"We should not continue to celebrate Christopher Columbus with a national holiday in his honor.

Columbus was selfish and a liar. Before Columbus and his crew left to find a route to Asia, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand told them that whoever saw land first would get an allowance of gold every year for the rest of his life. A lookout on the Pinta, Rodrigo de Triana (also known as Juan Rodriguez Bermeo), spotted land about 2 a.m. on the morning of Oct. 12, 1492, and immediately alerted the rest of the crew with a shout. The captain of the Pinta, Juan Alonso Pinzón, verified the discovery and alerted Columbus by firing. Columbus later maintained that he himself had already seen a light on the land a few hours earlier, thereby claiming for himself the lifetime pension promised by Ferdinand and Isabella to the first person to sight land.

Columbus was a murderer of many Indian tribes. When Columbus reached an island he called Hispaniola, present-day Haiti and Dominican Republic, he met the Taino tribe, who were friendly nonviolent people. The Taino sighted Columbus and his crew as the Santa Maria was sinking and Guacanagarí, the leader of the Taino, ordered them to go out in canoes and rescue them. Columbus then gave Guacanagarí a red robe, which to Guacanagarí was a sign of leadership. In return he gave Columbus his tiara, believing it was a fair trade. Columbus then decided he would govern the island of Hispaniola."

Get the Story:
Niccole Smith & Micalah Medeiros from Stuart Middle School: Columbus repaid the Tainos' kindness with enslavement (The Stuart News 10/13)