Who discovered 1. Who discovered America - Columbus or Vespucci? Which traveler discovered America first?

The continents known today as North and South America were discovered in prehistory. Before European explorers arrived in the Americas, tens of millions of indigenous people lived here. The lands of the Americas have been repeatedly "discovered" by peoples coming from different parts of the world over many generations, dating back to the Stone Age when a group of hunters first visited a land that was truly the unexplored New World.

It becomes curious why it is then believed that America was discovered by Christopher Columbus. In addition, other theories are widespread regarding who first discovered America: Irish monks (6th century), Vikings (10th century), sailors from China (15th century), etc.

The first settlers in America


Tribal Migration Route from Asia to North America

The first people to settle in America came there from Asia, probably about 15 thousand years ago. During the Pleistocene era, the melting ice sheets of the Laurentian and Cordilleran glaciers formed a narrow corridor and land bridge between Russia and Alaska. The land bridge between the west coast of Alaska and Siberia, known as the Bering Isthmus, opened due to falling ocean levels and connected the continents of Asia and North America.

Interesting fact: In place of the Bering Isthmus, the current Bering Strait was formed, separating Asia and North America. The strait was named after the Russian naval officer Vitus Bering, who crossed it in 1728.

The settlement of America by indigenous peoples

The ancient settlers of America - the Paleo-Indians - passed through the Bering Isthmus from Asia to America following the movement of large animals. These migrations occurred before the Laurentian and Cordilleran glaciers closed and closed the corridor. The settlement of America continued further by sea or by ice. After the ice plates melted and the Ice Age ended, the settlers who came to the Americas became isolated from other continents. Thus, the American continents were first discovered by nomadic Asian tribes about 15 thousand years ago, who initially settled North America, then spread to Central and South America and subsequently became the Native American peoples.

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6th century - Irish monks


According to legend, Irish monks reached North America in the 6th century

According to popular Irish legend, a group of Irish monks led by Saint Brendan sailed a shelter boat to the west in the 6th century in search of new lands. Seven years later, the monks returned home and reported that they had discovered a land covered with lush vegetation, which was modern Newfoundland.

There is no exact evidence confirming that Irish monks landed on the coast of North America. However, in 1976, British traveler Tim Severin tried to prove that such a journey was possible. Severinus built an exact replica of the monks' ship from the 6th century and set sail from Ireland to North America along the route described by the traveling monks. The explorer reached Canada.

10th century - Vikings


The Scandinavian navigator Leif Eriksson reached the shores of North America in the year 1000.

Around 984, the Scandinavian navigator Eric Krasus explored ancient sea routes and discovered Greenland. Leif Eriksson, son of Erik Kras, in 999, with a crew of 35 people on one ship, set off from Greenland to Norway. Soon Leif Eriksson is traveling through Atlantic Ocean reached North America, where around 1000 he founded a Norwegian settlement on the territory of the modern Canadian island of Newfoundland. The Vikings named the settlement "Vinland" (English: Vineland - "Grape Land") due to the abundance of grapes growing on this land. However, Erickson and his team did not stay long - only a few years - before returning to Greenland. Relations with native North Americans were hostile.

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Archaeological site “L'Anse aux Meadows” in Newfoundland (Canada): Viking settlement at the end of the 11th century

In the sagas, the Vikings who settled in America are referred to as the Native Americans "Skrelings". Most sagas come from Scandinavian folklore, but in 1960, the first European Viking settlement of the late 11th century, identical to settlements in the Scandinavian countries, was found in the northern tip of Newfoundland (Canada) by the Norwegian archaeologist Helge Ingstad. This historical and archaeological site is called "L'Anse aux Meadows" and is recognized by scientists as evidence of pre-Columbian transoceanic contacts.

