2007-06-03 03:01:07 · 24 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
no he did not
2007-06-03 03:03:38 · answer #1 · answered by Splishy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Popular history says that when Columbus hit landfall in North America he believed he was in India and that is what most people accept.
However, Columbus was not an idiot. He was a very experienced navigator and sailor and had travelled extensively all over Europe and the Mediterranean and had undoubtedly talked to people or heard second hand of people who had sailed westwards.
Fisherman from the British Isles are believed to have fished the Grand Banks (in the Atlantic, off Nova Scotia) since around 1000 AD and the voyages of the Vikings to Greenland and North America were not unknown in the 15th century. The Turkish admiral Piri Reis produced a map in 1521 (71 years before Columbus' first voyage) which showed a landmass lying between Europe and Asia and it is very possible that Columbus may have seen this map, or a copy of it, or heard of the details.
However, I (along with many other historians) believe that if Columbus had talked of another continent he would been regarded as crazy. And even those who thought he might be right would probably have been reluctant to invest money when they did not know if there was anything there worth having. By claiming to have found another route to "the Indies" which were known to be the source of valuable trade goods, it was easier for Columbus to get financing for the venture.
So, in short, yes, some people do believe that Columbus knew America existed before he set sail.
2007-06-03 22:40:17 · answer #2 · answered by marguerite L 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, Columbus did not. He was looking for a more economical and simply an easier route from Europe to what we know of as the Far East. If he knew of it, it would have been exploited and colonised long before Columbus ever lived. It is quite likely a lot of people knew about the Americas before Columbus' voyage, and it is thought lilely that several Scottish and English fisherman have encountered huge areas of land out past Greenland, plus, many historians suspect Vikings to have settled in Newfoundland in the late 900s, but no, Coumbus did not know about the Americas.
2007-06-03 17:17:20 · answer #3 · answered by xxflibxx 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, he thought that he could save time by sailing west adn reaching India. India was important for trade and valuable items which were not available in Britain. To do that you had to sail all the way around Africa to get there. Assume that you did not know that America was there and you would imagine that if you went west you would hit India and that is where he thought he was when then boat landed on American shores. That is why Native Americans were once and sometimes still are called Indians as this was what Columbus named them.
2007-06-06 17:35:08 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No Spain was looking for a short cut to the Far East for the Spices. Portugal controlled the trade back then by sailing all the way around Africa and to India and China. That was a very long and dangerous trip. He convinced the Queen of Spain he could find a shorter route going west.
2007-06-03 10:05:50 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
He may have heard of Viking discovery of lands to the West but he believed that Cuba was Japan and did not realise what he had discovered. Magellan made the same mistake of underestimating the size of the Pacific and believing the Rio de la Plata was a way to what we now call the far East.
2007-06-03 15:13:06 · answer #6 · answered by David P 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. H was not aware of America. He was going to India, that is what he was thinking and landed in West Indies. Much later one Italian sailor Amerigo Vespuchi sailed to America and found out that it was not India and that it was a new continent. His name of Amerigo was named after that new continent and was known as America.
2007-06-03 10:26:15 · answer #7 · answered by rajan l 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
no..he ended up in the wrong place.
he set sail hoping to get to india where he could get spices but when he sailed around, he discovered that the world was round, not flat.
2007-06-03 10:04:18 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
According to the legend of history, he didn't know what we call America existed.
2007-06-03 10:09:04 · answer #9 · answered by Beau R 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no , he was going for India.. when he met the natives of America then.he thought they were Indians.. but was proved wrong.. neverthless they were named Red Indians(for reddish tint in their skin color) or American Indians.
Eventually Vasco da gama found out India and the ocean leading to it was named Indian Ocean.
2007-06-03 11:03:22 · answer #10 · answered by crenshaw_jo 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think he knew the place but didn't know what the country's name was. And before everyone thought the world was flat.
2007-06-03 10:05:20 · answer #11 · answered by Naruhodo 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