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The month of October is famous in America’s history calendar since it is the time when famous man who discovered the nation is honored. In fact, many people falsely believe that this fascinating man is Christopher Columbus since the events that unfold around this individual have been inaccurately presented in history. The following discussion proves that Christopher Columbus did not discover America. Therefore, he does not deserve the credit for this noble discovery.
The first Europeans who set foot in America were well-known adventurers who were often called pirates and barbarians. As far as the ninth century, the adventurers settled in Iceland so that they could advance their exploration. Among them were Vikings (Norsemen) who traveled for treasure and adventure purposes. In the course of Vikings’ travel, thousands of people were killed along the way.
A century later, which is the tenth century, the son of Viking chieftain Erik the Red, called Leif Erikson landed on Newfoundland. It is at the Newfoundland where Erikson landed his vessel. He proudly named this newly discovered land “Vineland the Good”. In fact, during this time of the new discovery, the winter conditions were unbearable and Leif with his men did not find it favorable for them to travel further. Therefore, they spent the winter at the Newfoundland.
A decade later, after the return of the first crew, some other Norsemen sailed away from Iceland in search of a farming-colony. However, the conditions were not favorable after the third year since the weather was harsh and farming activities could not be carried out easily. Besides, the Native Americans were so hostile that the Norsemen left their settlement. They eventually returned to Greenland.
In fact, it was after 500 years when Christopher Columbus made his way to India. It is clear that he did not know about the Norsemen and their encounter with the Native Americans. When Columbus had landed on the small Caribbean island, he proclaimed that he found Asia upon his return to Spain. Therefore, it is evident that Columbus did not discover America since this was done by the Norsemen who suffered under the hostility of the Native Americans. Evidently, Columbus does not deserve the credit of discovering America.