October 12, 1492 is a significant date in world history, since it was on this day that the expedition of Christopher Columbus reached the island of San Salvador and thereby discovered a new continent - America. Let us deal with the main prerequisites for such an "incident", isolating some facts, analyze the course of the expedition itself and briefly summarize its results for the states of that time.
Basic prerequisites
It is not entirely correct to talk about the prerequisites for the discovery of America in isolation from the context of other great geographical discoveries: in addition to the Columbus expedition, many attempts were made to reach new lands by sea. There are three main factors that are crucial for the formation of such aspirations in many states and travelers:
- Not so long ago, under the onslaught of the Ottoman Turks, Byzantium fell, which served as the birth of the Ottoman Empire. Since the latter was located in the east of the Mediterranean and in Asia Minor, all trade relations ("Silk Road") with the countries of the east were terminated.
- Spices, which were purchased in India and Indochina, as well as many other goods, were extremely important for European states.
- In the 14th century, geographers misunderstood the size of the Earth. It was believed that all land is limited to the continents of Eurasia and Africa; it was also thought that the distance between the western point of Europe and the eastern point of Asia is no more than a few thousand kilometers.
Expedition progress
The beginning of the expedition is considered to be August 3, 1492, when: on that very day, three ships ("Santa Maria", "Pinta", "Niña") began their journey from the Spanish city of Palos de La Frontera. The first documented event was the appearance of algae on the path on September 16. We mention this fact for a reason: during the passage through a body of water with algae, the Sargasso Sea was discovered. The next event took place on October 7, 1492, when the course was seriously changed: it seemed to the team that the ships passed Japan. That is why the expedition headed southwest.
Soon, on October 12, ships saw one of the still famous Bahamas, which was named San Salvador - a kind of symbolic tribute to the image of Jesus Christ. According to the available information, the land was noticed by the sailor of the "Pinta" caravel, Rodrigo de Triana, who did not manage to receive the reward promised by the King of Spain afterwards.
It is worth noting that the duration of the Bahamas archipelago is more than a thousand kilometers: it "stretches" from Florida to Haiti and has about three thousand islands of different sizes. On October 13, Columbus decided to land, during which he raised the Castilian banner; in fact, it was an official "takeover": an appropriate document was even drawn up.
For two weeks, the expedition moved southward, during which islands such as Cuba and Haiti were discovered. Since the geographical concepts of the 15th century were very different from modern ones, Columbus considered these lands to be East Asia. Subsequently, the open areas received the appropriate name - "West Indies".
The next important incident happened already in December - on the 26th, the ship "Santa Maria" was unlucky enough to get to the reefs. Due to the help of the natives - the indigenous inhabitants - the navigators managed to cope with the misfortune: guns, supplies, valuable cargo were removed. The wreckage of the ship became the basis for the creation of the fort, which became the first settlement of Europeans on the new continent. Its name is known to many - "Navidad".
The next major date is March 15, 1493, when the expedition returned to its homeland. It is worth noting that Columbus took with him the natives ("Indians"), some gold and plants outlandish for Europeans, among which were potatoes, tobacco and corn. Subsequently, three more expeditions were carried out, which we will not describe in detail; we only note that their result was the discovery of the islands of Jamaica, Dominica, Puerto Rico, as well as the territories of Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
A moment of awareness
Note that at the time of the return of the expedition, many did not realize the significance of the discovery. Columbus himself was deeply disappointed: the natives did not make much of an impression on him, and no wealth was found during the expedition. Already soon - in 1494 - the so-called. Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided open territories between Portugal and Spain. At that time, it was not known that the entire western part of the American continent passed into the possession of the latter. Soon after the return of Columbus, many travelers headed towards the open lands, but the realization of what had happened did not come immediately.
The name "America" itself appeared only in 1507: this is how cartographers named the continent in honor of Amerigo Vespucci. The latter is also a famous discoverer: it was he who first suggested that the open lands were not India at all, but the so-called. "New World". He sent reports in 1502 and 1504.
Outcomes
Obviously, the results of the discovery of a new continent were overwhelming: the situation in the world has changed fundamentally. The active development of new lands began, the development of shipbuilding was spurred on. Naturally, for some time international ties were significantly strengthened, but soon the new territories became the cause of numerous conflicts.
