By Jason Trennert
RealClearMarkets

There are no less than 60 cities, towns, and counties named after Christopher Columbus in the United States, not the least of which is our nation’s capital, the District of Columbia and, somewhat ironically, a current hotbed of anti-Western thought in America’s vaunted system of higher-education, Columbia University. 

Given the sacrifices made by the heirs to that first revolution to secure the human freedom here and abroad, it is little wonder that the very traits that defined Columbus as a man – ambition, fearlessness, a yearning for discovery and human progress – came to define a newly born and restless nation of dreamers and pioneers, the United States. 

The first recorded celebration of Columbus Day took place in October 1792 by the Columbian Order of New York, also known as Tammany Hall, to commemorate the 300^th anniversary of the Admiral’s historic voyage.  In time and eager to establish their bona fides as “true Americans,” the Irish, under the auspices of the Knights of Columbus, and the Italians, under the leadership of Generoso Pope, successfully lobbied Franklin Roosevelt to proclaim October 12^th Columbus Day in the United States, inviting all Americans to observe its significance “with appropriate ceremonies that express public sentiment benefitting the anniversary of the discovery of America.”

Columbus Day became officially recognized as a Federal holiday to be celebrated on the second Monday in October in 1971.  Sadly, it has become fashionable in recent years among a bloated academic class, the grievance industry, and a media that revels in controversy, to “deconstruct” history in an effort to characterize Columbus, and to a certain extent Western Civilization itself, as imperialistic and racist.  To the extent to which such criticisms would not be possible without the very values that rendered the West and Christianity unique at the time of Columbus’ voyage – a belief in natural rights, equality, and the human dignity of every individual regardless of station – it is also supremely ironic.        

This is not to doubt that Columbus the man is more complex than Columbus as a symbol of discovery and progress.  By all accounts, the Genoese explorer simultaneously sought the riches of previously undiscovered lands for the West, the glory that such a discovery would convey upon him, and also a desire to spread the Gospel of Christianity.  We need not avert our eyes from Columbus’ complicated legacy, but nor should we discount, as Americans, his oceanic achievements in the development of the modern world.  It is also important to remember that any fair and studied assessment of the native peoples in the Americas reveals that they were, like all human beings, no strangers to the concepts of war, violence, or human servitude long before Columbus’ arrival in the New World.

Given the respect and awe our forebears had for the man who came to symbolize the very essence of a proud nation who has contributed so much to human progress and the pursuit of freedom, it would be a shame if Americans today failed to celebrate a man that was so pivotal to the birth and development of the United States.  There is no greater despair for a proud people than to deny them their heroes.  This is especially true for the roughly 16 million people in America who currently identify themselves as Italian Americans.

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Jason De Sena Trennert is chairman and chief executive officer of Strategas Research Partners.