Columbus Day

There has been a lot of talk this week about Columbus Day, whether we should have a public holiday and celebrate it, or denounce Columbus for being a greedy, exploiting adventurer.
So, one wonders what probable reality would exist for the American Indians if Columbus never sailed to America or if the USA never gained independence in 1776. The 1833 Abolition of Slavery Act in England would certainly have saved some African natives from being shipped over and killed, and perhaps a number of native Americans would have survived.
I sometimes wonder why we celebrate Columbus Day when it was the Vikings who discovered America. The story of the Viking exploration is contained in sagas passed down from one generation to another. Modern archeological evidence has substantiated much of the saga.
Even though the British have a lot to do with what is now the USA, the one thing that the British tried to do was separate themselves from the natives--it was a snobbish thing that actually left many cultures intact, apart from spreading diseases. The Spanish however, slashed their way through South America leaving very little intact.
What is also not commonly known about the British and their empire is that it did not really set out to become one--it set out to trade. Along the way the French tried to rought the British at every port or country, so it ended up sending in troops and taking control.
Certain countries like America were exceptions because individual groups set out to separate themselves from oppression, but trade eventually took over.
There is one thing I do know, and that is I’d much prefer to live in America than Britain these days, the chaos that exists in the UK is alarming.