15th century – sailors from China


Chinese explorer Zheng He's fleet included no less than 250 ships

British naval officer Gavin Menzies put forward the theory that the Chinese colonized South America. He claimed that Chinese explorer Zheng He, who commanded an armada of wooden sailing ships in the early 15th century, discovered America in 1421. Zheng He researched Southeast Asia, India and East Coast Africa using advanced navigation techniques.
Gavin Menzies, in 1421 - The Year China Discovered the World, wrote that Zheng He sailed to the east coast of the United States and may have established settlements in South America. Menzies based the theory on evidence from ancient shipwrecks, Chinese and European maps, and reports compiled by navigators of the time. However, this theory has been questioned.

Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

On August 3, 1492, the Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus, originally from Italian city Genoa, with the support of the Spanish rulers - King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella - with a fleet of 3 caravels (Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria) and 90 crew members sailed from the port of Palos (Spain). Sailors set off in search of a western route to Asia in order to acquire precious metals, pearls, silk, and spices. October 12, 1492 Christopher Columbus's team saw land and discovered the New World (America). In his personal notes, Columbus noted that he had found the “New World,” unknown to Europeans. The crew went ashore on the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas. Columbus assumed that the sailors reached the islands located near India. This is where the name of the islands comes from Caribbean Sea- "West Indies". Columbus called the local natives “Indians,” a name for the indigenous people of America that still survives today.

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Christopher Columbus' flagship "Santa Maria"

Christopher Columbus established a colony in America, which became the first European settlement in the New World. The Spanish navigator also opened southern trade, with the help of which they supplied sailing ships, transporting goods to the New World. After the first successful voyage (1492-1493), the Spanish monarchs awarded Columbus the rank of admiral.


The voyages of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus led four expeditions to America over the course of 1492-1504 Columbus died on May 20, 1506, still believing he had found new route to Asia and that the islands he explored were part of the Asian continent. By then, other explorers were following the sea route first discovered by the admiral, and Europeans were already talking about Columbus's discoveries as the "New World."

The lands were the most common: the founding of cities, the discovery of deposits of gold and wealth. In the 15th century, navigation was actively developing, and expeditions were set up in search of the unexplored continent. What was on the continent before the arrival of Europeans, when Columbus discovered America, and under what circumstances did this happen?

The story of the great discovery

By the 15th century European states were different high level development. Each country tried to expand its sphere of influence, searching for additional sources of profit to replenish the treasury. New colonies were formed.

Before the discovery, tribes lived on the continent. The natives were distinguished by their friendly character, which was favorable for the rapid development of the territory.

Christopher Columbus, while still a teenager, discovered the hobby of cartography. A Spanish navigator once learned from the astronomer and geographer Toscanelli that if you sail to westward, India can be reached much faster. It was 1470. And the idea came just in time, since Columbus was looking for another route that would allow him to reach India in short time. He assumed that it was necessary to build a route through the Canary Islands.

In 1475, the Spaniard organized an expedition, the purpose of which was to find a quick route by sea to India across the Atlantic Ocean. He reported this to the government with a request to support his idea, but received no help. The second time Columbus wrote to King João II of Portugal, however, he was also rejected. He then turned again to the Spanish government. Several commission meetings were held on this issue, which lasted for years. The final positive decision on financing was made after the victory of Spanish troops in the city of Granada, liberated from Arab occupation.

If a new route to India was discovered, Columbus was promised not only wealth, but also a noble title: Admiral of the Sea-Ocean and Viceroy of the lands he would discover. Since Spanish ships were prohibited from entering the waters for west coast Africa, then such a step was beneficial for the government in order to conclude a direct trade agreement with India.

In what year did Columbus discover America?

Officially, the year of the discovery of America in history is recognized as 1942. Having discovered undeveloped lands, Columbus did not imagine that he had discovered a continent that would be called the “New World”. In what year the Spaniards discovered America can be said tentatively, since a total of four campaigns were undertaken. Each time the navigator found new lands, believing that this was the territory of Western India.

Columbus began to think that he was following the wrong route after Vasco de Gama's expedition. The traveler arrived in India and returned in a short time with rich goods, accusing Christopher of deception.

