Rethinking a Holiday

Columbus Day has been an official U.S. holiday since 1937. But some people question the idea of celebrating Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the “New World.”

That’s because of what followed that “discovery.” News of Columbus’s voyages spread across Europe. It began the Age of Exploration. It led to many more transatlantic journeys from Europe to the Americas. Contact between Europeans and native people led to deadly conflicts. It also exposed