Who first discovered America? Definitely not Columbus in the textbook.

Who first discovered America? "This issue will be an ongoing struggle. History is never certain. Although we know the date, name and event, we can never be sure when it first happened. This is because archaeology constantly provides new evidence for our origins and historical events. For a long time, everyone thought that Columbus first discovered America. However, in recent years, the word "discovery" itself has been attacked. There were Americans before Columbus. More importantly, ancient documents mentioned various explorers who arrived in America from Europe (and possibly China) before Columbus. So who discovered America? To answer this question, do we need to go back to the past ... Christopher Columbus ... or someone else 1492 ... Columbus sailed on the blue ocean. 1492, Columbus "discovered" America. Actually, it is not. In fact, he bumped into a huge continent, and Europeans (and perhaps people from other countries) have been to this continent before. At that time, there were just 2 million to 65,438+120,000 people living on the American continent. Scholars such as Henry dobbins and Douglas Ubeira Lake are still arguing about population estimation. However, it is certain that Columbus-and all the legends about his "discovery"-was not the first time to set foot on American soil. Did Columbus discover that America belonged to Africans? There is evidence that Africans had contact before Columbus discovered America. In Mexico, the basalt statues on the east coast are strikingly similar to those of Africans. * * * The data of the 8th century also describe the connection between Africans and Americans in detail. In addition, the Portuguese also mentioned the immigrants from West Africa between 13 1 1 and 1460. These sources tell us that Africans (and possibly others, who also live in northwest Africa) have sailed to Haiti, Panama and possibly Brazil. After Columbus's first contact, he met Arawaks, who told him that they got guanine spear points from black businessmen in the south and east. Captain balboa provided further evidence when describing the aborigines who owned slaves. Viking. Legendary sailors and storytellers. In the legend of northern Europe, the Vikings told the story of Eric Red and Rafe Eriksson (son of Eric Red) sailing to a place called "Wen Lan". Before the amazing archaeological information was discovered, people seldom believed the truth of this story. 1362, Kensington inscription reads, 1362 Norwegian and Goth expedition to southwest Minnesota. 1898, a Swedish-American farmer found this stone near Kensington, Minnesota. Scholars initially labeled this stone as a "fake", but the research done by H. R. Holad in 1907 shows that it may come from14th century according to the writing form and graphics of the inscription. This evidence was further confirmed when the Swedish/Norwegian king mentioned in a report in 1355 that the western colony in Greenland ("Vest Bygd") helped the colonists in Brunei. Other records of Kensington Si Tong-especially the record of Goodreed found in Voyager-also mentioned Wen Lan. Goudron is regarded as the first European woman to give birth in the United States. According to legend, Lev Eriksson landed in Wen Lan as early as 1000, and his father Eric Red landed around 984. In legend, they call Indians "Skraelings". Most of these are from Nordic folklore, but in recent decades, many other aspects of folklore have been proved to be true. Is it possible for Vikings to reach America? Yes, their ship is fully capable of such a voyage. But is there any conclusive evidence? Actually, yes. 1960, a Viking settlement was discovered in L'anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada, which was strikingly similar to the Viking settlement in Scandinavian countries. Since then, the excavation of the site has revealed the sporadic contact between Vikings and Native Americans for more than 300 years, mainly in the Arctic of Canada. A series of articles and handicrafts can be found on the Smithsonian Institution's website, which further details what may happen in settlements. Irish monks and giant turtles Unfortunately, the Vikings were not the first. An Irish monk named St. Brandon claimed in his writings that he discovered the "magic island" deep in the Atlantic Ocean around 400 AD. Most legends think that St. Brandon crossed the Atlantic in a turtle, but ancient descriptions think that he sailed in a small sailboat (a traditional Irish wooden boat). One reason why Saint Brandon is famous is that he recorded his trip to Saint Brandon in the 9th century, which is a Latin book full of fantastic stories about his trip. Although the navigation technology at that time may have reached the Nordic colonies in Iceland or Greenland, no conclusive evidence about his visit was found. 