Who first visited America. Great and unfortunate. Country house in different styles

Everyone from school knows the story of how in 1492 the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus reached the shores of America, mistaking it for India. Many believe that this historical moment is the discovery of America, however, everything was much more complicated.

First Europeans in North America

Modern archaeological data suggest that the real discoverers of America were the Scandinavian Vikings. Written sources telling about these travels are:

"The Saga of the Greenlanders";
"The Saga of Eric the Red".

Both works described the events of the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century. They told about the sea expeditions of the Icelanders and Norwegians to the west. The first person to decide long journey among polar ice was an adventurer and navigator Eric the Red. Eric committed several murders for which he was expelled first from Norway, then from Iceland. After the second exile, Eric gathered a whole flotilla of 30 ships and set off west. There he opened huge island who named Greenland. The first Viking settlements appeared here, gradually turning into full-fledged colonies that existed for several centuries.

However, the Vikings did not stop there and continued to move west. According to medieval evidence, at the end of the 10th century, the Vikings knew about the existence of a certain land called Vinland. The inhabitants of Vinland, according to the descriptions of the Scandinavians, were short, swarthy, with wide cheekbones and dressed in animal skins.

Similar legends existed among the natives of North America. Among the Indians who lived in Canada, there was a legend about the mythical kingdom of tall white-skinned and fair-haired people who had a lot of gold and furs.

For a long time, the fact that the Vikings were in North America remained unconfirmed. But in the 1960s, a real Scandinavian settlement was discovered on the island of Newfoundland. Presumably, it was founded by Eric the Red, and then headed by his followers, including the daughter and daughter-in-law of the navigator. However, this Scandinavian colony did not last long. Due to conflicts with the Indians, the Vikings had to leave Vinland.

Another indisputable fact in favor of the presence of the Vikings in North America was put forward by geneticists. Scientists studying the origins of the modern inhabitants of Iceland discovered the presence of Indian blood in their genes. And in 2010, anthropologists were able to study the remains of an Americanoid woman, which influenced the genetic structure of the Icelanders. Obviously, she was taken as a slave from North America to Iceland at the beginning of the 11th century.

Thus, the first people who discovered America for Europeans were undoubtedly the Vikings.

Activities of Amerigo Vespucci

Due to the fact that the Vinland colony existed for only a few years, specific information about it was gradually erased from people's memory. Once open America again ceased to exist for Europeans. When Christopher Columbus set off on his journey, only two continents were depicted on world maps - Eurasia and Africa. In 1498 to India through Pacific Ocean passed the Portuguese Vasco da Gamma. His journey ended successfully, and then it became known in Europe that the lands reached by Columbus were not India at all. All this had a negative impact on the authority of the Italian navigator. Columbus was declared a fraud and stripped of all his discoverer privileges.

The person who mapped the new lands and, later, gave them his name, was the Florentine Amerigo Vespucci. Initially, Vespucci was a financier. In 1493, he was approached by Christopher Columbus, who had recently returned from his first expedition and wanted to continue exploring open lands. Columbus decided that the land he discovered was some islands in Asia that required closer study. Vespucci agreed to finance Columbus' subsequent voyages. And in 1499, Vespucci decided to leave the banking chair for the sake of sea adventures and he goes on an expedition to unknown lands.

Vespucci's path lay to the shores of South America, while the traveler used the maps that Columbus gave him. Vespucci carefully studied the coast and came to the conclusion that these were not separate Asian islands, but the whole mainland. Vespucci decided to call these lands the New World.

Many European monarchs became aware of the expeditions of the former banker. At the beginning of the 16th century, Vespucci served as a cartographer, cosmographer and navigator to the Spanish and Portuguese monarchs.

In total, Vespucci participated in three trips. In their course, he:

explored the coasts of Brazil and Venezuela;
explored the mouth of the Amazon;
managed to climb the Brazilian Highlands.

From his travels, Vespucci brought slaves, sandalwood and travel notes, which were later published and sold in large numbers. Apart from their geographical discoveries, Vespucci described in his diaries mores local residents, flora and fauna of new lands.

Already in 1507, the first maps appeared, on which new mainland. According to the tradition that developed during this period, the lands of the New World began to be called America - in honor of Amerigo Vespucci.

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America is a part of the world that Columbus is credited with officially discovering, but history is full of dark spots.

The modern United States occupies one of the key roles in political strife, has a serious influence on other countries and world economy. But the path to such a high level was long and thorny. It all started with the discovery of America.

Christopher Columbus was a Spanish navigator who discovered two new continents for Europeans. He made 4 expeditions, each of which was sent by kings, hoping to find a short trade route with India.

The first expedition consisted of three ships with a total of 91 people. She ended up on the island of San Salvador on October 12, 1492.

