MYTH-BUSTERS: Here’s The Facts – on Both Sides – About Christopher Columbus
It took 10 weeks for Columbus to reach the New World (Graphic screenshot from Prager U)
(5:30 VIEWING) — Columbus Day is right around the corner on Monday, October 13, which is a federal holiday. Federal workers get the day as a paid holiday and most, but not all, congressional staffers are able to enjoy a day off as well.
The day originally was meant to honor the Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus, who discovered the New World — i.e. North and South America, Latin America and the Caribbean islands — and thus opened it to European exploration, and much more.
The “much more” was all the good and bad that came with those from Europe who followed up on the total of four voyages Columbus made to the New World. Today, multiple generations of Americans were told in school that Columbus was evil and responsible for all sorts of horrendous acts.
The following 5:30 video from Prager U, hosted by podcaster Michael Knowles, lays it all out, the good and the bad, but does so in a manner that preserves two fundamental realities:
First, Columbus himself was not personally responsible for the evils that followed him to the New World, and, second, it’s an open question if the American colonies would ever have been explored, settled, organized, revolted, declared independence and founded what became the greatest nation on Earth.