As we reach the beginning of October, America will soon take another year to remember Columbus Day. For the last few years, there has been much discussion on whether or not the country should continue to remember Columbus or change the holiday to honor some other various people. The answer is solely in the former; that while Columbus was not a perfect man by any means, he was a respectable man and his memory should continue to be honored in this country for generations to come.

Christopher Columbus was first commissioned by the Spanish crown to sail to the New World in 1492 by King Ferdinand II and Isabella I. He soon assembled a crew and began his journey to the New World, making landfall on the island of Hispaniola (modern-day Haiti and Dominican Republic) several months later. When he arrived at the island, he found that the island was already inhabited by a native tribe called the Tainos. After this encounter, the history begins to become complicated. Columbus had orders from the king and queen to treat the natives well and so he did at the beginning.