what are evidence to give proof of the Vikings before Columbus, why was this discovery viewed over the Viking?

Question

columbus's 'discovery' has been viewed mostly over the overwhelming evidence of nordic presence in the americas. in schools children are being taught of Columbus and his voyage which were tremendous, but the overwhelming evidence of the viking is not really studied.

Answer 1

Although the Norse (aka "Vikings") "discovered" North America 500 years before Columbus, their attempt at colonization failed. There are a number of reasons for this, including the personalities involved, but the end result was simply that they did not establish a lasting presence.

Interestingly, a book I read a few years ago suggested that Columbus had actually read some of the Norse accounts and seen one of their maps. The Greenland colony had only been abandoned about a century before his voyage, so this is quite plausible. It was suggested one of the reasons he dropped as far south as he did was that he was trying to avoid a continent that he knew was there, but that he was not interested in. However, having hit land in the Caribbean, he was forced to treat it as a "discovery" in order to hide his earlier duplicity.

Regardless, the land that Columbus did find (the Caribbean and Central America), opened the floodgates in Europe. The timing was right. After centuries of internal conflict, Spain was finally united and becoming expansionistic (besides the New World colonies, Spain also held land in Africa, Italy, and the Low Countries [now Holland]). Within a century, dozens of civil wars had errupted across Europe (part of the fallout of the Protestant Reformation) and there were refugees aplenty to immigrate and settle elsewhere. These were conditions that simply did not exist when the Norse first found Vinland (North America).

So, Christopher Columbus is given precedence over Leif Erikson (the Norseman who found what is now called "Newfoundland") in the study of history because Columbus' "discovery" had the greater impact in the end.

Answer 2

The reason for that is because Columbus was on an exploratory mission to circle the world, and although he thought he had found India, he still returned to Europe to tell people that he had made a discovery. With the Vikings, there was no great revelation, they almost stumbled upon the New World, and the word did not spread that there was new land. Had the Vikings gone futher south and settled there, it would have been a different story, but the communication was poor, so nobody really saw any promise or a New World, while the Europeans found great value in a more direct route to India, and then later discovered that this was land that was not part of India at all and discovered the New World. So although the Norse made it there, and perhaps the Chinese may have found this land, neither really saw enough value to explore more, while Christopher Columbus' whole goal was to find a passage to East and proove that the world was round.

Answer 3

I have to disagree regarding what children are being taught. My kids, ages 23, 17 and 16, were all taught that there is substantial evidence that the vikings came to America long before Mr. Columbus was born. The fact is that prior to Columbus' landing, there was little interest in finding a new world. European monarchs were much more interested in finding a convenient route to the far east, which was where they felt gold and other items for plunder would be most readily found. The monachs or Europe did not become interested in the new world until subsequent explorers who followed Columbus' lead said their might be gold 'in them thar hills" of the new world. The monarchs of Europe wanted gold. Trade was only considered valuable if it brought more gold to the country's coffers.

Answer 4

The Vikings first landed on Iceland around 900, and then Greenland around 1000. They settled in Newfoundland in the late 1000s and early 1100s, but only one settlement has been discovered, and it appears to only have been occupied for about 80 years. The general consensus is that neither of these areas had a current native population at the time, but natives from mainland Canada and northern Greenland reached Viking settlements and both trading and conflict occurred. The Vikings left Greenland and returned to Iceland in the early 1400s, probably due to a shift in climate. The last official record of Norse settlement was of a 1408 wedding. The area was re-visited by Europeans about a century later, during the height of North American exploration.

Answer 5

There are many good answers that prove the Vikings did come here before Columbus did and why they are not credited for colonization of the new continent. All I can give you is links. The first is The Smithsonian. The next is Vikings in North America website. The final one is Vikings in America. Go from there to the 4th link that takes you to the "The Heavener Runestone State Park" site" I did not post that here. Instead I went to Gloria Stewart Farley in the text. You will read her fascinating account there.

Answer 6

I firmly believe that the Vikings had the tecnology and navigational know-how to have successfully visited north america; As did the Celts, Romans,Chinese etc However if we consider that the Europeas settlers of the 15-19th centuries brought Old-world diseases with them that decimated the native Americans (North and South), isnt it a bit odd that the Vikings didnt do the same as soon as thiey arrived?

So my belief is that although the Vikings could have been to the north-american mainland, they didnt.

Answer 7

Sure it is. While the teaching of history is abysmal in general, I'm sure that the Viking contribution to the discovery of North America is given as much space as that of Columbus. If a more detailed explanation is needed, there is plenty to read at a variety of grade levels. In fact there is more recent material available about the Scandinavian voyages of discovery than new material about Colombus.

Answer 8

History is written by the victors. In this case the Spanish, French and English that settled the Americas.

Answer 9

Actually, there is lots of evidence that Leif Erikson and his countrymen were in North America well before Columbus. One archeological site that is of particular importance is L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland.

Answer 10

the vikings didn't settle in america. they came, pillaged, explored briefly, but never stayed and "inhabited' america. columbus caused an exodus from europe to america. i guess thats why he's credited with this.