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Christopher Columbus

Did anyone really 'discover' what is known today as the 'Americas'? Many point towards Christopher Columbus, who despite all odds, led three ships across the mighty oceans. However when Christopher landed at Cuba he found inhabitants, so it was more of a finding rather than a new discovery.

1451 Born in Genoa, the son of a wool merchant and weaver.
1476 Swims ashore when his ship is sunk in a battle off Portugal.
1476 Joins his brother Bartholomew, a cartographer, in Lisbon.
1477-1482 Makes merchant voyages as far as Iceland and Guinea.
1484 Conceives of "The Enterprise of the Indies." Fails to convince King John of Portugal to back the plan.
1485 Moves to Spain.
1492/1/2 Ferdinand & Isabela capture Granada, the last Moorish city in Spain.
1492/8/3 Departs from Palos, Spain (near Huelva)
1492/9/6 Departs Gomera (Canary Islands) after repair and refit.
1492/10/12 New world sighted at 2:00 a.m. by Rodrigo de Triana, somewhere in the Bahamas.
1492/10/29 Arrives at Cuba.
1492/11/22 Martín Alonso Pinzón, captain of the Pinta, deserts the expedition off Cuba.
1492/12/5 Columbus arrives at Hispaniola.

Ref. https://www1.minn.net/~keithp/

Columbus Christopher

This is a particularly interesting topic, since so many people object to the word, "discover" when applied to Columbus.

Yes, it is obvious that some Norse ships visited the New World, and probably even took word of it back to their country.

There is evidence to suggest that the Templars may have known of the New World, and may even have established a small base here.

Of course, there were already people here of various types, with some obviously having mixed far northeaster asian ties.

However, Columbus' journeys undeniably "discovered" the New World as far as the Old World was concerned. Only Columbus' voyage, along with the reports back to Europe, changed the whole flow of world history. If the Norsemen knew about the Americas, it apparently didn't have any real effect on their society, nor did they spread knowledge about it to other nations. But the whole social, economic, and religious structure of Europe was changed by Columbus' work, and eventually the whole world was changed as well.

By the same logic, nobody "discovered" Australia, Hawaii, or New Zealand. Nobody "discovered" Easter Island. After all, there is undeniable evidence that all had inhabitants at various times. However, they were "covered" by the ignorance of the whole world. Nobody, except for the people actually living there, knew that they existed. There was no commerce or communication with the rest of the world. So, the explorers who found them really did "discover" them, as they pulled back the cover of ignorance, presenting their existence to the rest of the world.

Edited: Nighthawk on 17th Oct, 2004 - 2:24pm

Christopher Columbus History & Civil Business Politics

Nighthawk, you forgot to mention the Phoenicians...

https://phoenicia.org/carthanewworld.html




Dubhdara.

Columbus Christopher

I totally agree!

When I was little, I was told that Columbus discovered America, and I had such a hard time grasping that concept. When I heard America, I thought of the country, with New York and Washington, and towers and hot dogs. Now, how could a single man discover that?