Another important point is the dramatic changes in the economy. The so-called happened. "Revolution" of prices due to the flow of various metals (gold, silver and some others). World trade has significantly strengthened, and a colossal number of new products have appeared.
Naturally, certain areas of science and technology began to develop more rapidly. Moreover, the discovery of America was reflected even in culture: Europeans learned about a fundamentally different structure of society, which was reflected in the works of Thomas More.
The discovery of America is one of the greatest events in human history. The history of the discovery of a huge continent is fraught with many interesting and surprising facts. To this day, there is debate about who actually discovered America. Everyone knows that the name of the discoverer is Christopher Columbus, why is the land named in honor of Amerigo Vespucci, and who else visited the continent before Columbus ... About this and many other things - further in the article.
At the end of the fifteenth century, the Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus with his expedition reached the shores of North America, mistakenly believing that he had arrived in India. It was from this moment that the era of the discovery of America began and the beginning of its development and research. However, there are researchers who consider this date inaccurate, insisting that the new continent was discovered much earlier.
The first information about the existence of a new continent, later called America, appeared in the prehistoric period. These events happened by chance. The motives for discoveries were, as a rule, the search for habitable lands (the desire to survive), the search for gold and large trading cities.
The first were the Paleo-Indians
The first to settle in America about 15 thousand years ago were people from Asia. In the Pleistocene epoch, as a result of the melting of ice sheets (Laurentian and Cordillera), a narrow corridor was formed between Russia and Alaska. The so-called land bridge between the western coast of Alaska and Siberia, or the Bering Isthmus, connected the continents of Asia and North America as a result of falling ocean levels.
The Paleo-Indians, the ancient settlers of America, arrived from Asia to America across the Bering Isthmus following the movement of prey - large animals. Migrations took place before the closure of the corridor, that is, the closure of the Laurentian and Cordillera glaciers. In the future, the settlement of America already took place by sea or on ice. When the ice age ended and the ice plates melted, the settlers who arrived in America were isolated from other continents.
It turns out that for the first time the American continents were discovered by nomadic Asian tribes, who originally settled in North America, then occupied Central and South America. They later became the Native American peoples.
The Legend of the Irish Monks
According to popular Irish legend, in the 6th century, a group of Irish monks led by Saint Brendan traveled west by boat in search of new lands. Seven years later, the monks returned home and reported that they had discovered a lush land that is what is now Newfoundland.
However, there is no precise evidence to support the fact that Irish monks not only saw, but also visited the coast of North America. In 1976, British traveler Tim Severin decided to prove that such a trip was possible. He made an exact replica of the monastic ship and sailed from Ireland to North America, following a route once described by traveling monks. As a result, the researcher reached Canada.
Vikings and "Vinland"
In 984, the Scandinavian navigator Eric Krasus discovered Greenland as a result of his exploration of ancient seafaring routes. In 999, his son, Leif Eriksson, having gathered a crew of 35 people, set off on one ship from Greenland to Norway. In about 1000, Leif Erikson reached North America on a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. There, on the territory of the modern Canadian island of Newfoundland, he founded a Norwegian settlement.
Because of the abundance of vineyards on this land, the Vikings named the settlement "Vinland", which means "Grape land" in English. But Erickson and his team did not stay there for a long time. Due to hostile relations with the native North Americans, they only stayed a few years before returning to Greenland.
In the sagas, the Vikings who settled in America are referred to as Native Americans - "Skreling". Most of the sagas originate from Scandinavian folklore, but in 1960, Helge Ingstad, a Norwegian archaeologist, found at the northern tip of Newfoundland, Canada, the first European Viking settlement of the late 11th century, which is identical to the settlements in the Scandinavian countries. This historical and archaeological site, called "L" Anse-aux-Meadows ", scientists recognize as evidence of transoceanic contacts that took place before the discovery made by Columbus.
