I love this upcoming weekend. Who wouldn't love a long weekend to kick off the fall season? The leaves are beginning to turn, the air is starting to crisp, and even to me, an apathetic spectator, the thought of football games on Sundays is appealing. Like so many other holiday weekends, though, we seem to lose sight of why we celebrate. Since I am guilty of this oversight, I decided to do some investigation about Columbus Day.
When I think of elementary school, a few popular rhymes come to mind, "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue," being one of them. In high school, however, I learned that this little rhyme may not be exactly true. So, who really discovered America? If it wasn't good 'ol Columbus, why do we celebrate him?
As it turns out, Columbus was not the first person to discover the Americas. Nope, not even close. Besides the Native Americans, indigenous to America for some thousand of years before 1492, others came before Columbus. The Vikings, led by Leif Erikson, journeyed to America in 1000 AD. The name, America, even precedes Columbus. Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer, is recognized as having named the "New World." Maybe we should consider following Hawaii's lead and rename this holiday weekend, "Discoverer's Day." Whatever its origin, I'll take the long weekend.
http://www.lawzone.com/half-nor/swearinger.htm
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,807597,00.html
About Me
- Kayla
- Hello! I'm Kayla: student, writer, learner, reader, sister, friend, coffee-drinker, picture-taker, Spanish-speaker, dreamer, and believer. I am about to graduate from the University of Rhode Island with a double major in Writing & Rhetoric and Spanish and a minor in General Business. I hope to contribute my strong writing and communication skills, as well as my creative capacities, in a marketing, advertising, or writing position.
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