First in the Americas.?

Question

We all know that it was not Columbus who found the Americas. There is evidance that Chinese,Egyptians,Vikings had landed far before. Who was the first then?

Answer 1

The native Americans were there first, and it's believed they crossed via the Bering sea. However, there a number of contenders for the "next" wave of colonists.
The Vikings did land in Vinland (Newfoundland) and probably got as far south as New York.
The Chinese appear to have landed on the West coast in the 1460's (more than likely in south / central America).
There are other contenders too, the Welsh Prince Madog is supposedly to have traveled in the 9th(?) century (and landed near Mobile Bay, Alabama.)
St. Brendan from Ireland is also supposed to have made the same journey at about the same time. However, I think these are myths used by the English as a means of justifying the legitimacy of their claims to territories
I doubt the Egyptians managed to succeed, however, if you were to say the who was the first of the next wave of colonists to land on continental America, I'd have to say it was John Cabot (like Columbus, he was looking for an alternate route to India). Columbus also never set foot on continental America he discovered the Caribbean islands. And theres fierce debate as to where Kennewick man (whose remains were discovered on the banks of the Ohio river) fit into the overall scheme of things since he appears to be of an earlier wave of colonisation than Native americans.

The main thing with the success of colonisation is the "technology gap", the Chinese, Vikings, Welsh etc. had pretty much the same technology as the natives. (hand to hand weapons and bows) so there was no real advantage had militarily. However, by the arrival of Columbus and Cabot, weapons (for them) had progressed to firearms, giving an increased "stand off" advantage.

Answer 2

There is evidence for the Chinese landing in the Americas, pre-Columbus however Columbus discovered the Caribbean not the American continental mass, that honour went to John Cabot (real name Giovanni Caboti) one of whose benefactors was called John Americ, (guess where the name for America came from...).

The Chinese landed in 1421 according to the source below, however the evidence is considered dubious by many.

The Vikings would have beaten both though as if their settlements were real they would have been there a few hundred years earlier.

EDIT: Good call Veronica:)

I was aware of the stars and stripes link to coat of arms of Americ/Amorique however as far as I know the flag was introduced under the Continental Congress in the early 1770s so I am little unsure as to whether it is co-incidental considering the amount of time passing between the 2 events.

That said I don't discount it either as it does have strong merit as evidence, just not conclusive.

Answer 3

I have a different candidate. Celtic peoples traveled far and wide over the oceans, from Ireland to France to the shores of the Mediterranean. They routinely fished the Grand Banks near what is now Newfoundland for centuries. This is documented at least 200 years before Columbus, and probably earlier. It seems unlikely that they never set foot on the shore. In fact, carvings of what look like Celtic runes have been found in a number of locations on teh East Coast. My vote for that area is the Celts. For the West Coast, the best evidence so far is for the Chinese.

Answer 4

I've heard the Vikings were here before Columbus, but I've never heard the Chinese or Egyptians were. Of course, the Native Americans were here long before any of them.

Edit: Here's an article about the Chinese supposedly discovering America in 1421: http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/books/01/13/1421/index.html

Answer 5

The Asians who crossed over the land bridge during the last Ice Age. We know them as Native Americans. But beyond that, there is genetic evidence that some isolated South American people are descended from the Chinese.

Answer 6

homo Neanderthal crossed the Bering sea as did homo erectus during the last years of the ice age ,they journeyed across what is now Alaska and Canada ,through the us and Mexico in search of fertile hunting grounds , these people would evolve to become the tribes of the western world

as far as explorers go Leaf Ericson (Viking explorer ) is creadited as the first to see north america , folowed by english explore John Cabot ,spanish conquistedor Henandus De Soto ,Jac cartiar(who brot the first horses to the new world) and a berage of others would jurney to the americas

Answer 7

The first peoples to inhabit the mainland of the Americas would have made the land crossing over what is now the bearing straights before they became part of the Arctic Ocean,,,,they then migrated south through what is now Canada the US and into central and south America,this was done before the last Ice Age some 10,000 years ago and was probably done some 50,000 years ago or longer...

Answer 8

I have read some where in my distant past that
evidence had been found to prove it was the
Vikings and i think a movie was made about how
it came to be.

Answer 9

Grog of the Cave Bear Clan was dubbed "first to enter America" by the elders of the tribe for being the first to cross the Bering Strait Ice Bridge in 35,563 BC as he was chasing wholly mammoths...

Answer 10

Just a small addition to The Pirate Captain - Cabot, the modern discoverer of the Americas, sailed from Bristol in his ship "The Matthew" - there is a replica of her in Bristol Docks. His sponsor, Amorique's coat of arms shows, still visible, stars and stripes - guess where the American flag came from?