Columbus Quincentenary
The Columbus Quincentenary was the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' 1492 arrival in America. Similar to Columbus Day, the annual celebration of Columbus' arrival, the quincentenary was viewed contentiously, as different cultures and peoples had different ways of understanding Columbus' role in history. Certain institutions sought to celebrate this anniversary in commemoration of Columbus' momentous colonial and imperial achievements. Spain's Universal Exposition of Seville was elaborately planned to highlight Columbus' work and the overall European Age of Discovery. Italy's International Exposition of Genoa was themed "Christopher Columbus, The Ship and the Sea." In 1984, the United States designated the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission to execute a commemoration in honor of Columbus. In total, over 20 countries, including several Latin American countries and Japan, had committees to plan quincentennial celebrations.
Alternatively, anti-celebration efforts emerged in the United States preceding the quincentenary. Indigenous Peoples' Day, a holiday honoring Native Americans and their presence in the Americas before 1492, gained traction in the United States leading up to the quincentenary and has since seen widespread adoption. This trend is also seen in Latin America regarding Columbus Day-like October 12 holidays.
The Columbus Quincentenary became a focal point for competing narratives on European exploration and indigenous rights abuses. Criticism of the celebration of the Columbus Quincentenary stems from the violent and oppressive treatment by European colonialists, including Columbus, towards indigenous peoples across the Americas. And thus, opposing efforts have focused on education surrounding the indigenous side of history. Following the quincentenary, new pedagogies prominently emerged that centered on listening to Native American perspectives on European colonization as well as thinking critically about the implications of Columbus' arrival in the Americas.
Background
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who led four trans-Atlantic voyages—1492, 1493, 1498, and 1502—from Spain. In his 1492 voyage, which was an attempt to find a direct ship route from Europe to Asia, Columbus stumbled across the Bahamas and became the first European explorer to find the Americas. By 1492, there were already millions of indigenous peoples inhabiting North and South America. For the Europeans, Columbus' arrival in the Americas began the Age of Discovery, where thousands of European-sponsored trans-Atlantic trips would be made to colonize the Americas and conduct trade.On October 12, 1892, the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed a national celebration of American heritage that would be known as Columbus Day. Columbus' achievements in terms of expanding the Western world have since been formally commemorated through Columbus Day, the annual U.S. holiday that takes place on October 12 or, since 1971, the second Monday in October. European and Latin American countries have their own holidays to remember Columbus on October 12. More recently, Columbus Day celebrations have sparked controversy over Columbus' treatment of indigenous peoples in the Americas and the subsequent implications of European colonization for native populations. This has led to the emergence of counter-commemorative holidays to replace or coincide with Columbus Day in several countries.
European celebration of Columbus
Universal Exposition of Seville
Between April 20 and October 12, 1992, Spain hosted an international exposition in Seville to celebrate Columbus' "discovery" of America. The final day of the celebration was intended to coincide with the Columbus Quincentenary. On La Cartuja island, next to the old city of Seville, a new city was built to represent the entire world. Attendees had the opportunity to navigate different parts of the globe staged within this city. This was intended to be commemorative of the idea that Columbus connected all parts of the world through his journeys overseas.As an overarching theme, the exposition sought to celebrate the encounter of different cultures through human discovery, and Spain's intention was to landmark Seville as the center of this progress. Spain wanted to remind the world that Columbus launched his journeys from Spain. The exposition itself was a display of Spanish-nationalist pride for what the country believed was among the greatest contributions to mankind: sponsoring Columbus to expand the Western world.
International Exposition of Genoa
Similar to Spain, Italy sought to commemorate the European arrival in the Americas through an international exposition. The fair was built on the ancient port of Genoa and lasted from May 15 to August 15, 1992. Less than one million attendees came to Genoa for the exposition, which was seen as a disappointment. The United States actively participated in the Genoa exposition along with dozens of other countries, and the U.S. pavilion was given its own location and seen as a "small jewel" of the fair. The elaborate display of U.S. involvement in the European Age of Discovery, which Italy sought to nationalize given the fact that Columbus was Italian, highlighted the strong relationship between the U.S. and Italy as well as the fact that both countries were proud of their involvement in the Columbus story.Other events
staged a special Concorde supersonic flight, dubbed Flight 1492, which circumnavigated the world in 32 hours and 49 minutes on 12–13 October 1992, starting and ending in Lisbon. This flight set a new world record for the fastest non-orbital circumnavigation of the Earth, a record which stood until Air France surpassed it with another special Concorde flight in 1995.North American celebration of Columbus
Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission
The Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission was established in 1984 under the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Act to execute a national commemoration of Columbus in 1992. The commission was to exist until 1993, and it operated on $2 million of seed money from the federal government and thousands of dollars from private donations and sponsorships. Despite its funding, the commission fell short on its expenses and could not conduct sufficient fundraising—in part due to the controversy surrounding the celebration of Columbus. In a 1987 report to Congress, the commission recognized that it would be more of a coordinator than a direct leader of the nationwide commemorative activities being planned for the quincentenary. Certain events, however, were directly organized by the commission, such as tour of Columbus replica ships—the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria—around 20 US cities.The Jubilee Commission also became a center for Columbus opposition. Leading up to 1992, several Native American groups stressed their opposition by planning protests for quincentenary celebrations being planned by the Jubilee Commission. Additionally, Dave Warren, a Native American serving as an honorary member on the commission, stepped down from his role in 1990.