Sailors from China
In disputes "who discovered America" even facts about the Chinese visit to America emerge. Gavin Menzies, a British naval officer, advanced the theory of Chinese colonization of South America. According to him, a Chinese explorer named Zheng He, who commanded an armada of wooden sailing ships in the early 15th century, discovered the continent in 1421. According to the officer, Zheng He used advanced navigation techniques to explore areas such as Southeast Asia, India and the east coast of Africa.
In his book 1421 - The Year China Discovered the World, Gavin Menzies wrote that Zheng He was heading for the east coast of the United States and, presumably, established settlements in South America. Menzies's theory is based on evidence from ancient shipwrecks, data from Chinese and European maps, and reports that were compiled by navigators of the time. However, the theory is in doubt.
Columbus's accidental discovery
1942 is considered the year of the discovery of America, although some historians consider these figures to be rather rough. Columbus discovered America by accident. Discovering new lands and islands over the course of four expeditions, Columbus did not even imagine that this is a completely different continent, which would later be called the "New World". Each time, arriving on new and new lands, the traveler believed that these are the lands of "Western India".
All Europe thought so for quite a long time, until another navigator Vasco da Gama declared Columbus a deceiver, since it was Gamma who found the direct route to India, visited there and brought local gifts and spices. There are suggestions that Columbus died convinced that he had opened a new path to India, and not at all a new, previously unknown side of the world.
The mysterious name of the continent
Why was the new continent named not in honor of Columbus who discovered it, but in honor of the navigator Amerigo Vespucci? The visit of the traveler Vespucci to this part of the "New World" is the first widely known and recorded fact. In 1503, he sent a letter to his Medici friend with the following text “These countries should be called the New World ... Most of the ancient authors say that there is no continent south of the equator, but only the sea, and if some of them recognized the existence of a continent there, then they did not consider it inhabited. But my last trip proved that their opinion was erroneous and completely contrary to the facts, since in the southern regions I found a continent more densely populated by people and animals than our Europe, Asia or Africa, and, in addition, the climate is more temperate and pleasant than in any of the countries known to us ... "
It was he who first put forward the assumption that the discovered lands are not India or China, but a new unknown continent. And the quote from his letter that spread around the world became a good reason for the decision to name the new continent in honor of the then unknown sales representative, and not in honor of the famous discoverer. The name America first appeared in 1507 in Martin Waldseemüller's Introduction to Cosmography. Under the same name, a new continent is also represented on the first globe of Johann Schener (1511).
An interesting fact is that not a single mention of Vespucci's initiative to assign his name to open overseas lands has been found.
For the curious
There is ample reason to believe that the continent was named after the English philanthropist from Bristol, Richard America, who financed the second transatlantic expedition of John Cabot in 1497. Vespucci also took the nickname in honor of the already named continent. Cabot became the first officially registered European to set foot on the North American continent, reaching the shores of Labrador in May 1497. It was he who made the map of the coast of North America - from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. Bristol entered the following entries into its calendar that year: “... on the day of St. John the Baptist found the land of America by merchants from Bristol, who arrived by ship from Bristol with the name "Matthew" ".
Christopher Columbus is the discoverer of South and Central America. Columbus expeditions.
Christopher Columbus biography
1 expedition. Discovery of America by Columbus in 1492
- The first expedition Christopher Columbus assembled from three ships - "Santa Maria" (a three-masted flagship 25 m long, with a displacement of 120 tons, the captain of the Columbus ship), the "Pinta" caravel (captain - Martin Alonso Pinson) and "Niña" (captain - Vicente Janes Pinson) with a displacement of 55 tons and 87 people of the expedition.
The flotilla left Palos on August 3, 1492, turned west from the Canary Islands, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, opening the Sargasso Sea and reached an island in the Bahamas archipelago (the sailor of the "Pinta" Rodrigo de Triana was the first to see American land October 12, 1492). Columbus landed on the coast, which the locals call Guanahani, hoisted a banner on it, declared the open land the property of the Spanish king and formally took possession of the island. The island was named after him San Salvador.
For a long time (1940 -1982), Watling Island was considered San Salvador. However, our contemporary American geographer George Judge processed all the collected materials on a computer in 1986 and came to the conclusion: the first American land seen by Columbus was the island of Samana (120 km southeast of Watling).
