Columbus Day started American exceptionalism

I thought Columbus Day was October 12.   It’s hard to understand why we celebrate it on October 10.   And, if we celebrate it,  how do we celebrate it?   The bigger question is – – should we celebate it at all?

There was a time in this country – – vaguely remembered – when we celebrated Columbus Day as kind of a mini Fourth of July.  When we celebrated the day as the founding of America.  It was the day we began the process of making the country known as the United States of America.   It was the beginning of the idea and the concept of American Exceptionalism.   It was the day we explored the reasons America had become the “shining light on the hill.”

For several decades now, that concept of Columbus Day has been torn apart as America (the United States) has become more aware of its past and generally more aware of its sins.

Some cities today are celebrating Native American Day as a way to gain recognition for the way Indians had been treated.   Other cities are still planning a celebration of the Italian navigator, who with three Spanish ships, changed the outcome of the world.  For most Americans, Columbus Day is just another one of those nothing holidays  – like LaborDay – – which just gives them another paid day off.

As the idea and the concept of American Exceptionalism fades from the concience of Americans – Columbus Day will continue to fade.  As America gradually becomes part of the greater world community, the ideas of this country’s founding will also gradually fade away as well.