Columbus Day Poll: Hero or Villain?

A new Columbus Day poll found we’re still more likely to say we SHOULD celebrate it.  43% of Americans approve, and 23% disapprove.  The other third said they either don’t know, or don’t really care.

Here are a few more quick Columbus Day stats . . .

1.  69% agree he played an important part in American history.  It’s kind of hard to argue he didn’t.

2.  But we’re split on whether he was more of a “hero” or a “villain.”  The most popular answer was neither, or both . . . or it’s complicated.  But 35% said hero, and 20% said villain.

3.  Around one in four Americans think most of what they learned in school about Columbus wasn’t really true.

4.  25% still think he was the first explorer to reach North America.  The Vikings actually had a settlement in Canada almost five centuries earlier.

5.  This last one is fun:  People where asked who ELSE they think might have landed in the Americas before Columbus in 1492.  6% said the Ancient Greeks, and 5% said the Romans.  There’s no evidence either of them did.

YouGov conducted the poll, if you want to dive deeper.

In other Columbus Day news:  A new DNA study confirmed the remains buried in a cathedral in Spain really are his own.  It also found he was of Jewish heritage.

His body was moved several times after he died in 1506.  First from Spain to Hispaniola, which is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic.  Then to Cuba in 1795, and back to Spain in 1898.