1976, historian Tim Seffrin tested it. He built a traditional sailboat named Brandon and tried to sail from Ireland to North America. Tim Seffrin succeeded. Unfortunately, St. Brandon's story is unlikely to be true. It is more reasonable to say that St. Brandon's records reflect the stories of people traveling to America, because these stories were written centuries after the incident (and probably passed down orally, so they may be elaborated every time they are repeated). However, St. Brandon's story did have a direct impact on the search for America: his story was used as a reference by Christopher Columbus to support his statement that land could be reached across the Atlantic Ocean. Egyptians and China In 600 BC, Phoenicians or Egyptians may have been to America. Some people speculate that Egyptian technology may have spread to the distant Canary Islands (Spanish coast) or Ireland, although whether their technology can reach America has not been tested (so far). But the portraits of blacks and Caucasians on American sculptures and pottery, as well as some records in the history of * * * *, all indicate that there may have been contact. In addition, in 1000 BC, it was thought that Americans might have arrived in central China. The quality of the evidence is very low. However, there are also some China legends and cultural similarities between Native Americans and China people. So far, no conclusive evidence has been found. In addition, there is evidence that China may have arrived in America 142 1-70 years earlier than Columbus. Zheng He visited the United States in late 15 and early 16. Menzies found a plan of the earth drawn in 1459 in Venice, with South Africa and the Cape of Good Hope painted on it, and a Chinese sailboat painted next to it. The Cape of Good Hope was discovered by da Gama in 1479. To this end, menzies concluded that the nautical chart of Europe may come from China. According to their sailing experience, the crew of Zheng He's fleet drew 24 nautical charts, including Zheng He's Nautical Chart and Xing Cha Sheng Lan. It is Zheng He's nautical chart that European navigators carry out maritime exploration activities. China's ancient ships, stone anchors, fishing gear and other relics have been found at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea. Menzies used his knowledge of wind direction and tide to infer that nine ocean-going sailboats in Zheng He's fleet sank to the bottom of the Caribbean Sea in142165438+February. However, the materials and shapes of ancient sunken ships and stones scattered on the bottom of the Caribbean Sea are the same as those of ancient China ships salvaged from Philippine waters. This shows that the ships of Zheng He's fleet have been there and sunk there. China developed shipbuilding and navigation in the Ming Dynasty. At that time, many shipyards along the southeast coast of China were able to build ocean-going sailboats. 1405 Since June, Zheng He's fleet has made seven voyages to the Western Ocean, reaching more than 30 countries. Zheng He's treasure ship, captain 150 meters, has excellent navigation performance and the ability to sail around the world, and was the first to reach America. However, if you want to ask who really "discovered" America-the first person to set foot on the American continent. During the Pleistocene, the Codran and Laurentide ice fields formed a narrow corridor and a land bridge between Russia and Alaska today. So far, archaeological evidence shows that the first people-later "the first Americans"-crossed the continental bridge and entered North America through this corridor. When traveling south, these people will encounter deciduous forests in the northern part of the Gulf Coast, including oak, hickory and beech. These migrations took a long time because the ice sheet melted and closed the corridor. A road map for potential immigrants to enter the United States, but who are these people? They are likely to come from Asia. In order to find the answer, paleoanthropologists used many different methods: language, dental records and mitochondrial DNA testing. Some people have discussed these methods, revealing that the "First America" is most likely about the language family of American Indians and the Sundadont family with matching dental records, but its mitochondrial DNA is very different from that of modern Asians (indicating that the "split" between modern Asians and Indians occurred at least 2 1000 years ago). What we do know, however, is that after the melting of the ice sheet and the end of the ice age, those who immigrated to the United States-whether on foot or by boat-became relatively isolated from the development of the rest of the world. This isolation led to the loss of immunity to diseases, and when Europeans visited, diseases came back to haunt the indigenous people.