Columbus was not a good person. He all but started the slave trade and the genocide of the Native Peoples.

[Botany]

“On his first day in the New World, he ordered six of the natives to be seized, writing in his journal that he believed they would be good servants. Throughout his years in the New World, Columbus enacted policies of forced labor in which natives were put to work for the sake of profits. Later, Columbus sent thousands of peaceful Taino “Indians” from the island of Hispaniola to Spain to be sold. Many died en route.”

“Those left behind were forced to search for gold in mines and work on plantations. Within 60 years after Columbus landed, only a few hundred of what may have been 250,000 Taino were left on their island.”

“As governor and viceroy of the Indies, Columbus imposed iron discipline on what is now the Caribbean country of the Dominican Republic, according to documents discovered by Spanish historians in 2005. In response to native unrest and revolt, Columbus ordered a brutal crackdown in which many natives were killed; in an attempt to deter further rebellion, Columbus ordered their dismembered bodies to be paraded through the streets.”

https://www.history.com/articles/columbus-day-controversy

[mwmisses4289]

1. He did this with the backing of the Spanish monarchy

and the catholic church. The basic goal was resources, in other words, make money for the European elite.
They began with papal bulls that became known as the doctrine of discovery. Wikipedia has a fascinating article about them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_doctrine

[Johnny2X2X]

2. This doesn't even begin to cover how evil these explorers were

In their own journals, in their own words, Columbus's men described the horrors they inflicted on the natives. They tortured people for fun. One incident describes how the natives had no concept of violence, so they cut one's ear off just to see how they'd react to it. They describe in detail how they took young girls to beat and rape.

Columbus and his men were animals. Pure evil.

[malaise]

3. Barbarians

posing as Christians

[AStern]

4. He wasn't Italian either

nt

[werdna]

5. Happy First Nation's Indigenous Peoples Day! n/t

[electric_blue68]

6. Which is why I Celebrate This instead.