Many people credit Christopher Columbus for the discovery of the Americas. Historians know this statement to be untrue at the most basic level because Columbus himself never purported to have set foot on North America, but even on the level of “discovery” of the “New World” Columbus gets more credit than he deserves.
Prior to Columbus’s voyage in in 1492, Leif Erikson of Norway sailed to Newfoundland Canada in 998 (1). Leif, a Viking, actually even established settlements in Canada until he and his followers were forced out of the area by the natives (1). In addition, records from the kingdom of Mali assert that king Abubakari II ventured across the Atlantic with 2000 ships in 1311 after a previous party had made contact with the “New World” (2).
What is most interesting about the Viking and Mali crossings is that Christopher Columbus himself was aware of what he thought were myths at the time. Columbus visited Norway in 1477 where he claims to have heard stories about the settlement of the new world, and on his voyages themselves he encountered Africans already living in the “New World” (3)(2).
While the Vikings and some Mali (or other Africans not recorded in history) inhabitants actually made contact and existed in the “New world” other nameless people also must have crossed the seas to reach the Americas. Chicken bones (non-native to the Americas) dated to before 1424 were found in Chili, Peruvian mummies were found embalmed with Araucaria conifer (nonnative to the Americas), and a roman-style carved head found in Mexico all confirm that the area was at least visited by nonnatives (4)(5)(6).
These discoveries do not undercut Columbus’s significance in world history. He was the first person to establish long and meaningful connection with the New World that would eventually tie Europe to the Americas, but it is a misconception that he was the first to “discover” America.
Other misconceptions associated with Columbus
Christopher Columbus wrote in Italian- All of his writing have been in Spanish or Portuguese. It is unknown if he could write or speak Italian even though he was born in Italy.
Columbus’s peers thought the earth was flat- Academics since the year 240 BC assumed the earth was round. Only the uneducated or those intimidated by the church assumed the earth was flat. (8)
Leif Erikson wore a hat with horns- Vikings did not wear horned helmets. Horned helmets originated from the screenplay “Ring des Nibelungen.” (7)
(1) http://voices.yahoo.com/leif-erikson-real-european-discoverer-america-37099.html
(2) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1068950.stm
(3) Short, 2010, pp. 203–206
(4) Storey et al., p. 10335
(5) From the University of York Magazine, page 9, April/May 2008
(6) http://www.unm.edu/~rhristov/calixtlahuaca.html
(7) http://www.scribd.com/doc/51267328/Frank-Invention-of-Horned-Helmet
(8) http://www.enotes.com/eratosthenes-cyrene-64319-reference/eratosthenes-cyrene
In response to why Columbus didn’t tell about the predicessors living there.
(from the BBC Article)
Columbus mentions seeing Aficans already living in the New World. He probably did tell people about that (that’s how we know he saw them), but the people of Europe probabally though lowly of the African Nations. In addition ,the Europeans would have been unable to identify the actual person who first stepped foot on the new world from Africa becuse the ones who made the discovery were likely dead by the time columbus got there. He most likely saw their grandchilderen. We can identify a person because we have access to more extensive records than the people in Columbus’s time did.
I love the story of Christopher Columbus. There are few individuals in the history of the world who have received more undue credit than he has. Yet, although we all know these “facts” to be false, we still celebrate him here in America and he is globally famous. I do certainly agree with you (as well as the evidence provided) that Columbus certainly didn’t “discover” America. However, I find it rather confusing as to why he would decide not to tell Europeans about the predecessors he encountered. Maybe he did so to make Europeans think he did truly discover an unknown land mass. But at the same time, wouldn’t he have had more success recruiting people to the “New World” if he had told them that others had already been living there? I suppose it’s the ultimate battle between desire for fame and humility.
In addition, I also feel that we credit Columbus because in all honesty we don’t truly desire to learn about other ancient civilizations, including the Vikings and the natives. In this way, it is easier for Europeans to admire one of their own rather than unearthing an entirely new history. Also, to Columbus’s credit, without his voyage it is possible that Europe may have failed to discover the New World for many years to come. In this case I believe he deserves credit for connecting Europe to the New World although he certainly wasn’t the first to discover the New World. Without Columbus the New World could be shaped incredibly different than it is today. For all we know Native Americans could still be in power!
On a final note, I just want to say that you will never be able to convince me that Vikings didn’t wear horned helmets. This will always be true in my mind.
Mike I can tell I’m really going to enjoy your blogs. While I’ve fallen victim to this misconception in the past, I wasn’t aware how truly conditioned we’ve been made to see not just Christopher Columbus, but a lot of important historical figures. We’ve been taught to view them as these superheroes that did no wrong and were absolutely correct in everything they did, when in reality most of their accomplishments have been played up and most of their faults have been played down over time. The main question I have is why we are continuing to teach these misconceptions to our children… Anyhow, you are clearly well versed in history, or at least I think you are given your speech and this blog post and I’m excited to see what you reveal to me in the next post. I’m really looking forward to you uncovering even grander misconceptions in the future!
This is a really interesting post! I have always found it fascinating that Columbus always gets all the credit for “discovering” the Americas, even when evidence has been found that other civilizations came there before him. I didn’t know that some African societies had visited North America. I think it’s funny how history can overemphasize some things and totally brush over others.
P.S. Isn’t it silly that one movie can perpetuate a commonly held belief about history? I always thought that was funny.
Hi Mike,
A great start to an interesting blog. Technically what I would like to see you use is more APA citation style over footnoting since that is what we will be using. So when citing information, try using that style now.