Later it turned out that Columbus discovered the islands and continental part of the North and South America.

Which traveler discovered America earlier?

It is not entirely true to say that Columbus became the discoverer of America. Before this, the Scandinavians landed on the lands: in 1000 - Leif Eriksson and in 1008 - Thorfinn Karlsefni. This is evidenced by the historical records “The Saga of the Greenlanders” and “The Saga of Eric the Red”. There is other information about travel to the “New World”. Traveler Abu Bakr II, a resident of the Celestial Empire Zheng He and a nobleman from Scotland Henry Sinclair arrived from Mali to America.

There is historical evidence indicating that in the 10th century the New World was visited by the Normans after the discovery of Greenland. However, they were unable to develop the territories due to heavy weather conditions, unsuitable for Agriculture. In addition, the journey from Europe was very long.

Visits to the mainland by the navigator Amerigo Vespucci, after whom the continent was named.

Brought by a storm far to the west of Africa, they found a fertile, well-watered, wooded country. But these stories, as well as the remains of ancient American monuments, which, according to some, bear the imprint of Phoenician, Greek and Egyptian culture, do not provide sufficient reason to assume that the western continent was already discovered by ancient sailors. An indication that already in the 5th century. n. e. from China there could be a connection with America through Kamchatka and Aleutian Islands, was made back in 1761 by the author of the history of the Mongols, de Guine. He tried to prove that the Chinese knew America under the name Fuzang. The scientist Klaproth thinks that Japan was called Fuzang. Researcher Neumann argued that in those days Chinese sailors actually went to Fuzang and that the description of this country only fits Middle America.

The Normans were the first to open the route to America from Europe. Erich the Red-Haired moved from Iceland to Greenland in 982 and founded a colony on its western shore, which later had 2 cities, 16 churches, 2 monasteries and 100 settlements and was under the authority of a special bishop. On the way to these settlements, Bjarni Herjulfson (986) was carried aside by a storm and was the first to see the New World. Erich's son Leif discovered it in 1000. Helluland(stone ground), Markland(land of forests) and rich in grapes Vinland, which is believed to have been the present Labrador, a country near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and along Hudson Bay. This assumption is confirmed by the fact that rune stones of a Germanic character are found here. The discovery of such stones at almost 73° north latitude indicates how far the Greenlandic Normans penetrated. The colonies in Vinland, however, did not last long, partly due to internal strife, partly due to enmity with the Skrölingers, as the settlers called the Eskimo natives. Only from time to time did the Normans from Greenland visit Vinland and Markland, but in 1347 these visits stopped, and at the end of the 15th century. The once thriving Greenland colony completely died out due to frequent attacks by the Eskimos and due to the appearance of the Black Death. Two Venetians, brothers Antonio and Niccolò Zeni, brought news to Europe that an expedition had been undertaken between 1388 and 1404. Faroe Islands(Friesland), who explored some places along the northern coast of America. However, their stories, mixed with Greek fables, do not provide any reliable information. They say that Biscay fishermen also, long before Columbus, reached the shores of Newfoundland.

But the glory of the real discovery of the American mainland belongs to the Genoese Christopher Columbus . With three poorly equipped ships, he went west to find the shortest route to India and China, and, sailing from the harbor of Palos on August 3, 1492, on October 12 of the same year, he landed at one of the Bahamas– Guanagani (now San Salvador). In the same year, Columbus discovered Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti), the following year the islands of Dominica, Maria Galante, Guadeloupe, Antigua, Puerto Rico, and a few years later all the islands, later called the West Indies, became known. Only after Giovanni (John) Cabot (1497) discovered Newfoundland, Labrador and the coast of the North American continent to Florida, Columbus reached (1498) the Orinoco River and the banks of the Cumana, and thereby also entered the American mainland.

