Is anyone here married to the idea Columbus had to be the first discoverer of the Americas? I’m not. It was he who came and opened up the Americas in semi-modern times, his and the subsequent ships that came over. His efforts were key to the modern 15 century and on opening up of the territory we now call the United States.
If others came also, the fact is they didn’t open up the Americas.
Now I will say that those who populated the U. S. through the Native American erra, also opened up the Americas, and a full study of their efforts is also interesting and valid.
They could effectively be given credit for a prior opening up of the Americas. In modern times, it’s Columbus.
Our current civilization has every right to recognize Columbus for his efforts.
None of this actually bothers me, but it seems there’s always this effort to trump Columbus. It truly grates some people that he is recognized at all.
I find this fascinating. I was surprised to learn that the very oldest evidence of human life on the continent of North America was discovered in the Badlands.
That was what got people's attention.
Mrs. Joe is Chippewa. She says "What are we, chopped liver?" "Just because we walked across..."
Oh, boy, D.O., have we ever discussed that. If you're really, really interested you might want to consider joining SunkenCiv's GGG ping list. It's a fairly frequent topic.
And, no, none of us is married to the idea Columbus was the first.