The origins of Columbus Day: Here’s why Americans really started celebrating the holiday

The sudden change in population upset some Americans who feared change and harbored prejudices. Unlike previous waves of immigrants from Northern and Western Europe, many white Protestant Americans viewed the customs, languages, and religions of Southern and Eastern Europeans as too foreign. Some believed that these new immigrants would not blend into the nation. Discrimination led to intolerance in many communities, especially towards Italian immigrants from Sicily and southern Italy. In American media, newspaper articles and cartoons, they were vilified and often described as “swarthy”, unintelligent and criminal.

One tragic event caught the attention of both the American and Italian governments. On October 16, 1890, New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessey was assassinated. As he lay dying, he allegedly described his attackers using insults against Italians. In response, many Italian immigrants were arrested and 19 men, including one aged 14, were charged with crimes. However, they were acquitted in court.

Enraged by the lack of a conviction and encouraged by the local newspaper, on March 14, 1891, a mob stormed the prison to avenge Hennessey’s death. As a result of lynching, they brutally murdered 11 Italians. In response to the tragedy, Italy severed diplomatic relations with the United States, and American leaders sought to push back against the negative image of Italian immigrants that had sparked the violence.

Creating an “Italian” hero

A year later, the United States began a very public, national celebration called “Discoverer’s Day” to mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ landing. Newspapers published his reports in full-page spreads across the country, services were held in churches and synagogues, and public school students participated in patriotic marches. There were American symbols at the demonstrations – flags, Uncle Sam and red, white and blue banners.

Political leaders doubled down on Columbus’s image as a role model. As US Congressman Benjamin Franklin Meyers said Patriotic news: “If Christopher Columbus had been an American, native and born, his career could not have illustrated in a more singular manner the character of a man who had achieved greatness and honor by himself… his whole life is a lesson which may be studied by the youth of our country.” For the first time, Columbus was recognized as an immigrant and a Catholic, and potentially an American.