The discoverer of America, Christopher Columbus. Artist S. del Piombo, 1519

Brazil was discovered in 1500 by a Portuguese Cabral , which the storm brought here on the way to the cape Good Hope. Yucatan was discovered in 1507 by Piñon and Diaz de Salis. Pons de Leon discovered Florida in 1512, and Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and reached the opposite sea, which, coming from the north, he called “ South Sea" In 1515, Grijalva arrived in Mexico, and Fernand Cortes conquered it in 1519. In 1520, Fernando Magallans ( Magellan) passed the strait, named after him Magellanic, and proved the fallacy of the opinion that the newly discovered lands are nothing more than eastern shores Asia. From then on, they began to distinguish the West Indies (America) from the East Indies (India proper).

Ferdinand Magellan

In 1524, the Florentine Giovanni Verazzani explored, on behalf of France, the eastern coast of North America. In 1527, Pizarro discovered Peru in South America, and Cabot discovered Paraguay. In 1529, Becerre and Grijalva from Mexico sailed to California; in 1533, Welser landed in Venezuela, Cartier - in Canada, Diego de Almagro - in Chile, Pedro de Mendos - at the mouth of La Plata. The following year, Cartier sailed to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In 1541, Orellana explored the Amazon River. Fernando de Soto - Mississippi, Philipp von Hutten - inland countries of South America. Thus, 50 years after the discovery of a new part of the world, the entire American continent, in general terms, was known, with the exception of the northern and northwestern parts.

Conqueror of Mexico Hernan Cortes

With the discovery of Cape Horn by Lemaire and Schouten, the southern tip of the American continent was determined (in 1616), but attempts to explore its northern shores remained fruitless . On the West Coast of America Francis Drake, having passed through the Strait of Magellan, reached 45° northern latitude already in 1578, but only in 1648 did the Cossack Dezhnev manage to swim across the strait separating Asia from America. Subsequently, this strait was explored by Bering in 1725 - 1728 and named after him. Lassalle penetrated into northern Canada as far as the Mississippi in 1682, and then descended the river to its very mouth. South America was explored by Condamine, traveling the entire Amazon to the very mouth.

The travels of Burnaby, Herne and Hutcheson (1747 - 1775), as well as the Red River expedition of the Frenchman de Pages (1767), significantly expanded knowledge of the interior countries of North America. At the same time (1747 - 1751) Kalm and Löfling explored the Spanish possessions, and John Byron - Patagonia and Falkland Islands. Only in the late 1770s did Cook, during his third voyage, travel around the western shores of North America from 45° north latitude beyond the Bering Strait to Cape Prince of Wales, which he discovered.

From the end of the 18th century, a number of scientific and very successful expeditions to America began. Alexander Humboldt and Bonpland explored (1799 – 1803) its equatorial regions; MacKinair (1804) - British West Indies; Michaud - Western Allegans; in 1806 Lewis and Clark - countries along the upper Missouri and Columbia. Krusenstern traveled around the northwestern coast in 1803. Spix, Martius, Naterer and others accompanied Archduchess Leopoldina to Brazil in 1817 and, together with Eschwege, gave detailed information about this country. In addition, many attempts were made to penetrate between the islands of the Arctic Sea, as well as to explore the eastern shores of Greenland. Expeditions undertaken by the British, Americans, Germans and others penetrated to 83° northern latitude .

In the 19th century, travel and new discoveries in America became extremely numerous, but now, for the most part, the study of certain narrow areas took on a private character. Among the studies that are of a general nature or covering large regions, the following should also be mentioned: the journey of the Englishmen Spies and Lowe in 1834 - 35 from Lima through the Andes along Ucayali and Marañon to the mouth of the Amazon; ethnological and meteorological studies of Gabels in Central America in 1864 – 1871; archaeological discoveries of Desire Charnay (1880 – 1882) in Mexico, Yucatan and Guatemala. The most remote parts of South America between the upper reaches of Paraguay and Paraná served as the subject of study by many travelers and expeditions in 1882 - 1889, among which Fontana, Feilberg, Calvamonte and Beauvais had particular success, while Crevo died on the Pilcomaya River, and Tuar failed only to establish the correct message, but even to penetrate from Paraguay to Bolivia through the Gran Chaco desert. This path was completed only in 1889 by Calvamonte and Arana. One of the largest studies (1868 - 1876) belongs to Reis and Stübel, who traveled in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