On October 14-24, Columbus approached several more Bahamas, and on October 28 - December 5, he opened part of the northeastern coast of Cuba. December 6 reached the island of Haiti and moved along the northern coast. On the night of December 25, the flagship Santa Maria landed on the reef, but the crew escaped. For the first time in the history of navigation, by order of Columbus, Indian hammocks were adapted for sailor bunks.
Columbus on "Niña" on March 15, 1493 returned to Castile. From America, Columbus brought seven captive American natives, who were called Indians in Europe, as well as a little gold and plants and fruits unseen in the Old World, including an annual plant corn (in Haiti it is called maize), tomatoes, peppers, tobacco (“ dry leaves, which were especially appreciated by the locals "), pineapples, cocoa and potatoes (because of their beautiful pink and white flowers). The political resonance of Columbus's voyage was the "papal meridian": the head of the Catholic Church established a demarcation line in the Atlantic, indicating different directions for the rivals of Spain and Portugal for discovering new lands.The first landing of Christopher Columbus on the shores of the New World: in San Salvador, Wisconsin, October 12, 1492.
The author of the painting: Spanish artist Tolin Puebla, Theophilus Dioscoro Dioscoro Teofilo Puebla Tolin (1831-1901)
Publisher: American firm Currier and Ives (prints, lithographs, popular prints), published 1892.
2 expedition of Christopher Columbus (1493 - 1496)
- The second expedition (1493-96), led by Admiral Columbus, in the position of viceroy of the newly discovered lands, consisted of 17 ships with a crew of 1.5-2.5 thousand people. On November 3-15, 1493, Columbus discovered the islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe and about 20 Lesser Antilles, on November 19, the island of Puerto Rico. In March 1494, in search of gold, he made a military campaign into the interior of the island of Haiti, in the summer he discovered the southeastern and southern coasts of Cuba, the islands of Juventud and Jamaica. For 40 days, Columbus explored the southern coast of Haiti, the conquest of which he continued in 1495. But in the spring of 1496 he sailed home, completing his second voyage on June 11 in Castile. Columbus announced the opening of a new route to Asia. The colonization of new lands by free settlers, which began soon, cost the Spanish crown very dearly, and Columbus proposed that the islands be populated by criminals, halving their sentence. With fire and sword, plundering and destroying the country of ancient culture, military detachments of Cortes marched through the land of the Aztecs - Mexico, the troops of Pizarro - across the land of the Incas - Peru.
3 expedition of Christopher Columbus (1498 - 1499)
- The third expedition (1498-99) consisted of six ships, three of which Columbus himself led across the Atlantic. On July 31, 1498, he discovered the island of Trinidad, entered the Gulf of Paria, discovered the mouth of the western branch of the Orinoco Delta and the Paria Peninsula, marking the beginning of the discovery of South America. Out into the Caribbean, he approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered Margarita Island on August 15, and arrived in Haiti on August 31. In 1500, on a denunciation, Christopher Columbus was arrested and, shackled (which he then kept all his life), was sent to Castile, where he was awaited by his release.
4 expedition of Christopher Columbus (1502 - 1504)
Driven by the storm far west of Africa, they found a fertile, well-watered forested 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 give sufficient reason to assume that the western continent was already discovered by ancient seafarers. An indication that already in the V century. n. NS. from China, there could be a communication with America through Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands, it was made back in 1761 by the author of the history of the Mongols, de Guinem. He tried to prove that the Chinese knew America by the name of Fuzanga. The scholar Klaproth thinks that Japan was called Fusang. Researcher Neumann argued that in those days, Chinese sailors did indeed go to Fusang and that the description of this country only applies to Central America.