The second expedition, consisting of 17 ships and 1500 people, lasted from 1493 to 1496. During this time, Columbus discovered Dominica, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, about 20 more Small Antilles. In June, he already reported to the government about his amazing finds.

The third expedition, which included 6 ships, set off in 1498, and two years later returned to their native shores. Several more lands were discovered, including Trinidad, Margarita, the Araya and Paria peninsulas.

The last expedition, which sailed in 1502, included 4 ships. Within two years, the islands of Martinique, Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica were discovered. Columbus crashed near Jamaica, and help arrived only a year later. The travelers arrived in their native Castile in November 1504.

Date when America was discovered - Vikings in 1000

Eric the Red was known as a great Viking. His son, Leif Erickson, was the first to set foot on American soil. After wintering in its open spaces, Erickson and his expedition returned to Greenland. This happened around the year 1000.

Two years later, brother Thorvald Erikson, the second son of Eric the Red, founded his settlement on the territory discovered by his brother. Less than a month later, local Indians attacked his people, killing Torvald and forcing the rest to return home.

In the future, the daughter of Erik the Red Freydis and his daughter-in-law Gudrid also tried to conquer new territories. The latter even managed to trade with the Indians, offering various goods. But the Viking settlement could not survive in America for more than 10 years, despite constant attempts.

When did Amerigo Vespucci discover America?

Amerigo Vespucci, after whom, according to some historians, the continents are named, first visited the New World as a navigator. Alonso de Ojeda's expedition route was chosen using a map created by Christopher Columbus. Together with him, Amerigo Vespucci took about a hundred slaves, who were the indigenous inhabitants of America.

Vespucci visited new territory twice more - in 1501-1502 and from 1503 to 1504. If the Spaniard Christopher wanted to stock up on gold, then the Florentine Amerigo wanted to discover as many new lands as possible in order to gain fame and save his name in history.

What does Wikipedia say about the dates of the discovery of America?

The famous Wikipedia tells about the discovery of the continents of America with unprecedented detail. In the open spaces world encyclopedia you can find information about all the expeditions to the New World, about each of the possible discoverers, the further history of the Indians.

Wikipedia calls the date of the discovery of America October 12, 1492, referring to Christopher Columbus.

It was he who managed not only to discover new territories, but to capture them on his map. Amerigo Vespucci was able to provide Europeans with a more complete picture of how the continents look. Although his "complete" map was significantly different from the modern one.

In what year after the discovery did the settlement of America begin?

The settlement of American soil began many thousands of years before her official opening. It is believed that the ancestors of the Indians were the Eskimos, Inuit, Aleuts. The Vikings, as you know, also tried to take over the territories of the New World. But they did not succeed - the indigenous people protected it too jealously.

After the discoveries of Columbus and Vespucci, almost 50 years passed before the first European settlements appeared.

IN American city St. Augusting in 1565 was organized the first small settlement of the Spaniards.

In 1585, the first British colony of Roanoke was created, which was destroyed by the Indians. The next attempt by the British was a colony in Virginia, which appeared in 1607.

And finally, the first colony in New England was the village, located in Plymouth in 1620. It is this year that is recognized as the official date for the colonization of the New World.

Possible discoverers before Christopher Columbus

There are many people on the list of possible discoverers. Historians cannot find reliable facts about this, but there are sources indicating that the information is still correct.

Of the hypothetical discoverers, it is worth highlighting:

Phoenicians - 370 BC;
ancient Egyptians;
Hui Shen, who was a Buddhist monk who did the first, as it turned out, trip around the world- V century;
Irish monk Brendan, who followed in the footsteps of Shen - VI century;
Malay Sultan Abubakar II - 1330;
Chinese explorer Zheng He - 1420;
Portuguese Juan Corterial - 1471.

These persons had pure intentions, they were not looking for fame and gold, therefore they did not tell the general public about their find. They weren't trying to bring back evidence or enslave the Native Americans. Perhaps that is why their names are not familiar to most contemporaries, and the discoverer of the new land is indicated by the more cruel and greedy for gold Christopher Columbus.

The fate of the natives of America

The history of the discovery of America is presented in modern history as a joyful event that laid the foundation for a new nation of "emigrants". But it also became a nightmare for many Indians who had to endure the indescribable horrors created by the conquerors.

The Spaniards killed several thousand native Americans, and took several hundred into slavery. They made fun of the Indians, killed with particular cruelty, not sparing even babies. The “whites”, who arrived in the new lands, sprinkled them with blood, reducing the joyful discovery to a bloody massacre.

One of the Indians watching the fate, the priest Bartolome de Las Casas, who arrived with Columbus, tried to protect the Indians, even went to the Spanish court in the hope of pardoning them. As a result, the court decided whether it was worth calling the Indians people at all, whether they had a soul.