«- Okay, take care of him! There are many memories associated with this suitcase.
- What memories? Not a single trip...
- About all the trips we never went on…»
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Nowadays, everyone knows that the discovery of America belongs to a gentleman named Christopher Columbus. This is where the school program to cover such a grandiose event usually ends, and those interested have to independently search for the necessary information in the library and the Internet. At this moment the most interesting thing comes: a person learns that with Columbus’s visit to America, not everything is so simple. There is evidence that he was not the first there, that many years before his first steps along the shores of the New World, Scandinavian Vikings, Biscay fishermen and other travelers were already frolicking there.

Today we will try to go through all the stages of the discovery of America, which are known to us from reliable sources, and establish who was the first to officially set foot on the shores of the new continent and declare it the New World.

Columbus Expedition, 1492

The end of the 15th century, there are still many unexplored places on Earth where no human has ever set foot. Obsessed with great plans to conquer everything, the Spaniards decide to create Great Expedition to the Canary Islands, consisting of three fast caravels, one of which was the Santa Maria, a ship whose admiral was Christopher Columbus. Ahead of him lay months of travel and one of the main achievements in the history of mankind. On August 3, 1492, the ship weighed anchor and set off.

Admiral of all seas and oceans

In the spring of 1492, a few months before the expedition, Christopher Columbus, or, as the Spaniards called him, Don Cristoval Colon, was in audience with the royal couple who ruled Spain. Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon suggested that the researcher conclude an agreement according to which Christopher Columbus is recognized as the admiral of all seas and oceans, as well as a high-ranking governor of all lands and islands that he can discover during his journey. It would be unforgivable to refuse such an offer.

An additional incentive in the kings' proposal was the fact that one tenth of all the wealth, treasures and goods that Columbus managed to exchange or find on new lands could be taken by the traveler for himself, while the remaining nine-tenths would go to the disposal of the royal treasury. This was a truly generous offer that could make Columbus one of the richest men in Europe.

Along with the title and wealth, Don Cristoval Colon was offered guarantees that his title would be inherited forever. He will also be able to retain his privileges for life in the previously unexplored lands of India. All participants in the trip were convinced that, setting sail to the West, Columbus would reach the eastern shores of India, but a surprise awaited them.

« The admiral decided to count fractions of the journey less than they actually took, in the event that the voyage turned out to be long, so that people would not be overcome by fear and confusion»

The True Aims of Christopher Columbus

Despite all the royal promises, Columbus's true motives and ideas about the Earth at that time remain the subject of debate to this day. Historians recognize the significant contribution of the great traveler to the history of mankind and his influence on the era of the Great geographical discoveries. However, this does not negate the fact that Columbus was driven more by mercantile interests than by the spirit of exploration.

A generous offer from the royal couple, as well as the opportunity to discover new trade routes and the untold riches of the East, were of much greater interest than perishing in the middle of a storm or dying from an unknown disease on unfamiliar shores. It was the thirst for money that became the main incentive for travelers of those times to make the most striking geographical discoveries.

However, if Columbus was calculating, he was also smart. Many modern historians suggest that the discoverer knew in advance where he would sail. That there is no India beyond the Atlantic Ocean, there is New land, endless and uninhabited. There were even rumors that Columbus had a certain map on which researchers marked not only the already discovered islands in the Atlantic Ocean, but also the eastern coast of the continent, which would later be called South America.

IN In 1474, the Florentine scientist Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, who devoted his life to astronomy, geography and mathematics, sent a letter to the Portuguese king in which he drew conclusions about the geography of our planet, given that it is a sphere. Toscanelli argued that in this way India could be reached much faster by sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. There is evidence that Columbus somehow obtained this letter, or a copy of it, with an attached map on which new lands were marked. However, no one has been able to prove this.

