Although America is a country that has seen many events that drastically shaped its development, it’s easy to say that without the work of Christopher Columbus, things would just be a little bit different.  For the few of you that aren’t really sure who Christopher Columbus is, let me enlighten you.

The son of a wool merchant and weaver, the Genoa (a place in Italy) born Christopher Columbus didn’t seem to have much of a future.  He worked for his father for a short bit of time and nurtured a great ambition that was popular at the time.  This ambition: to travel the seas and find a better route to the East Indies.  Although this may seem like a strange dream in contemporary times, things were just a little bit different in the fifteenth century.  Europe had Asia fever, which isn’t a disease but rather a desire to obtain the many unique goods and spices that were readily available in Asia but not in Europe.

Although prospects looked grim, this wool merchant’s son displayed an almost all-American spirit doggedly pursuing his goal of finding a better route to Asia.  During the years 1477 and 1482, Columbus embarked on a series of travels that took him to places as far away as Iceland and Guinea, which he thought was ample preparation for his desired trip.  However, after proposing his Enterprise of the Indies idea to King John of Portugal in 1484, Columbus was dealt a blow.  His idea was rejected.  After some years of tweaking and regaining his confidence, Columbus then pitched the same plan to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.  Perhaps expecting to be rejected again, Columbus was overjoyed to learn that his idea was going to be accepted.  Throwing his complete effort into preparing for this grand voyage, Columbus eventually assembled a motley crew of ninety to find a better route to the East Indies.

In some ways, Christopher Columbus completely failed to reach his dream.  He didn’t find a quicker route to the East Indies, but he managed to get a pretty good compensation out of his travels.  He became the first known European settler to land in the area that is now known as America.  On October 12, 1492, Columbus reached what he thought was the East Indies.  However, he soon learned that he found something different – an area of the world that nobody knew existed that became quickly known as the New World.

As a result, Christopher Columbus is often cited for discovering America.  Although it’s impossible to discover a part of the world that’s already inhabited with a large population, Columbus did play a major role in the development of what would become this country.  Although Columbus’ discovery did have some negative effects including the gradual enslavement and mass murder of the inhabitants in these newly discovered lands, people are content with forgetting Columbus’ controversial achievements for a day off.  To celebrate his efforts, Columbus Day takes place on the second Monday in October.

Early American settlers had been celebrating Columbus Day for decades before it became a national holiday.  On October 12, 1866, the Italian population of New York organized the first celebration of the discovery of America.  In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison made a commemorative proclamation of Columbus Day to celebrate the 400^th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage.  However, the main group responsible for the observation of Columbus Day was the state of Colorado, who in 1905 became the first state to observe Columbus Day.  Since 1920, Columbus Day has been celebrated annually and it continues to be one of the country’s most popular holidays.

A day to look back at America’s glorious history, Columbus Day is a day for kids to learn a little bit more about their country.  For adults, it’s a day to sit back and relax.  This welcome public holiday in October continues to be an institution and serves as a reminder that dreams do come true, except for Columbus’ who never did find a short cut to the East Indies.