THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Brave Explorer or Genocidal Leader?

Columbus Day commemorates the landing of Christopher Columbus in the “New World” on October 12, 1492. Today, Columbus invokes images of either a brave explorer or a genocidal leader. But what is the truth?

For nearly 500 years Christopher Columbus was almost universally regarded as an heroic man. Hoping to find a way to sail to India, he nevertheless opened the doors to an entirely new continent which was practically unknown to the wider world. 

Columbus was unequivocal in declaring that it was God Who guided him across the ocean:

Who doubts that this illumination was from the Holy Spirit? I attest that he [the Spirit], with marvelous rays of light consoled me through the holy sacred Scriptures....encouraging me to proceed, and, continually, without ceasing for a moment, they inflame me with a sense of great urgency.

This Columbus sounds nothing like the false portrayal of him we so often hear today from revisionists who understand that altering the past allows them to change the present. As noted literary figure Washington Irving explained in his 1828 biography on Columbus:

There is a certain meddlesome spirit, which, in the garb of learned research, goes prying about the traces of history, casting down its monuments, and marring and mutilating its fairest trophies. Care should be taken to vindicate great names from such pernicious erudition. It defeats one of the most salutary purposes of history, that of furnishing examples of what human genius and laudable enterprise may accomplish.

If you would like to learn more about Christopher Columbus, who he was, and what he actually did, check out The American Story: The Beginnings. Also read the articles on WallBuilders' website on the contributions he made and the principles he stood for.

Today we encourage you to learn the truth about Christopher Columbus and to celebrate Columbus Day!

Presenting America’s forgotten history and heroes

with an emphasis on our moral, religious and constitutional heritage.