The Normans were the first to open the way to America from Europe. Erich the Red-haired in 982 moved from Iceland to Greenland and founded a colony on its western coast, 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 blown aside by the storm and was the first to see the New World. Erich's son Leif discovered in 1000 Helluland(stone ground), Markland(land of forests) and rich in grapes Vinland, which is believed to be present-day Labrador, a country near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and over Hudson's Bay. This assumption is confirmed by the fact that runestones of a Germanic character are found here. The discovery of such stones at nearly 73 ° N indicates how far the Greenlandic Normans had penetrated. The Vinland colonies, however, did not last long, partly due to internal strife, partly due to enmity with the Skrelingers, as the settlers called the natives of the Eskimo. Only from time to time the Normans from Greenland visited Vinland and Markland, but in 1347 these visits stopped, and at the end of the 15th century. the once flourishing Greenland colony has completely died out due to the frequent attacks of the Eskimos and thanks to the appearance of the "black death". Two Venetians, brothers Antonio and Niccolò Zeni, brought to Europe the news that between 1388 - 1404 an expedition was undertaken from the Faroe Islands (Friesland), exploring some places along the northern coast of America. However, their stories, mixed with Greek fables, do not provide any reliable information. It is said that the Biscay anglers 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, having sailed from the harbor of Palos on August 3, 1492, on October 12 of the same year, he landed in one of the Bahamas - Guanagani (now San Salvador ). In the same year, Columbus discovered Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti), the next 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 mainland to Florida, Columbus reached (1498) the Orinoco River and the banks of the Cumana, and thus also entered the American mainland.
Discoverer of America Christopher Columbus. Painter S. del Piombo, 1519
Brazil opened in 1,500 Portuguese Cabral whom the storm brought here on the way to the Cape of Good Hope. Yucatan was discovered in 1507 by Pignon 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 he, coming from the north, called the "South Sea". In 1515 Grihalva arrived in Mexico, and Fernand Cortez conquered it in 1519. In 1520 Fernando Magallans ( Magellan) passed the strait, named after him by Magellanov, and proved the erroneous opinion that the newly discovered lands are nothing but the eastern shores of Asia. From that time on, they began to distinguish the West Indies (America) from the East Indies (India proper).
Fernand 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 Betzerr and Grihalva sailed from Mexico 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, Philip von Hutten - inland countries of South America. Thus, 50 years after the discovery of a new part of the world, the entire American continent was generally known, with the exception of the northern and northwestern parts.
Conqueror of Mexico Hernan Cortez
With the discovery of Cape Horn by Lemer and Schuten, the southern tip of the American mainland was identified (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, already in 1578 reached 45 ° north latitude, but only in 1648 the Cossack Dezhnev managed to swim across the strait separating Asia from America. Subsequently, this strait in 1725 - 1728 was explored by Bering and named after him. Inland northern Canada penetrated to the Mississippi in 1682 Lasalle, who then went down the river to its very mouth. South America was explored by Condamine, having traveled all the way to the mouth of the Amazon.
The travels of Burneby, Gerne and Hutcheson (1747 - 1775), as well as the expedition to the Red River 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 explored Patagonia and the Falkland Islands. Only in the late 1770s, during his third voyage, Cook traveled around the western shores of North America from 45 ° north latitude beyond the Bering Strait to the Prince of Wales Cape that he discovered.
From the end of the 18th century, a number of scientific and highly successful expeditions to America began. Alexander Humboldt and Bonpland explored (1799 - 1803) its equatorial regions; McKineair (1804) - British West Indies; Michaud - Western Allegheny; in 1806 Lewis and Clark - the countries of Upper Missouri and Columbia. Kruzenshtern traveled in 1803 to the northwest coast. Speaks, Martius, Naterer and others escorted the 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 North Polar Sea, as well as to explore the eastern shores of Greenland. Expeditions undertaken by the British, Americans, Germans, etc., penetrated to 83 ° north latitude .
In the 19th century, travel and new discoveries in America became extremely numerous, but now, for the most part, they have acquired a private character of the study of certain narrow areas. Between investigations of a general nature or covering large regions, more should 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 research of Gabels in Central America in 1864 - 1871; the archaeological discoveries of Desiree Sharne (1880 - 1882) in Mexico, Yucatan and Guatemala. The most remote parts of South America between the upper reaches of Paraguay and Parana were the subject of study of many travelers and expeditions in 1882 - 1889, among which Fontana, Feilberg, Calvamonte and Beauvais were especially successful, while Krevo died on the Pilcomaya River, and Tuar did not succeed only to establish the correct message, but even to penetrate from Paraguay into Bolivia through the Gran Chaco desert. This path was traversed only in 1889 by Calvamonte and Arana. One of the largest studies (1868 - 1876) belongs to Reis and Stübel, who traveled to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.
