Today is Colon Day, in which we supposedly recognize history’s most famous colon, Cristobal Colon.
That’s the Spanish name for Christopher Columbus, but the one I find most representative of the historical figure. (Because true to the name, he was an asshole.)
Details about the legacy of his assholery – that is, Colon-ization – are well-documented and readily available, so they will not be discussed here.
Instead, I want to use this opportunity to highlight somebody that we could be honoring instead.
This idea was inspired by Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal who highlighted Bartolome de las Casas last year.
This year, I wanted to highlight something else. Because, let’s face it, most things are more deserving of honor than Mr. Colon.
This one is dedicated to Italian Americans, a group that is particularly attached to Columbus Day. And honestly, I’m sympathetic. There is a lot of cause for Italian Pride, and Italian Americans deserve a better symbol for it.
While he was Italian by heritage, Mr. Colon did not speak Italian and made his accomplishments on behalf of the Spanish Crown. And he was an asshole.
But if you’re looking for a true symbol of Italian pride, a man who embodied grit and perseverance, who sailed the world and accomplished remarkable feats, all on behalf of the Italian people, I have just the man. He also happens to be a war hero and a remarkably forward-thinking and self-made man, who advocated for Democracy and universal suffrage, a liberator, an opponent of slavery, and a true man of the people.
Ladies and Gentlemen, today I am honoring Giuseppe Garibaldi – the hero of Italy.
It’s difficult to summarize the life of Garibaldi, and to do so with the sweeping epic scope that he earns. An ardent, revolutionary republican, Garibaldi crossed the Atlantic and helped lead a revolution against the Empire of Brazil in the Ragamuffin War. There he met his future wife Anita, a Brazilian who fought alongside him as a comrade-in-arms (and later died on campaign in Italy). When the Republic fell in the Ragamuffin War, Garibaldi fled to Uruguay, and fought for the liberal Colorados and successfully defended Montevideo against the Argentina-backed Blancos in the Uruguayan Civil War. For any man, that would be plenty; for Garibaldi, it was only the beginning.
In 1848, the Italian Revolution was sparked in Palermo, and Garibaldi eagerly returned to his homeland to begin the project that would consume most of his life: the Liberation and Unification of Italy.
For over a thousand years, Italy was broken up into several domains, and was consumed by struggle between the wealthy city-states and the dominant military powers – especially the Austrians. Garibaldi aided the liberally-inclined Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, in the hopes that he would create an Italian nation. But Austria, in a late alliance with the new French Republic under Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, managed to quash the First War of Italian Independence, and forced the King of Piedmont-Sardinia to resign in favor of his son, Victor Emmanuel.
Garibaldi did not give up. He moved to Tangier, Morocco, where a wealthy Italian merchant gave a merchant ship and moved to America.
He arrived in New York City, and stayed on Staten Island, where he was hosted and employed and by the Italian inventor Antonio Meucci, at a candle factory. His meeting with local Italian Americans in the masonic lodges of New York invigorated his commitment to democratic internationalism.
After making a little money at the candle factory, he embarked on a trade expedition to Central America with is friend Carpanetto. In Lima, he met revolutionary and partner of Simon Bolivar, Manuela Saenz. There, he commanded a ship and sailed on numerous trading voyages, in Canton, Xiamen, and Manila. He returned to New York, and sailed to England, where he was received as a celebrity.
After five years of exile he returned to Italy. In 1859, he fought on behalf of Piedmont-Sardinia, and defeated the Austrians once again with his volunteers. Under his leadership, Piedmont Sardinia took the prize of Lombardy from the Austrians.
Within months, an uprising in Sicily gave him an opportunity; he raised an army of volunteers known as “The Thousand” and spearheaded a defeat of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In two years, Garibaldi took a kingdom in one small corner of Northern Italy, and he made a kingdom that unified nearly all of Italy, North to South with Sardinia. He met the Victor Emmanuel II at Teano, and proclaimed him the King of Italy – setting aside his dream of a Republic, in the hopes that Italy might be made whole.
His campaign might have ended there. But he was not content.
Latium, headed by the Papal States in Rome, and Venetia, under Austrian control, were still beyond the grasp of the newly bestowed Kingdom of Italy. Garibaldi, now regarded as an international hero, was offered a post to lead the Union Army by Abraham Lincoln, which he politely declined citing “other projects”. He was preparing to take on the Pope himself.
As he prepared an army march on Rome he was met to his dismay by an opposing force commanded by the Kingdom of Italy, who started firing at him. He commanded his troops not to return fire; he was wounded in the engagement. While he was held in honorable imprisonment, he was informed of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. He wrote an enthusiastic message, sharing his admiration for the United States and Lincoln in particular:
“Posterity will call you the great emancipator, a more enviable title than any crown could be, and greater than any merely mundane treasure. You are a true heir of the teaching given us by Christ and by John Brown. If an entire race of human beings, subjugated into slavery by human egoism, has been restored to human dignity, to civilization and human love, this is by your doing and at the price of the most noble lives in America. It is America, the same country which taught liberty to our forefathers, which now opens another solemn epoch of human progress. And while your tremendous courage astonishes the world, we are sadly reminded how this old Europe, which also can boast a great cause of liberty to fight for, has not found the mind or heart to equal you.”
When he was released, he returned to capture Venetia from the Austrians – this time, with the full support of Italy. He defeated the Austrians once again, and with the Austrians detained in the Austro-Prussian War, he was able to push Austria out and capture northwest Italy.
Soon he marched again for Rome, but he was outmatched as the Papal States were supported by the French. As the Franco-Prussian War broke out, it gave Italy the chance to annex the Papal States once and for all. All of Italy was united, and of the men responsible for it, Giuseppe Garibaldi was by far the most dazzling and accomplished.
He took on one last military post, commanding troops for the Third French Republic after the collapse of their empire. Whatever enmity he had toward the French, he was always firm in his belief in Republicanism. In his late years he continued to support liberal causes; he founded the League of Democracy, advocating for universal suffrage, emancipation of women, and the abolition of ecclesiastical property. He supported the creation of a European Federation as early as 1865. When he died at 74, he sought only to have a simple cremation – a wish that was dismissed.
In short, there are few men who are worthier of praise, and more deserving of being a symbol for the Italian people. Garibaldi didn’t just identify as an Italian; he dedicated his life to the idea of Italy.
He was a man who made his start as a revolutionary in the New World; who sailed to New York to begin anew; who travelled the world; and who admired the United States and praised Lincoln for Emancipation. What proud Italian American couldn’t look up to a man like that?
Here’s to Giuseppe Garibaldi, a man who deserves the honor of this day far more than Mr. Colon.