Ah, Columbus Day: The federal holiday we originally celebrated to "honor" famous explorer Christopher Columbus for "discovering" the New World. However, anyone who looks further into the history books will find out that Columbus is not all he's been cracked up to be. There are major inconsistencies with the information that's taught in schools about Christopher Columbus. The history of the Columbus Day that most people know is whitewashed or full-on denial of who Christopher Columbus actually was. By making light of these purposely forgotten facts, it should be quite clear that maybe Columbus isn't the best figure to give a national holiday.

1. Columbus Never Actually Discovered North America

One fact that seems to be glossed over frequently is that Christopher Columbus never actually set foot on North American soil. Columbus was originally on a voyage to India when the navigation went off course. Columbus' ships ended up landing at group of islands that we now call Cuba, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Santo Domingo. Columbus actually went on several voyages to the islands near the Gulf of Mexico. It wasn't until his third or fourth voyage that he landed on the island of Hispaniola, which is now considered Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He never once set foot on any territory that would be considered North American.

You can actually thank the Vikings for that! Lief Erikson was one of the first documented explorers to have discovered North America. The Vikings set foot around the area of what is now Cape Cod, as well as several Canadian coastal provinces. So, to say that we celebrate Christopher Columbus day because he discovered North America is entirely false!

2. Columbus Was A Genocidal Tyrant

Now this is a fact that really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. During the time period when Columbus was exploring, the western world was ablaze with religious persecution. Just 20 to 30 years before Columbus reached land in Hispaniola, the Spanish Inquisition had been taking place. Also, another famous explorer of the time, Hernando Cortes, landed in South America and slaughtered and enslaved the Aztec people. Religious and racial persecution was not rare during this time period, and views against indigenous peoples were discriminatory and cruel.

Once Columbus gained favor with the Natives, he took all of their resources, enslaved a large amount of the population, and killed those who stood in his way. It's stated that within a generation of Columbus landing, there was only 5 to 10 percent of the Native population left.

So why are we honoring Columbus still? Probably because history is written by the victors and the nobles. At the time, most would have considered his actions of enslavement and genocide to be beneficial to the developing western world and the spreading of Christian ideology, even if the means of doing so were very un-Christian in manner. Although there were critics during Columbus' time that looked down on his conduct, they were, by and large, ignored and have only really gained some attention in recent years through historical study.

With that information in mind, one must wonder why the rest of the United States hasn't changed the holiday to Indigenous Peoples Day. Several cities have celebrated Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day for some time now, and it seems to be gaining more traction. Cities such as Portland, Orgeon; Albuquerque, New Mexico; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Olympia, Washington have decided to ditch Columbus Day.

And why shouldn't they? The Native Americans and other indigenous peoples don't have their own federally recognized holiday like other minority groups. Why not let them have a day where they can be recognized and celebrated? If we can have Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Black History Month in honor of our African-American community, is it too much to ask for the Native Americans to have a holiday?

By getting rid of Columbus Day, we wouldn't be forgetting about Christopher Columbus. On the contrary, I think others should learn about Christopher Columbus as much as possible, so that they might learn about the person that he truly was. He doesn't need to be fully demonized either; after all, he was just a product of his time. However, instead of celebrating a figure that didn't really discover America, why don't we celebrate those that have lived here long before others set foot on this soil and honor their lives?

The Native Americans have dealt with genocide, enslavement, relocation, assimilation, and several other horrible practices. We can at least give them a federally recognized holiday.