The discovery of the Americas by Columbus in 1492, is widely accepted as historical fact. Of course, the indigenous peoples of the Americas are testimony to the fact that the Americas were discovered a long time before that, although of course Europeans then (and many still today) regarded Non-Europeans with scant regard, and as little more than savages.
The fact is though, the discovery by Columbus was a re-discovery really, for there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that the Americas have been discovered numerous times, by a variety of civilizations. The voyage of Leif Erikkson to Vinland around 1000 A.D. has found proof in the discovery of Norse settlement remains at L'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland. The Norse sagas recounting their skirmishes with the "Skrellings", the native American Indians, is additionally compelling.
But what of other visits to the American shores?, well there is evidence to suggest that Columbus had sufficient evidence, gleaned from previous reorded visits, to convince him that the Americas existed. He may well have possessed a map as well. In 1396, Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney and Earl of Roslin (hmmmm), accompanied by some members of the Zeno family from Venice, set sail for North America, using the same sailing methods employed by the Vikings almost 400 years before, which of course would have been well known to the Sinclairs, who were descended from Norse royal stock. The Templar Tower at Newport in Nova Scotia, along with templar graves there, must have been left as reminders of the voyage. It must be remembered that the legends of the Miqmaq Indians also recall their meetings with these knights, in which there was no violence this time around.
Another reminder however was the Zeno narrative, a map, of which a copy may eventually have made its way into Columbus' hands. This combined with Columbus' visit to Iceland in 1477 suggest that he was amassing evidence on the existence of the Americas in advance of his triumphant voyage where he would claim he had been the discoverer.
Other possible early claimants to an American voyage of discovery are:
- Possible earlier visits to the Americas by Chinese, Egyptians, Phoenicians and many other races.
There is also plenty evidence to suggest that peoples from the Americas crossed the Atlantic many times in the past, often to a less than friendly welcome, but you'll just have to look for details of those encounters yourself!