Conspiracy theories surrounding the discovery of America

Like any other high-profile scientific discovery, Columbus's voyage quickly acquired its own conspiracy theories from ill-wishers and simply due to a lack of information. We have no way to verify the events that took place in the 15th century, so speculation and theories will continue to exist. These include the rumors that Columbus himself was looking for an opportunity to go on a trip to the West, because he knew that there was a New Land there, so he tried to persuade the kings to equip an expedition for him.

According to some theories, Columbus simply followed the “beaten path” from other navigators who discovered this route long before him. Indeed, to make such a desperate journey across the unfriendly Atlantic Ocean for ships of those times seemed, if possible, then deadly dangerous.

Despite the fact that the majority of historians are of the opinion that it was Columbus who discovered America, there are many people, including respected ones in the scientific community, who suggest that the continent was discovered long before Columbus’s historical voyage in 1492. One of the main proponents of this theory was an Englishman named Gavin Menzies, who once wrote a book called “1421, or the year China discovered the world.”

The public loves conspiracy theories, so Menzies' book caused concern among the masses. At the same time, the scientific community is in no hurry to take seriously everything said in this book.

« Thursday, October 11. We sailed west-southwest. During the entire voyage there had never been such rough seas. We saw “pardelas” and green reeds near the ship. People from the Pinta caravel noticed a reed and a branch and caught a stick hewn, possibly with iron, and a fragment of a reed, and other herbs that were born on the ground, and one plank. People on the Niña caravel saw other signs of the earth and a twig strewn with rose hips. Everyone was inspired and happy when they saw these signs.»

Diary of the First Voyage, Christopher Columbus

The Great Journey of the Chinese

Despite the fact that the names of almost all great travelers are of European origin, the desire to explore the world was inherent in everyone on Earth.

In the spring of 1421, when the famous Christopher Columbus had not even been born, in one of the Chinese cities called Tangu, the ships of the Great Emperor's fleet were preparing to sail. The commander of the flotilla was the venerable Zheng He. More than a hundred huge unique ships were sent to the open sea. No other power in the world had similar ships: these were real autonomous floating giants that could calmly survive any storms on the high seas.

At that time there was a great holiday in China Forbidden City, after which the emperor instructed his admiral Zheng He to act as a kind of taxi driver and take high-ranking guests to their homes, who arrived from all over the world. When the admiral completed the task, the emperor ordered him not to rush back home, but instead to look “to the ends of the earth” and collect tribute from all the barbarians that he met on the way, and also wrap them in Confucianism in order to make civilized people out of them.

This voyage of the Golden Fleet was the largest ever undertaken by China. For three years, sailors explored our planet, and in his book, Gavin Menzies suggested that it was Chinese travelers who were able to draw up an approximate map globe, marking all six continents on it, and also went around all the oceans.

Obsessed with his idea of ​​​​dispelling the influence of Columbus, Menzies spent many years collecting the facts of the Great Chinese Voyage, bit by bit, that were left to us from those times. Complicating his task was the fact that all of Zheng He's diaries and ship's logs had been destroyed or lost.

Some of Menzies' efforts were successful. For example, he established the fact that the wreckage of giant Chinese ships, the so-called “junks,” were found off the coast of almost all continents. Despite the fact that historians prefer to believe that junk wrecks could have been carried to Australia and America by currents, the research of Gavin Menzies cannot be ignored within the framework of modern history. Archaeologists also found chinese cards, on which all continents, including America, were mapped. Menzies is confident that these maps are much older than Columbus himself.

Amerigo Vespucci and the famous confusion

At school we were often told that although Christopher Columbus discovered America, it got its name in honor of another explorer. The fact is that Columbus never realized where he had sailed. Until recently, the researcher was sure that these were the eastern shores of India and the Eurasian continent.

