who was it that discovered america?

Question

was it the same person that discovered that the earth was not flat?

Answer 1

Sarayu does a nice job of explaining how it IS appropriate to say that Columbus discovered, of even 'was the first to discover' America. (By the way, the main reason Amerigo Vespucci's name became associated with the new lands was that he was the first to argue, in print, that this was NOT part of Asia --as Columbs thought till his death-- but a new continent.)

But you have one key fact VERY wrong. Columbus was NOT 'the one who discovered that the world was round'. He did not disagree with his critrics on this point. Contrary to a popular view spread over the past three centuries by a group of men who were very antagonistic to the Catholic Church, Columbus's critics --and indeed ALL educated Europeans had known that the world was round for a couple of millennia! (And we have plenty of their writings that show they knew this.) THE reason that some opposed Columbus's proposal had NOTHING to do with an absurd 'fear of falling off the earth' but with different calculation of the earth's SIZE. His critics actually had a much more accurate estimate of its size and so of the great distance from Europe to Asia for one sailing west ... and had Columbus not run into unexpected lands in between he would have died at sea, precisely as they warned. (No ship of that time was yet capable to making that long a voyage without stops.)

http://www.taemag.com/issues/articleid.17713/article_detail.asp

Answer 2

When you even use the term discover you automatically are resolving yourself to the imperialist mindset that you can "discover" any place on this earth. What we today call America at one time was part of a huge land mass known in some academic circles as Pangea. That is why there were people here prior to the more modern "discoveries" of Amerigo Vespucci and Christopher Columbus. That is also why there are ostriches in Africa and emus in Australia. I think the question that would be easier to answer is who first conquered the peoples of America and laid claim to their lands while contributing to the demise of their languages and cultures. Don't mean to sound bitter but as an African American w/ some Cherokee Indian blood coursing through me this question begs for a serious discussion about cultural genocide or it cannot be answered properly. Please find a copy of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the Unites States and read it cover to cover.

Answer 3

Even though Columbus wasn't the first, his discovery (or re-discovery, if you prefer) is rightly regarded as the most historically important, and will continue to be -- even if other earlier claims are eventually proven true. That is because, unlike the others, Columbus inaugurated permanent large scale two-way commerce between the Old World and the New. Previous discoveries were so obscure that almost no one in either hemisphere was aware of the other hemisphere's existence prior to Columbus. But after Columbus, everyone knew.
Everyone recognizes that many people were in America long before Columbus. The Asiatic peoples who became Native Americans were certainly the first, tens of thousands of years ago. Also Norse expeditions to North America, starting with Bjarni Herjolfsson in 986, are well established historically. Many other pre-Columbian discoveries are not well established. Claims have been made for St. Brendan, Basque fishermen, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Africans, and even Carthaginians. Some of these claims may be true; most are probably not.

For example, Gavin Menzies recently made a big splash by claiming in a bestselling book that America (and most of the rest of the world) was discovered in 1421 by the Chinese Admiral Zheng He. While it is true that Zheng He made a number of important voyages, none of them went beyond the Indian Ocean, as numerous contemporary Chinese accounts make clear. A number of notable scholars have quietly demonstrated that Menzies' evidence is tissue-thin and his claims unfounded.

The "Admiral of the Ocean Sea," Christopher Columbas, unlike his predecessors, changed the world.
VR

Answer 4

Although Columbus was not the first European to step foot in the new world,he was the first to bring recognition to its existence. And brought back proof as to where he had been. Incidentally he thought he was in India at first. His mission was to find a new route to India without having to sail around Africa. He knew the world was not flat,as did many others. (it was Galileo who first discovered this).By sailing west, he knew he would eventually wind up in the east. Little did he know there would be another continent in his way. So when they landed in the Caribbean Islands,they assumed they where in India, hence the name Indian given to the native people of America. By the way...When Americus Vaspucci had mapped out the new world as he was able, he signed the map with his name. Americas...others took that as the name of the land.

Answer 5

there is speculation, here my old 1954 book on Mexico techuawahian, wrong spelling is a city thirty miles north of the original future plan for Mexico city the archaeologist can date the city at 100 AD with a population of 200,000 that's allot more than was in Rome or Athens at the time the problem here is that the recovering archaeologist say that it was a burned out relic then and was 800 years old than the Cortes visit in fifteenth century, problem come in that there is evidence but not to who built the city so it is a marked blank in the history of America on who built the Mayan temple of the sun, one archaeologist have come forward with new evidence and it is needed to eliminate these people as here before the time of Christ building an empire that has nothing to do with the Mexicans who live there after wards, when Montezuma was chief the archaeologist say it was old and unknown who the builders were so it remains a great question today

Answer 6

Why yes it was the same person.
In 1492, (Christopher) Columbus sailed the ocean blue. With 3 ships the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria - which were given to him by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. It is said that Columbus "discovered" America. But, the Indians (tribe not said) were living there when he found land.

Answer 7

No one "discovered" the earth wasn't flat. That fact was well known throughout human history. Only Europeans thought that, before enlightenment (muslims brought europe out of the dark ages)

Amerigo Vespucci is credited with being the first European here, but obviously if there were people here he didn't "discover" it now did he?

Answer 8

I recently saw a show about this on PBS, and they said they are really not for certain who was here first. Asians, which we now call the Native Americans or the Vikings. However it wasn't Columbus, because he is the one who met the native Americans and called them Indians, because he thought he was in India. Columbus was on a mission to prove to the Queen of Spain that the world was round, by sailing off in one direction and returning from the opposite.

Answer 9

Columbus is the first recorded person to explore the western hemisphere, but it was Amerigo Vespucci that is credited with discovering the American mainland. That's how it got the name "America."

Answer 10

the first ship to sight the american continent was a viking ship captained by Biarni (sorry if i spelled it wrong) the first ship to make land fall was captained by Leif Ericson.
the first people to discover the american continent though, were the ones that walked here on the land bridge and became the Native Americans
and 2 cent is right. the ancients knew the world was round before anyone was capable of sailing across the oceans.