The negative attitude is explained by the fact that Columbus left his team to look after the New World and went home. When he returned, he saw all his people dead. As it turned out, the Spaniards became impudent, beating the men and raping the women of the tribe, as well as killing the recalcitrant. The Indians, who initially considered the “whites” to be gods, quickly realized how things were and began to defend themselves. This is what led to further tragic incidents.

In any case, the discovery of America- a worthy event, which today is considered one of the loudest in the history of civilization.

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, it can be said that the discovery American continent happened quite by accident and the motives were very banal - 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, 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. 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 - great spanish navigator. Information about where he was born and spent his childhood is scarce and contradictory. It is known that being young, Christopher was fond of cartography. He was married to the daughter of a sailor. In 1470, the geographer and astronomer Toscanelli informed Columbus of his assumptions that the journey to India was shorter if one sailed west. Apparently then Columbus began to hatch his idea of shortcut to India, while, according to his calculations, it was necessary to sail through the Canary Islands, and there Japan would already be close.
Since 1475, Columbus has been trying to implement the idea and make an expedition. The purpose 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 the merchants of Genoa, but he was not supported. The second attempt to find funding for the expedition was the Portuguese king João II, however, even here, after a long study of the project, he was refused.

IN 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 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, would receive not only the gifts and wealth of new lands, but also receive, in addition to the status of a nobleman, the title of Admiral of the Sea-Ocean and Viceroy of all lands, which he would open. For Spain, a successful expedition promised not only the development of new lands, but also the opportunity to trade directly with India, since according to an agreement concluded with Portugal, Spanish ships were forbidden to enter the waters west coast Africa.

When and how did Columbus discover America?

Historians consider 1942 to be the year of the discovery of America, although this is rather approximate data. 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 arrived in new and new lands, believing that these were 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 a direct route to India and brought gifts and spices from there.

What America did Christopher Columbus discover? We can say that thanks to his expeditions since 1492, Columbus discovered both the 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, but in fact this is not entirely true.

There is data that New World"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 science community does not take them seriously, as there is no reliable data. For example, America was previously visited African traveler from Mali - Abu Bakr II, Scottish nobleman Henry Sinclair, Chinese traveler Zheng He.

Why is 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 is not India or China, but a completely new previously unknown mainland. It is believed that this is why the name America was assigned to the new land, and not its discoverer - Columbus.

«- Okay, take care of it! There are many memories associated with this suitcase.
- What memories? No trip...
- About all the trips we never took…»
Jack and Jill: Suitcase Love

Nowadays, everyone is hearing that the discovery of America belongs to a gentleman named Christopher Columbus. This is where the school program for covering such a grandiose event usually ends, and those who are interested have to look for it on their own. necessary information in the library and the Internet. At this moment, the most interesting thing comes: a person learns that with Columbus' visit to America, not everything is so simple. There is evidence that he was not at all 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 to establish who was the first to officially set foot on the coast of a new continent and declared it the New World.

Columbus expedition, 1492

The end of the 15th century, there are still many unexplored places where no man has ever set foot. Obsessed with great plans to conquer everything and everything, the Spaniards decide to create great expedition To Canary Islands, consisting of three high-speed caravels, one of which was the Santa Maria, a ship whose admiral was Christopher Columbus. Ahead of him were months of travel and one of the main achievements in the history of mankind. On August 3, 1492, the ship weighed anchor and set sail.

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 an audience with the royal couple who ruled Spain. Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon invited the explorer to 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 the journey. It would be unforgivable to refuse such an offer.

An additional incentive in the proposal of the kings was the fact that one-tenth of all the wealth, treasures and goods that Columbus manages to exchange or find in new lands, the traveler can take for himself, while the remaining nine-tenths will go to the royal treasury. It was a truly generous offer that could have made 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 hereditary forever. He will also be able to retain his privileges for life in the unexplored lands of India discovered by him in advance. All participants in the journey 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 the fractions of the way less than actually passed, in the event that the voyage turned out to be long, so that people would not be overcome by fear and confusion»

The true goals of Christopher Columbus

Despite all the royal promises, the true motives and ideas of Columbus about the Earth of that time remain the subject of controversy 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 change the fact that Columbus was driven more by mercantile interests than by an exploratory spirit.

A generous offer from the royal couple, as well as opportunities to discover new trade routes and the untold riches of the East were much more interesting than to perish in the midst of a storm or die of an unknown disease on unfamiliar shores. It was the thirst for money that became the main incentive for the accomplishment of the most striking geographical discoveries by travelers of those times.

However, if Columbus was prudent, then he also had no mind. Many modern historians assume that the discoverer knew in advance where he would sail. That there is no India beyond the Atlantic Ocean, there is new earth, boundless and uninhabited. There were even rumors that Columbus had a certain map, on which the researchers noted not only the already discovered islands in the Atlantic Ocean, but also East Coast mainland, 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 ball. 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 showing new lands. However, no one has been able to prove it..

