Columbus day 10.08.2018

Basically Columbus Day is a national holiday in the USA which is meant to be a day in remembrance of the discovery of America by Christoph Columbus in 1492. Since 1971 this day has been celebrated on a fixed date, namely on the second Monday of October. 

Most of the people I talked to like Columbus Day simply because a holiday means a day off that could be spend with family and friends. But they do not really think about Columbus's discovery.
My host parents like the idea of doing something historical on this day so that the meaning comes a bit true. This year they went to Sturbridge Village, an outdoor living history museum exhibiting 19th century life with me. We spend our whole day there and my host family and me really liked the visit.

Sturbridge Village is a bit like Plymouth Plantation so you can walk around and talk to actors who explain history to you. After our visit there we drove home and my host family told me that they like to keep the historic spirit alive although they do not agree to the thought of the discovery by Columbus.

Even if we did not celebrate the day it was nice experiencing a national holiday 

and visit a historical place.   (By Celine Huge)

Walking with open eyes, you come across Columbus statues repeatedly.
The first one can be found in Newport Rhode Island, the second one stands near the Faneuil Hall in Boston.

Critical approach to Columbus 

Columbus Day is not only a national holiday in the USA but also in many countries of the Americas. Columbus's voyage has been celebrated as early as the late 18th century in the States. How this holiday is observed varies a lot between the states, from almost complete non-observance to parades and church services. However, this national holiday is controversial because the European settlement marked the beginning of the oppression of the indigenous people in the New World. The arrival of the Euopeans led to the deaths and the demise of the culture of native peoples, and Columbus should therefore not be commemorated uncritically. For a long time Columbus was percieved and depicted as a hero ignoring the consequences his actions had. Thus, since the late 20th century the celebrations of this day have been in decline.  Some states, e.g. South Dakota, Maine, Florida,  even do not recognize it anymore and have replaced it by the Indigenous Peoples' Day as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day to commemorate the wrong done to the native people in the violent history of colonization.