We explain what Columbus Day is, how America was discovered and the general characteristics of this celebration.
The European discovery of America occurred on October 12, 1492.
What is Columbus Day?
In many Latin American countries, the day on which the Columbus Day was celebrated was called commemorates the discovery of America by Spanish navigators.
This discovery It happened on October 12, 1492 by the crew commanded by the Genoese admiral Christopher Columbus (whose Italian name was Cristoforo Colombo).
Columbus’ first voyage departed from the port of Palos (Andalusia, Spain) on August 3, 1492 and lasted just over two months. This event inaugurated a process of conquest of lands inhabited by indigenous populations.
The conquest of America It is commemorated both in Spain and in America because it meant an important change in both regions and in world history and influenced the form that the American countries acquired in the following centuries.
Origin of the expression
In Spain, October 12 is called Hispanic Day or National Holiday of Spain.
The expression “Day of the Race” to commemorate October 12 It was devised by the Spanish minister Faustino Rodríguez-San PedroIn 1914, that date was celebrated as the “Fiesta de la Raza Española” (Spanish Day of the Race), while in 1915 the term “Day of the Race” was used for the first time.
The idea behind this celebration was to exalt a common race created between the Spanish conquistadors and the Native Americans, a product of the civilizing efforts of the Europeans. sought to strengthen diplomatic relations between the American nations and Spainand to integrate into the same celebration the Creoles with the immigrants who arrived in America at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century.
Other names for this date
At the moment The name “Columbus Day” has been replaced by other expressions in most countries that still commemorate the date. In Spain, Hispanic Day has been celebrated since 1958, currently called the National Holiday of Spain.
In America, some of these denominations They aim to move away from the racial connotation of the original expression Some people highlight the encounter between cultures, that is, diversity rather than unity, while others celebrate the resistance of indigenous populations against the Spanish conquest. For example:
- Argentina: Day of respect for cultural diversity (since 2010).
- Bolivia: Decolonization Day (since 2011).
- Costa Rica: Day of the meeting of cultures (since 1994, although it is not currently considered a public holiday).
- Dominican Republic: Day of the encounter between two cultures and Day of identity and cultural diversity.
- Ecuador: Day of interculturality and plurinationality (since 2011).
- Mexico: Day of the multicultural nation (since 2020).
- Nicaragua: Day of indigenous, black and popular resistance (since 2007).
- Peru: Day of indigenous peoples and intercultural dialogue (since 2009, although it is not a public holiday).
- Venezuela: Day of indigenous resistance (since 2002).
Controversy over the holiday
The original idea of celebrating a Columbus Day as the beginning of the Spanish conquest of America was based on a positive assessment of this conquest and relegated the indigenous populations to a passive position. concealed the acts of violence that characterized the process.
During the celebrations for the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in America (which took place in 1992) arose debates about how to name the fact usually referred to as “discovery”The concept of the “meeting of two worlds” proposed in those years by UNESCO was supposed to recognize the importance of Europeans and indigenous people in the cultural exchange that followed Columbus’ expedition. However, this denomination was questioned due to the omission of wars and other forms of violence and imposition that permeated the period and determined, in many cases, the destruction of indigenous cultures.
The replacement of the term “race” in the commemoration of October 12 in many countries of America was based on the need to avoid the racism characteristic of some European views on American Indians and in the search to give visibility to native cultures.
The conquest of America
The patronage of the Catholic Monarchs
Columbus’s expedition was sponsored by Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile.
Christopher Columbus He presented his travel plan to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castilewhom Pope Alexander VI called “the Catholic Monarchs.” This name was due to the adherence of both kings to the Catholic faith and their conquest of the territories of the Iberian Peninsula that remained occupied by the Muslims (specifically the kingdom of Granada, which was defeated the same year that Columbus arrived in America).
Over the years, The Catholic Monarchs also annexed other territoriessuch as the Kingdom of Navarre, the Canary Islands and Melilla. Their financing of Columbus’s expedition was part of this expansionist policy that sought, among other things, to extend and control trade routes.
Columbus’s plan was to reach Asian territory by sailing west.but the arrival to the American continent – unknown to Europeans but inhabited by indigenous populations – radically modified the objectives of the Spanish crown and promoted the conquest and colonization of America.
Economic and religious motivations
Spain and other European countries They maintained commercial relations with Asian populationsHowever, the voyages made trade more expensive, as the Ottoman Empire controlled the eastern Mediterranean and circumnavigating the vast African continent was a difficult journey.
Columbus’s project aimed to explore an alternative route to reach Asian territories.
But both Columbus and the Catholic Monarchs also had religious motivations: The goal was not only to expand European trade but to bring Christianity to the pagan populations of Asia. When they reached American lands, the exploitation of resources and labor was encouraged, but the evangelization of the indigenous populations was also promoted.
Detractors of Columbus’s voyage
The observation that The Earth was spherical in shape and was widespread in all scholarly circles of the 15th century. However, it was generally held that the distance to Asia by starting a voyage westward could be much longer than that required to sail around the African continent, so a project like Columbus’s was, for some, an unnecessary risk.
Furthermore, it was argued that The advantage of going around a continent like Africa was that food could be obtained and any other necessary resources by simply staying close to the coast. In contrast, sailing west meant traveling great distances in what was supposed to be open sea.
Columbus calculated that the distance between the Canary Islands and Japan was less than 5000 kilometers, while the actual distance was 19,600 kilometers. This means that if the American continent did not exist, The entire crew would have died at sea due to not having enough supplies. to complete the journey.
The ships and the first sighting
The Santa María was the flagship and the largest.
Columbus’ first voyage was made by three caravels:
- Santa MariaIt was the flagship of the expedition and the largest (some researchers believe it was not a caravel but a ship), with more than thirty crew members. Its wood was used to build the first Spanish settlement in America, the Navidad fort in Hispaniola.
- The girlIt is believed that it had less than twenty crew members.
- The PintaIt is believed that it had around twenty-five crew members.
The first European to see American soil was Rodrigo de Triana, a sailor from La PintaIt was at two in the morning on October 12. The land observed was Guanahaní Island in the Antilles. It is currently believed that Viking populations reached American territory much earlier, but they did so in the extreme northeast of the continent.
The names of America
Upon reaching the Antilles, Columbus believed he had reached Asia, which is why America was known as “the Indies” (later the West Indies) and its inhabitants as “Indians”. It was also given the name “the Antipodes” and the Portuguese adopted the terms “Vera Cruz” and “Tierra de Santa Cruz” to refer to the coasts of Brazil.
When it became clear that this was a previously unknown continent, It became known as the “New World”It acquired the name America in 1507 in honor of Amerigo Vespucci, the first explorer who seems to have maintained that those lands corresponded to a continent distinct from Asia.
Follow with: