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Why should Columbus Day be Celebrated article
Monuments honoring Christopher Columbus are being vandalized and destroyed. This year’s Columbus Day will spark debate over celebrating the explorer. However, looking at Columbus in the big picture of history proves today’s anger with him is misguided.

First, let’s consider the explorer's role in spreading European disease, mainly smallpox. Estimates say smallpox killed 70 to 80 percent of Native Americans. These deaths happened over many decades. Holding Columbus responsible does not make sense. Also, calculating an actual number of deaths is impossible. Population estimates at that time are not reliable. In Hispaniola, the island of the countries Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the estimated population ranges from 250,000 people to 3 million.

Diseases Occur When Civilizations Mix
It’s also worth remembering other widely-spread diseases. The Black Death started in Central Asia. It killed 40 percent or more of the European population. That was roughly 50 million people between 1346 and 1353. When civilizations advance, they often cross paths. Disease is a negative result.

Furthermore, the exchange of disease worked both ways. Most historians believe the Great Pox that killed 5 million in Renaissance Europe came from the Americas.

Next, think about the early civilizations of the Americas. These societies mistreated and enslaved certain people as well. War, slavery and human sacrifice happened before Columbus arrived in 1492.

The world has made progress. Still, recent wars and violence show humans are prone to the same deadly instincts.

Columbus' Positive Traits
Columbus was a fearless explorer, a man of faith and a leader who blazed a path to the modern world.

He holds a special place in the minds of Italian-Americans and Hispanic-Americans. They celebrate Columbus Day with parades and statues.

Parks, playgrounds, streets, squares and schools throughout the U. S. use Columbus' name.

We must examine the accomplishments of Columbus. We have to look at these accomplishments while remembering the times in which he lived. Doing so shows there’s no reason to destroy, vandalize or remove his monuments — or erase him from history.

Silvio Laccetti is a retired professor of social sciences at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.
A
Columbus brought many diseases to the Americas, but they did not harm people as much as violence.
B
Columbus brought the Black Death from Central Asia to Europe, and then brought it to the Americas.
C
Columbus brought several diseases to the Americas, and they were the cause of millions of deaths.
D
Columbus brought some diseases from Europe to the Americas, but he also brought new diseases back.