Columbus Day Worksheets

Christopher Columbus had one goal when he and his 90-man crew boarded the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria in 1492 and sailed away: find a faster way to reach Asia. Columbus was hopeful that he could find a new trade route so that it would be easier to transport Asian spices. On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus believed that he'd done just that, but he was mistaken. He and his men arrived on what is now known as the Caribbean Islands. Columbus, had, instead, discovered the Americas. Columbus Day is a day in which we remember that discovery. President Franklin D. Roosevelt first proclaimed that October 12 be known as Columbus Day in 1937. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the second Monday in October a federal holiday in honor of Christopher Columbus.