pueblos and ended with the Pueblos requesting the return of the Spanish to New Mexico.
Therefore, we, and those who agree with us especially those of Italian and Spanish descent, urge the government to retain Columbus Day as the day of celebration of the gifts of the Spanish. Here are the seven reasons why the discovery of the new world belongs only to Columbus, Italy and Spain and no other, including the Norse (Vikings) and Irish:
1. Columbus went to Columbia, the new world, directly, deliberately and with purpose. It was no chance landing on an unknown coast. If the Native Americans had discovered America before, certainly no one knew about it. They stayed where they were. There was no need for future historians to create proof of the discovery as they have had to do for the Norse.
2. Columbus discovered the prevailing winds over the Atlantic Ocean, making the crossing of the Atlantic possible, easier and quicker, reducing travel time from what would have been months to thirty-seven days. Thus travel became practical for all travelers, explorers and colonists. The new world became easily accessible for what would become the countries of North and South America, including the United States.
3. Columbus knew what he had discovered. On August 14, 1498, he made his portentous statement, %u201CI believe that this is a very large continent which until now has remained unknown.%u201D (So much for the claim that he thought he was in Asia all along.) This was two months before Amerigo Vespucci made his false claim and to steal the name of the new land. There is no need to produce forged maps, such as the so-called Vinland map of the Norse, to prove the discovery. He himself wrote it in his journal. He knew he was not in Asia.
4. Columbus followed up on his discovery with subsequent trips in order to fully explore the new land. In all, he made four voyages to Columbia in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. The Spanish became the mapmakers of the world.
5. Columbus proclaimed and published his discovery to the world so that the Americas were no longer unknown from that time onward. Travel from that time forward would be constant and incessant.
6. The result of the discovery was the encounter of two entirely different cultures, that of Europe and that of the Americas. It brought under the rule of the Spanish the largest empire in the history of the world, including much of Europe, the Caribbean, the two American continents, the Philipine Islands, the Pacific Islands, etc.
7. The new encounter resulted in the great exchange of new concepts, ideas and products as to completely transform the world. Imagine Italy without tomatos, England, Ireland and Germany without potatos, Hungary without paprika, or the world without the great democratic experiment, chocolate, tobacco, peanuts or vanilla. To the Native Americans, the Spanish brought Christianity, the wheel, horses, cattle, sheep and wool, wheat, a new strain of corn, chile, adobes, new irrigation techniques, new tools and a multitude of new ways to make their life better.
The discovery has been called %u201Cthe greatest event since the Incarnation%u201D, for had dating not been restarted with the birth of Christ, it would have with the discovery by the Christ-bearer. His feat dwarfs that of any other person called The Great, such as Alexander, Gregory or Peter. This is why Christopher deserves to be called Cristobal Magno (or Christopher the Great in English).
Dear Mr. President and Members of Congress:
It has become fashionable for people, through ignorance of history and the influence of Black Legend propaganda, to bash Christopher Columbus and his accomplishments. What this reveals, in fact, is a hidden agenda to express hatred of the Italian-American and/or the Hispanic people in a socially acceptable manner.
The truth is that, if there was any genocide, it was not perpetrated by the Spanish, but by the English and Americans. It is they who deliberately infected whole tribes with smallpox by giving them infected blankets, by destroying the herds of buffalo and imposing death by starvation, and by removing them from their homelands in order to take their land.
On the contrary, the Spanish ensured that the tribes retain their lands by giving them land grants, made them citizens of Spain and intermarried with them. It is because of this that there remain Indians in the West and in South America. The only war with the Pueblo Indians was declared by the Acomas themselves and ended peaceably. The Saint Lawrence Day Massacre was also instigated by the Pueblos and ended with the Pueblos requesting the return of the Spanish to New Mexico.
Therefore, we the undersigned, and those who agree with us especially those of Italian and Spanish descent, urge the government to retain Columbus Day as the day of celebration of the gifts of the Spanish. Here are the seven reasons why the discovery of the new world belongs only to Columbus, Italy and Spain and no other, including the Norse and Irish:
1. Columbus went to Columbia, the new world, directly, deliberately and with purpose. It was no chance landing on an unknown coast. If the Native Americans had discovered America before, certainly no one knew about it. They stayed where they were. There was no need for future historians to create proof of the discovery as they have had to do for the Norse.
2. Columbus discovered the prevailing winds over the Atlantic Ocean, making the crossing of the Atlantic possible, easier and quicker, reducing travel time from what would have been months to thirty-seven days. Thus travel became practical for all travelers, explorers and colonists. The new world became easily accessible for what would become the countries of North and South America, including the United States.
3. Columbus knew what he had discovered. On August 14, 1498, he made his portentous statement, %u201CI believe that this is a very large continent which until now has remained unknown.%u201D (So much for the claim that he thought he was in Asia all along.) This was two months before Amerigo Vespucci made his false claim and to steal the name of the new land. There is no need to produce forged maps, such as the so-called Vinland map of the Norse, to prove the discovery. He himself wrote it in his journal. He knew he was not in Asia.
4. Columbus followed up on his discovery with subsequent trips in order to fully explore the new land. In all, he made four voyages to Columbia in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. The Spanish became the mapmakers of the world.
5. Columbus proclaimed and published his discovery to the world so that the Americas were no longer unknown from that time onward. Travel from that time forward would be constant and incessant.
6. The result of the discovery was the encounter of two entirely different cultures, that of Europe and that of the Americas. It brought under the rule of the Spanish the largest empire in the history of the world, including much of Europe, the Caribbean, the two American continents, the Philipine Islands, the Pacific Islands, etc.
7. The new encounter resulted in the great exchange of new concepts, ideas and products as to completely transform the world. Imagine Italy without tomatos, England, Ireland and Germany without potatos, Hungary without paprika, or the world without the great democratic experiment, chocolate, tobacco, peanuts or vanilla. To the Native Americans, the Spanish brought Christianity, the wheel, horses, cattle, sheep and wool, wheat, a new strain of corn, chile, adobes, new irrigation techniques, new tools and a multitude of new ways to make their life better.
The discovery has been called %u201Cthe greatest event since the Incarnation%u201D, for had dating not been restarted with the birth of Christ, it would have with the discovery by the Christ-bearer. His feat dwarfs that of any other person called The Great, such as Alexander, Gregory or Peter. This is why Christopher deserves to be called Cristobal Magno (or Christopher the Great in English). Thank you for your time to read this petition.
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