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Columbus Day (Worksheets and Listening)

https://www.liveworksheets.com/worksheets/en/English_as_a_Second_Language_(ESL)/Holidays_and_celebrations/Columbus_Day_cn25274vm Worksheets

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A Proclamation on Columbus Day, 2021

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/10/08/a-proclamation-on-columbus-day-2021/

• Presidential Actions

More than 500 years ago, after securing the support of Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II, Christopher Columbus launched the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria from the coast of Spain in 1492.  While he intended to end his quest in Asia, his 10-week journey instead landed him on the shores of the Bahamas, making Columbus the first of many Italian explorers to arrive in what would later become known as the Americas. 

Many Italians would follow his path in the centuries to come, risking poverty, starvation, and death in pursuit of a better life.  Today, millions of Italian Americans continue to enrich our country’s traditions and culture and make lasting contributions to our Nation — they are educators, health care workers, scientists, first responders, military service members, and public servants, among so many other vital roles.

Today, we also acknowledge the painful history of wrongs and atrocities that many European explorers inflicted on Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities.  It is a measure of our greatness as a Nation that we do not seek to bury these shameful episodes of our past — that we face them honestly, we bring them to the light, and we do all we can to address them.  For Native Americans, western exploration ushered in a wave of devastation:  violence perpetrated against Native communities, displacement and theft of Tribal homelands, the introduction and spread of disease, and more.  On this day, we recognize this painful past and recommit ourselves to investing in Native communities, upholding our solemn and sacred commitments to Tribal sovereignty, and pursuing a brighter future centered on dignity, respect, justice, and opportunity for all people.

In commemoration of Christopher Columbus’s historic voyage 529 years ago, the Congress, by joint resolution of April 30, 1934, and modified in 1968 (36 U.S.C. 107), as amended, has requested the President proclaim the second Monday of October of each year as “Columbus Day.”  Today, let this day be one of reflection — on America’s spirit of exploration, on the courage and contributions of Italian Americans throughout the generations, on the dignity and resilience of Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities, and on the work that remains ahead of us to fulfill the promise of our Nation for all. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim October 11, 2021, as Columbus Day.  I direct that the flag of the United States be displayed on all public buildings on the appointed day in honor of our diverse history and all who have contributed to shaping this Nation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-sixth.
                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR. 

 

Columbus Day is rooted in genocide and racism. A celebration of Columbus day is at the very least, complacency in a racist system and a false history being celebrated. But more so, Columbus Day is a celebration of the brutal genocide of hundreds of beautiful cultures, and millions of Indigenous people. It is a celebration of the continued hundreds of years of oppression since the United States was formed. It is a celebration of injustice and inequity. It is not a celebration that I could even contemplate taking part in.

I celebrate Indigenous people. I celebrate the resilience and beauty of Indigenous people and I commit to being an ally in breaking down this system and helping to create a system that is equitable and just. I commit to listening, to learning, to loving, to abandoning false history... and to making way for a society that truly respects and honors all Indigenous people of the world.

 

Columbus Day 2021: Meaning and why it is a federal holiday

 

Many government offices, banks and private businesses will be shut.

The second Monday in October marks Columbus Day in the United States of America, which this year is commemorated on Monday, October 11. This celebrates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the so-called New World on October 12, 1492.

Typically, Columbus Day brings a day of festivities in New York City, Denver, Alabama and many other cities across the USA, and these parades have taken place for over 500 years, ever since Columbus' fleet of three ships docked in the New World.

This saw the end of a voyage that began 10 weeks earlier in Palos, Spain, although he was not the first European explorer to successfully cross the Atlantic.

As a US Embassy website notes, Viking sailors are thought to have established "a short-lived settlement" in Newfoundland, Canada at some point in the 11th century, while scholars have also said there are other possible pre-Columbian dockings.

The first recorded celebration of Columbus Day in the USA was on October 12, 1792, which was the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landing, and it was organised by the Society of St Tammany, also known as the Columbian Order.

Why is Columbus Day a federal holiday?

This saw the end of a voyage that began 10 weeks earlier in Palos, Spain, although he was not the first European explorer to successfully cross the Atlantic.

As a US Embassy website notes, Viking sailors are thought to have established "a short-lived settlement" in Newfoundland, Canada at some point in the 11th century, while scholars have also said there are other possible pre-Columbian dockings.

The first recorded celebration of Columbus Day in the USA was on October 12, 1792, which was the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landing, and it was organised by the Society of St Tammany, also known as the Columbian Order.

Why is Columbus Day a federal holiday?

As a federal holiday, many government offices, banks and some private businesses will close on Columbus Day. Schools typically stay open on Columbus Day but the celebrations differ state by state. In Massachusetts, for instance, schools will close, while in California, Columbus Day is not viewed as being a school holiday.

Columbus Day was proclaimed a national holiday in the USA by then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937. Originally it was celebrated every October 12, but it was changed to the second Monday in October from 1971 as a result of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/us-news/2021/10/11/61644f9d22601df65f8b4632.html