Columbus was a man trying to get rich who led an expedition to help do that. He was a leader and somewhat daring but also ruthless and avaricious. His expedition led to the discovery of the Americas and the destruction to a large extent of the native population.
He was both a brutal man and a God fearing one, a product of his times. We celebrated him with a holiday since his trip led to our existence, indirectly since he never came to North America. The holiday treated him as an explorer, which he sort of was but he was much more of an entrepreneur trying to get rich.
Many of the people who helped create this country are going to have flaws. Greed, ownership of slaves, brutality and cruelty to name a few. Does it diminish their accomplishments? Not really but it may diminish their hero status.
What they were was people. People are imperfect but despite that they can accomplish great things. Consider U.S.Grant. He was ruthless and determined and while he did help us win the Civil War and reunite the nation, he did it with some disregard for the deaths involved. The winning of the war has long overshadowed the deaths but there is no real doubt that his tactics led to deaths.
Celebrate the accomplishment but realize we are humans, men and women who have faults.
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