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The Columbus Day celebrates the rational core of the Western civilization
By Thomas Bowden
Posted: October 29, 2007
On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered the New World, opening a sea route to vast
uncharted territories that awaited the spread of Western civilization. Centuries later, the ensuing cultural
migration culminated in the birth and explosive growth of the greatest nation in history: the United States of
America.
It is fitting that we have set aside a day to honor the Great Explorer. On one level, Columbus Day honors the
man himself for his many virtues. Columbus was a man of independent mind, who steadfastly pursued his
bold plan for a westward voyage to the Indies despite powerful opposition -- a man of courage, who set sail
upon a trackless ocean with no assurance that he would ever reach land -- a man of pride, who sought
recognition and reward for his achievements.
We need not evade or excuse Columbus’s flaws -- his religious zealotry, his enslavement and oppression of
natives -- to recognize that he made history by finding new territory for a civilization that would soon show
mankind how to overcome the age-old scourges of slavery, war, and forced religious conversion.
Thus, the deeper meaning of Columbus Day is to celebrate the rational core of Western civilization, which
flourished in the New World like a pot-bound plant liberated from its confining shell, demonstrating to the
world what greatness is possible to man at his best.
On Columbus Day, we celebrate the civilization whose philosophers and mathematicians, men such as
Aristotle, Archimedes, and Euclid, displaced otherworldly mysticism by discovering the laws of logic and
mathematical relationships, demonstrating to mankind that reality is a single realm accessible to human
understanding.
On Columbus Day, we celebrate the civilization whose scientists, men such as Galileo, Newton, Darwin, and
Einstein, banished primitive superstitions by discovering natural laws through the scientific method,
demonstrating to mankind that the universe is both knowable and predictable.
On Columbus Day, we celebrate the civilization whose political geniuses, men such as John Locke and the
Founding Fathers, defined the principles by which bloody tribal warfare, religious strife, and, ultimately, slavery
could be eradicated by constitutional republics devoted to protecting life, liberty, property, and the selfish
pursuit of individual happiness.
On Columbus Day, we celebrate the civilization whose entrepreneurs, men such as Rockefeller, Ford, and
Gates, transformed an inhospitable wilderness populated by frightened savages into a wealthy nation of self-
confident producers served by highways, power plants, computers, and thousands of other life-enhancing
products.
On Columbus Day, in sum, we celebrate Western civilization as history’s greatest cultural achievement. What
better reason could there be for a holiday?
### ### ###
Thomas Bowden is an analyst focusing on legal issues at the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, Calif., and the
author of The Enemies of Christopher Columbus.
By Thomas Bowden
Posted: October 29, 2007
On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered the New World, opening a sea route to vast
uncharted territories that awaited the spread of Western civilization. Centuries later, the ensuing cultural
migration culminated in the birth and explosive growth of the greatest nation in history: the United States of
America.
It is fitting that we have set aside a day to honor the Great Explorer. On one level, Columbus Day honors the
man himself for his many virtues. Columbus was a man of independent mind, who steadfastly pursued his
bold plan for a westward voyage to the Indies despite powerful opposition -- a man of courage, who set sail
upon a trackless ocean with no assurance that he would ever reach land -- a man of pride, who sought
recognition and reward for his achievements.
We need not evade or excuse Columbus’s flaws -- his religious zealotry, his enslavement and oppression of
natives -- to recognize that he made history by finding new territory for a civilization that would soon show
mankind how to overcome the age-old scourges of slavery, war, and forced religious conversion.
Thus, the deeper meaning of Columbus Day is to celebrate the rational core of Western civilization, which
flourished in the New World like a pot-bound plant liberated from its confining shell, demonstrating to the
world what greatness is possible to man at his best.
On Columbus Day, we celebrate the civilization whose philosophers and mathematicians, men such as
Aristotle, Archimedes, and Euclid, displaced otherworldly mysticism by discovering the laws of logic and
mathematical relationships, demonstrating to mankind that reality is a single realm accessible to human
understanding.
On Columbus Day, we celebrate the civilization whose scientists, men such as Galileo, Newton, Darwin, and
Einstein, banished primitive superstitions by discovering natural laws through the scientific method,
demonstrating to mankind that the universe is both knowable and predictable.
On Columbus Day, we celebrate the civilization whose political geniuses, men such as John Locke and the
Founding Fathers, defined the principles by which bloody tribal warfare, religious strife, and, ultimately, slavery
could be eradicated by constitutional republics devoted to protecting life, liberty, property, and the selfish
pursuit of individual happiness.
On Columbus Day, we celebrate the civilization whose entrepreneurs, men such as Rockefeller, Ford, and
Gates, transformed an inhospitable wilderness populated by frightened savages into a wealthy nation of self-
confident producers served by highways, power plants, computers, and thousands of other life-enhancing
products.
On Columbus Day, in sum, we celebrate Western civilization as history’s greatest cultural achievement. What
better reason could there be for a holiday?
### ### ###
Thomas Bowden is an analyst focusing on legal issues at the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine, Calif., and the
author of The Enemies of Christopher Columbus.
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