Results: Does Columbus Deserve a Holiday?

On Monday, the United States will observe Columbus Day. Schools and banks will be closing and parades marching in honor of the man who, as many of us learned in school, discovered America in 1492. Do you celebrate Columbus Day?

Columbus was a brave explorer who, despite terrible odds, sailed across the Atlantic and proved the earth is round. He was a tireless, courageous hero who discovered the New World. Do you agree?

In 1492, no one actually thought the earth was flat. Pretty much anyone with an education knew the earth was round. The Greeks had proved it 2,000 years before Columbus was born. Were you aware of this fact?

Columbus didn't actually "discover" the New World. Not only were there natives living in the Americas for 14,000 years, Leif Ericson found the same territory 500 years before Columbus. Have you ever heard this?

Columbus treated the natives brutally. Columbus demanded treasure, food and sex for his men, and when the Lucayans refused, he ordered their noses and ears cut off to serve as a warning. When the Lucayans rebelled, Columbus crushed the rebellion and carted off 500 Lucayans to be sold into slavery in Europe. Columbus disrupted the entire economy of three continents. Post-Columbian disease and starvation killed three to five million people over the next fifty years. And the influx of gold disrupted the global economy to the point that African slaves became a dominant commodity. Did you know this?

Do you think Christopher Columbus deserves to have a holiday named after him?