Christopher Columbus and Genocide

My fellow congressmen and senators, today we convene to discuss the repercussions of events that occurred nearly three-hundred years before our nation's birth; events that, had they not occurred, it is a certainty that the United States of America would not exist as it does today. The event I am speaking about of course is the world famous voyage of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, and his subsequent discovery of the American continents. One thing that is not disputed by any historian of merit is the fact that Christopher Columbus' landing in the America's led directly to the European colonization of the area, and this colonization (which Columbus was directly involved in) was brutally exploitative, and fatally devastating to the natives of the area. While Christopher Columbus is a historical figure of great significance in our nations' past who exhibited admirable courage, and leadership aptitude, it must be acknowledged that to celebrate his legacy is to celebrate the subjugation, abuse, and murder of millions of Native Americans. For this reason, I am in support of renaming Columbus Day, however, not to Indian Resistance Day, but to Native American Resistance Day, in order to honor those who lost their country in the process of our gaining our own.

First let it be known that Columbus' voyage which culminated in the European

discovery of the Americas took