The traveler's research was inspired by the Italian Amerigo Vespucci, who a few years later shared his thoughts about the discovery of Columbus with his mentor Francesco del Medici. In them, he suggested that the new lands that Columbus spoke about in Spain are not eastern part India, and this is a completely new continent. These letters, as well as Vespucci's thoughts on other travels, were published in a large collection in 1507, which for some reason was called "The New World and New Countries Discovered by Amerigo Vespucci of Florence."

The significance of Columbus's discovery of America was lost in writing, and in the same year, the German cartographer Waldseemüller, based on Vespucci's letters, proposed calling the new part of the world America in honor of the name Amerigo. He reflected all this in his book “Introduction to Cosmography”. It is noteworthy that although Vespucci wrote about Columbus, Waldseemüller did not attach any importance to this.

The style of the young German scientist was liked by the public, and a few years later, in 1520, during a scientific meeting of the greatest minds of those times, the general consensus geographical map The planet was named America.

Since then, the controversy has not subsided. If Columbus didn't understand what he discovered New World, and Vespucci did this for him, then can one attribute the latest discovery mainland?
However, there is evidence that people conventionally discovered new continents long before the voyages of the Chinese, Columbus and Vespucci’s assumptions.

Ambitious Vikings

At the end of the 10th century, when Europe had not yet thought about domination over the whole world, a large boat with Nords on board set sail from the shores of Iceland. They were commanded by Björni Hjorlfson, a rugged Norwegian Viking who was motivated by a thirst for adventure and profit.

Björni Hjorlfson set out to sea to reach Greenland, where a colony of Vikings had already settled and traded with Scandinavia. But Hjorlfson lost his way due to a storm, and a few days later he arrived on the shores unknown land, which were dotted with dense impenetrable forests. Björni decided not to take risks and not to land on an unfamiliar shore, but simply swam along it, simultaneously remembering everything he saw. A few days later, the Viking managed to swim to Greenland, where he told about what he had seen.

Hjorlfson's stories inspired another Greenland settler, Leif Erikson, the son of the same Erik the Red, who was famous among the Viking peoples for his heroic character. The spirit of adventure led Leif and his comrades along the route told by Björni. First, their boat sailed to the rocky shore, which is now called Baffin Island. The area here seemed lifeless, everything around was covered with glaciers. Deciding that there was no life and nothing good on this land, the Vikings moved on, simultaneously giving the stone land a name - Helluland, the Land of Boulders.

Then the travelers reached the Canadian shores, covered with vegetation and forests. The Vikings also gave this land a name - Markland, Forest Land. The young and profit-hungry people did not stop there, so they went further south. A few days later they dropped anchor in one of the coastal bays. Coming ashore, the friends found real wild grapes among other vegetation, so they named this area Vinland. Modern historians have found that this bay is now located in Massachusetts.

Having returned after a long journey along unfamiliar lands, the Nords did not want to miss the opportunity to populate them, so two years later they equipped a new expedition. Leif's brother, the famous Thorvald, went to the shores of America and dropped anchor at the place of his brother's last stop - in Vinland. Here they unexpectedly met local residents- Indians who appeared in the bay on their pirogues. Everyone knows that the Vikings were not timid and were not averse to fighting, so the Norwegians simply killed several Indians and captured the rest. That same night, the Indians came to avenge their slain brethren and rained down arrows on the Viking camp. One of them hit Torvald, and he died a few days later.

In 1003, the Vikings again came to the shores of America, now with serious intentions of settling in uninhabited lands. Almost two hundred people sailed here on three boats, established relationships with the local population and even built a village here. However, the Indians soon sharply changed their attitude towards uninvited guests, and flatly refused to share lands with them. A bloody war broke out between people again, and traces of the Scandinavians soon completely disappeared from the shores of America.

