Class #34: Did Columbus Really Discover America?

Vocabulary

DIFFERENT KINDS OF BLADES

STONE

STONE BLADE

MASTODON

MASTODON TUSK

In 1492 Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue. That’s how the story was told to generations of Americans. Without a doubt Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492 and made three more trips to the New World including a visit to Cuba. His voyages paved the way for European Exploration and colonization, changing the course of world history. But did Columbus really discover America?

The answer is, most likely, no. It is believed that millions of people lived in the Americas before Columbus arrived. Ancestors of modern native Americans made their way from Asia to North America over a land bridge formed during the last Ice Age more than 12,000 years ago. In fact, Columbus probably wasn’t even the first European to land in the Americas. That honor likely goes to the Norse explorer Leif Eriksson, whose famous father Erik The Red founded Greenland.

Eriksson and his Viking crew made the North Atlantic crossing to Newfoundland in 1000 A.D. 492 years before Columbus made his trip. And he may not have been the only explorer to reach the shores of America before Columbus.

Some historians argue that the Chinese Admiral Zheng He sailed around the world some 70 years before Columbus, discovering America on the way. A recently discovered map shows the complete outlines of both North and South America, supporting this theory of early Chinese exploration. Other cultures claim to have explored America even earlier. When ancient Hebrews fled Israel after the Babylonian invasion of 600 B.C. some believe a group of them got all the way to America. And an ancient stone blade found near a mastodon tusk near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay suggested a discovery story going all the way back to 22,000 B.C. That’s when some archeologists believe the mysterious stone age people, known as the Solutreans, sailed from Europe to North America.

As time and research continue to *reveal* new evidence, we will surely learn more about the complicated truth behind the discovery of America. But no matter what, one thing seems safe to say: it wasn’t Cristopher Columbus. 

IN 1492

In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.

He sailed by night; he sailed by day;
He used the stars to find his way.

A compass also helped him know
How to find the way to go.

Ninety sailors were on board;
Some men worked while others snored.

Then the workers went to sleep;
And others watched the ocean deep.

Day after day they looked for land;
They dreamed of trees and rocks and sand.

October 12 their dream came true,
You never saw a happier crew!

"Indians!  Indians!"  Columbus cried;
His heart was filled with joyful pride.

But "India" the land was not;
It was the Bahamas, and it was hot.

The Arakawa natives were very nice;
They gave the sailors food and spice.

Columbus sailed on to find some gold
To bring back home, as he'd been told.

He made the trip again and again,
Trading gold to bring to Spain.

The first American?  No, not quite.
But Columbus was brave, and he was bright.