The history of the discovery of America is quite amazing. These events took place at the end of the 15th century due to the rapid development of navigation and shipping in Europe. In many ways, we can say that the discovery of the American continent happened quite by accident and the motives were very commonplace - the search for gold, wealth, large trading cities.
In the 15th century, ancient tribes lived on the territory of modern America, who were very good-natured and hospitable. In Europe, in those days, the states were already quite developed and modern. Each country tried to expand its sphere of influence, to find new sources of replenishment of the state treasury. At the end of the 15th century, trade flourished, the development of new colonies.
Who discovered America?
In the 15th century, ancient tribes lived on the territory of modern America, who were very good-natured and hospitable. In Europe, even then, the states were quite developed and modern. Each country tried to expand its sphere of influence, to find new sources of replenishment of the state treasury.
When you ask any adult and child who discovered America, we will hear about Columbus. It was Christopher Columbus who gave impetus to the active search and development of new lands.
Christopher Columbus is the great Spanish navigator. There is little information about where he was born and spent his childhood and they are contradictory. It is known that being young, Christopher was fond of cartography. He was married to the daughter of a navigator. In 1470, the geographer and astronomer Toscanelli informed Columbus of his suggestions that the journey to India was shorter if you sail west. Apparently then Columbus began to nurture his idea of a shortcut to India, while, according to his calculations, it was necessary to sail through the Canary Islands, and there already Japan would be close.
Since 1475, Columbus has been making attempts to implement the idea and make an expedition. The goal of the expedition is to find a new trade route to India across the Atlantic Ocean. To do this, he turned to the government and merchants of Genoa, but he was not supported. The second attempt to find funding for the expedition was the Portuguese king João II, but even here, after a long study of the project, he was refused.
The last time with his project, he came to the Spanish king. At the beginning, his project was considered for a long time, even several meetings, commissions were held, this lasted for several years. His idea was supported by bishops and Catholic kings. But Columbus received the final support for his project after the victory of Spain in the city of Granada, which was freed from the Arab presence.
The expedition was organized on the condition that Columbus, if successful, will receive not only the gifts and riches of new lands, but will also receive, in addition to the status of a nobleman, the title: Admiral of the Sea-Ocean and Viceroy of all lands, which he will discover. For Spain, a successful expedition promised not only the development of new lands, but also the opportunity to trade with India directly, since according to the agreement concluded with Portugal, Spanish ships were prohibited from entering the waters of the west coast of Africa.
When and how did Columbus discover America?
Historians consider the year 1942 to be the year of America's discovery, although this is a rather rough estimate. While discovering new lands and islands, Columbus did not even imagine that this was another continent, which would later be called the "New World". The traveler undertook 4 expeditions. He came to new and new lands, believing that these are the lands of "Western India". For a long time, everyone in Europe thought so. However, another traveler Vasco da Gama declared Columbus a deceiver, since it was Gamma who found the direct path to India and brought gifts and spices from there.
What kind of America was discovered by Christopher Columbus? We can say that thanks to his expeditions since 1492, Columbus discovered both North and South America. To be more precise, the islands were discovered, which are now considered either South or North America.
Who Discovered America First?
Although historically it is believed that it was Columbus who discovered America, in fact this is not entirely true.
There is evidence that the "New World" was previously visited by the Scandinavians (Leif Eriksson in 1000, Thorfinn Karlsefni in 1008), this journey became known from the manuscripts "The Saga of Eric the Red" and "The Saga of the Greenlanders". There are other "discoverers of America", but the scientific community does not take them seriously, as there is no reliable data. For example, the African traveler from Mali, Abu Bakr II, the Scottish nobleman Henry Sinclair, and the Chinese traveler Zheng He previously visited America.
Why was America called America?
The first widely known and recorded fact is the visit to this part of the "New World" by the traveler and navigator Amerigo Vespucci. It is noteworthy that it was he who suggested that this was not India or China, but a completely new, previously unknown continent. It is believed that this is why the name America was assigned to the new land, and not its discoverer, Columbus.
