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<?null // This is a persuasive essay for EngComp. /* Columbus should not be recognized as the discoverer of North America. Far before he arrived on these shores, Scandinavian Vikings discovered this land. It would erroneous to continue attributing the European discovery of America to Christopher Columbus. It is a popular misconception in our culture to assume that Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover America. In the year 1492, he did land on these shores and begin a settlement. This eventually led to America becoming a piece of the British Empire. In time, the people settled here revolted from British control and The United States of America founded itself as a nation. We are all familiar with this loose telling of our nation's history. What many are not familiar with are the details of this discovery and, more importantly, what occurred here prior to 1492. "In 1492, Columbus Sailed The Ocean Blue" In the early 1480's, Christopher Columbus developed a new route to the Indies. Aware of the Earth's spherical shape, Columbus deduced that he could sail westward over the Ocean Sea (Atlantic Ocean) to arrive at his destination. He presented this plan to the court of Portugal in 1485. This request was denied. A common misconception is this denial and all of the other resistance he met was due to the popular belief of the Earth being flat. In fact, most learned men of the time were well aware of the Earth's shape. Celestial navigation relied on this knowledge. The real reason behind the resistance Columbus met was due to the assumed distance. It was commonly believed that half of the earth was land, and the other half water. After this initial denial by the court of Portugal, Columbus traveled to Spain to plead his case. He presented his case to the Spanish royalty and lobbied it for seven years. Finally, in 1492, Spain granted his request. Columbus was made Admiral of Ocean Sea and granted governorship of any new territories he may discover. Such generous declarations were likely made because the royalty of Spain did not believe Columbus would return from his voyage. On the 3rd day of August, 1492, Columbus departed Palos in command of three ships: Santa Maria, Pinta, and Nina. A few weeks into the voyage, members of the crew began growing homesick and fearful. Legend has it that they spoke of hurling Columbus overboard and sailing back to Spain. On the 7th of October, the crew spotted shore-birds flying westward. Columbus turned the ships in their direction and, at 2am on the 12th day of October, a sailor aboard the Pinta spotted land. Coming ashore, Columbus named this land San Salvador and made a legendary settlement we now call America. Vinland In the early 11th century, legendary Viking Eric the Red conquered what is known as Greenland. Shortly after this conquest, Eric's son, Leifur Eiriksson makes the decision to depart Greenland in search of new lands spotted by Biarni Heriulfsson while attempting to navigate to Greenland; a task he had previously never undertaken. Leifur gathers a crew of 35 men and set sail from Greenland to discover these new islands. Upon arriving, Leifur and his crew built a house for the winter and began exploring the surrounding area. A crewman by the name of Tyrker, while exploring, found grapes and vines. As spring came upon the men, they gathered wood, vines, and grapes as cargo to bring back to Greenland. In departing, Leifur named the island Vinland, or, "Wine-Land." Back home, Leifur's tales of Vinland spread around. Soon, his brother, Thorvald, decides to set out to further explore and possibly settle Vinland. He and his crew arrive, but this time encounter more than merely vines and grapes. Chestnut-haired natives showed themselves to be hostile. Thorvald's crew battled some and them departed Vinland. Wounded in the battle, Thorvald died enroute. Thorfinn Karlsefni, son of Thord Horsehead and a grandson of legendary Edda transcriber Snorri, assembled a crew of 70 to create solid settlement in Vinland. For a time, this deed was accomplished. Trades between the Norsemen and natives, whom Thorvald called Skrellings, went on for some days until one Skrelling attempted to steal a weapon from the settlement. This initiated another battle between the Viking settlers and the natives. After some time of battle, Thorfinn, like those before him, decided to depart Vinland. Miseducation With evidence in both Norse saga and archaeological finds that the Vikings had discovered and landed on the eastern coast of North America nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus, how can we continue to mislead our children into giving undue credit? Leifur Eiriksson was the first European in known history to set foot on American soil. It is an affront to our nation, its historical record, and the Norse to continue presenting this misconception as fact. Bibliography "Christopher Columbus." from Wikipedia. URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christopher_Columbus "The Discovery of North America by Leif Ericsson, c.1000 from The Saga of Eric the Red, 1387." from the Modern History Sourcebook. Paul Halsall, August 1998. URL: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1000Vinland.html "Vinland, Canadian History." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright 2003, Columbia University Press. URL: http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/V/Vinland.html "Thorfinn Karlsefni, Explorers, Travelers, And Conquerors." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright 2003, Columbia University Press. URL: http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/T/Thorfinn.html */ ?> -- Posted by sku11fukkr to ...Come The Wolves at 9/30/2005 08:39:00 AM |