Expeditions of Christopher Columbus

1st expedition

The first expedition of Christopher Columbus (1492-1493) consisting of 91 people on the ships “Santa Maria”, “Pinta”, “Nina” left Palos on August 3, 1492, from Canary Islands turned west (September 9), crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical zone and reached the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas archipelago, where Christopher Columbus landed on October 12, 1492 (the official date of the discovery of America). On October 14-24, Christopher Columbus visited a number of other Bahamas, and on October 28-December 5 he discovered and explored a section of the northeastern coast of Cuba. On December 6, Columbus reached Fr. Haiti and moved along its northern coast. On the night of December 25, the flagship Santa Maria landed on a reef, but the people escaped. Columbus on the ship Niña completed his exploration of the northern coast of Haiti on January 4-16, 1493 and returned to Castile on March 15.

2nd expedition

The 2nd expedition (1493-1496), which Christopher Columbus led already with the rank of admiral and as viceroy of the newly discovered lands, consisted of 17 ships with a crew of over 1.5 thousand people. November 3, 1493 Columbus discovered the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe, turning to the North-West - about 20 more Small Antilles, including Antigua and the Virgin Islands, and on November 19 - the island of Puerto Rico and approached north shore Haiti. On March 12-29, 1494, Columbus, in search of gold, made an aggressive campaign into Haiti, and crossed the Cordillera Central ridge. On April 29-May 3, Columbus with 3 ships sailed along the southeastern coast of Cuba, turned south from Cape Cruz and discovered the island on May 5. Jamaica. Returning to Cape Cruz on May 15, Columbus passed along south coast Cuba to 84° west longitude, discovered the Jardines de la Reina archipelago, the Zapata Peninsula and the island of Pinos. On June 24, Christopher Columbus turned east and explored the entire South coast Haiti. In 1495, Christopher Columbus continued his conquest of Haiti; On March 10, 1496 he left the island and returned to Castile on June 11.

3rd expedition

The 3rd expedition (1498-1500) consisted of 6 ships, 3 of which Christopher Columbus himself led across the Atlantic Ocean near 10° north latitude. On July 31, 1498, he discovered the island of Trinidad, entered the Gulf of Paria from the south, discovered the mouth of the western branch of the Orinoco River delta and the Paria Peninsula, marking the beginning of the discovery of South America. Having then entered the Caribbean Sea, Christopher Columbus approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered Margarita Island on August 15, and arrived in the city of Santo Domingo (on the island of Haiti) on August 31. In 1500, Christopher Columbus was arrested following a denunciation and sent to Castile, where he was released.

4th expedition

4th expedition (1502-1504). Having obtained permission to continue the search for the western route to India, Columbus with 4 ships reached the island of Martinique on June 15, 1502, the Gulf of Honduras on July 30, and opened the Caribbean coast of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama to the Gulf of Uraba from August 1, 1502 to May 1, 1503. Turning then to the North, on June 25, 1503 he was wrecked off the island of Jamaica; help from Santo Domingo came only a year later. Christopher Columbus returned to Castile on November 7, 1504.

Data

Hypotheses

In addition, hypotheses were put forward about the visit to America and contact with its civilization by sailors before Columbus, representing various civilizations of the Old World (for more details, see Contacts with America before Columbus). Here are just a few of these hypothetical contacts:

  • in the 5th century - Hui Shen (Taiwanese monk)
  • in the 6th century - St. Brendan (Irish monk)
  • there are versions according to which, at least from the 13th century, America was known to the Templar Order
  • OK. g. - Henry Sinclair (de St. Clair), Earl of Orkney (c. 1345 - c. 1400)
  • in the city - Zheng He (Chinese researcher)
  • in the city - João Corterial (Portuguese)

Notes

Literature

  • Magidovich I. P. History of the discovery and exploration of North America. - M.: Geographgiz, 1962.
  • Magidovich I. P. History of the discovery and exploration of Central and South America. - M.: Mysl, 1963.
  • John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. The Book of General Delusions. - Phantom Press, 2009.

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Books

  • Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of America, D. Winsor. Illustrated historical-critical study, translation from English by F. I. Bulgakov. The book contains information about the sources, about the ancestors and homeland of Columbus, his life in Portugal and...

 

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