Conspiracy theories surrounding the discovery of America

Like any other high-profile scientific discovery, the Columbus voyage quickly acquired its conspiracy theories from detractors and simply because of a lack of information. We do not have the opportunity to check the events that took place in the 15th century, so conjectures and theories will continue to exist. These include the rumors that Columbus himself was looking for an opportunity to travel to the West, because he knew that there was a New Land, so he tried to persuade the kings to equip an expedition for him.

According to some theories, Columbus simply went along the "beaten path" from other navigators who discovered this route long before him. Indeed, to make such a desperate journey through an unfriendly Atlantic Ocean for the ships of those times, it seemed, if possible, then deadly.

Despite the fact that the majority of historians are of the opinion that it was Columbus who discovered America, many people appeared, including those respected in the scientific community, who suggest that the mainland was discovered long before historical journey Columbus 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, which is why Menzies's book has caused unrest among the masses. At the same time, the scientific community is in no hurry to take seriously everything said in this book.

« Thursday, 11 October. They sailed west-southwest. For all the time of the voyage, there had never been such excitement at sea. We saw "pardelas" and green reeds near the ship itself. People from the caravel "Pinta" noticed a reed and a branch and fished out a hewn, possibly iron, stick and a piece of reed, and other herbs that would be born on the earth, and one plank. People on the caravel "Ninya" saw other signs of the earth and a twig dotted with wild rose berries. Everyone was inspired and delighted to see 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 yet, in one of the Chinese cities called Tangu, the ships of the fleet of the Great Emperor were preparing to sail. The venerable Zheng He became the commander of the flotilla. More than a hundred huge unique ships went to the open sea. None of the powers in the world had similar ships: they were real autonomous floating giants that could calmly survive any bad weather on the high seas.

At that time, a great festival was held in China Forbidden city, after which the emperor instructed his admiral Zheng He to play the role of a kind of taxi driver, and disperse 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 to return home, but instead look "to the ends of the earth" and collect tribute from all the barbarians that they meet on the way, and also wrap them in Confucianism in order to make them civilized people.

This journey of the Golden Fleet was the largest of all 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. the globe, inflicting all six continents on it, and also bypassed all the oceans.

Obsessed with his idea to dispel the influence of Columbus, Menzies for many years collected the facts of the Great China Journey bit by bit, which have remained to us since those times. His task was made more difficult by the fact that all of Zheng He's diaries and ship 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 the wreckage of the junks could have been brought to Australia and America by the current, the research of Gavin Menzies cannot be ignored in the framework of modern history. Archaeologists have also found Chinese cards, on which all the continents were applied, including America. Menzies is sure that these maps are much older than Columbus himself.

Amerigo Vespucci and the famous confusion

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

The traveler's research was inspired by the Italian Amerigo Vespucci, who a few years later shared his thoughts on 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 it's a brand 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 the discovery of America by Columbus was lost in the writings, and in the same year, the German cartographer Waldseemüller, based on the letters of Vespucci, proposed to name new part light of America in honor of the name Amerigo. All this he reflected in his book "Introduction to Cosmography". It is noteworthy that although Vespucci wrote about Columbus, Waldseemüller did not attach any importance to this.

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

Since then, the controversy has not subsided. If Columbus did not understand that he discovered the New World, and Vespucci did it for him, then can the discovery of the mainland be attributed to the latter?
However, there is evidence that people conditionally discovered new continents long before the travel of the Chinese, Columbus and Vespucci's assumptions.

Ambitious Vikings

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

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

Hjorlfson's stories inspired another Greenlander, Leif Erickson, 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 along with 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 went on, simultaneously giving the stone land a name - Helluland, the Country of Boulders.

The travelers went on to Canadian coasts covered with vegetation and forests. The Vikings also gave this land a name - Markland, forest land. The young and eager for profit did not stop there, so they went further south. A few days later they dropped anchor in one of the coastal bays. Having gone ashore, friends found real wild grapes among other vegetation, so they called this area Vinland. Modern historians have found that this bay is now located in Massachusetts.

Returning after a long journey along unfamiliar lands, the Nords did not want to miss the opportunity to settle them, so two years later they equipped new expedition. Leif's brother, the famous Thorvald, went to the shores of America and anchored in the place of his brother's last anchorage - 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 a few Indians, and captured the rest. On the same night, the Indians came to avenge the murdered brothers, and brought down a hail of 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 to settle in the uninhabited lands. Almost two hundred people sailed here on three boats, established relations with local population and even built a village here. However, the Indians soon sharply changed their attitude towards uninvited guests, and flatly refused to share their lands with them. A bloody war broke out again between people, and traces of the Scandinavians soon completely disappeared from the shores of America.