Columbus Day: Biggest Misconceptions and Exploring the Era of First Contact Andrew Howley - National Geographic
go to original October 14, 2013

Famed painter and illustrator N.C. Wyeth created a series of murals in 1927 for National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., including this one showing the ships of Christopher Columbus's voyage of discovery. (NGS)

Christopher Columbus’s landfall in the Western Hemisphere on October 12, 1492, is commemorated throughout the Americas and elsewhere with various emphases, including celebrations of exploration, history, cultural heritage, cultural diversity, and more. It has also been seen as a dark day marking the beginning of centuries of violence, disease, and oppression for the people who already dwelt on these shores.

It is of course all of these things. There were good and bad aspects of all groups and populations involved in the history that began on that day. One thing is certain though: It was going to happen sooner or later. With only so much land on Earth, eventually the branches of the human family that had been growing separately on two hemispheres were bound to meet again. When they did, there would be conflict, disease, and misunderstanding, as well as trade, cultural exchange, inspiration, and the sheer thrill of discovery.

As things turned out, that moment of reunion began in earnest on October 12, 1492. To explore this pivotal moment in the story of our species, read the interview with author Tony Horwitz at National Geographic.

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