Discovery of the continent of america. Who Discovered America - Columbus or Vespucci? What did Christopher Columbus discover? Discoveries of Christopher Columbus

Expeditions of Christopher Columbus

1st expedition

The first expedition of Christopher Columbus (1492-1493) of 91 people on the ships "Santa Maria", "Pinta", "Ninya" left Palos on August 3, 1492, turned west from the Canary Islands (September 9), crossed the Atlantic Ocean to subtropical belt and reached the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, where Christopher Columbus landed on October 12, 1492 (the official date of the discovery of America). On October 14-24, Christopher Columbus visited a number of other Bahamas, and on October 28-December 5, he discovered and surveyed a section of the northeastern coast of Cuba. On December 6, Columbus reached Fr. Haiti and moved along its northern coast. On the night of December 25, the flagship Santa Maria landed on the reef, but people escaped. Columbus on the ship "Ninya" 4-16 January 1493 completed the survey of the northern coast of Haiti and 15 March returned to Castile.

2nd expedition

The 2nd expedition (1493-1496), which Christopher Columbus led already in the rank of admiral, and in the position of viceroy of the newly discovered lands, consisted of 17 ships with a crew of over 1.5 thousand people. On November 3, 1493, Columbus discovered the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe, turning to the Northwest - about 20 more Lesser Antilles, including Antigua and the Virgin Islands, and on November 19 - the island of Puerto Rico and approached the northern coast of Haiti. On March 12-29, 1494, Columbus, in search of gold, made an aggressive campaign into Haiti, and he crossed the Cordillera Central ridge. On April 29-May 3, Columbus with 3 ships sailed along the southeastern coast of Cuba, turned from Cape Cruz to the South and on May 5 opened about. Jamaica. Returning on May 15 to Cape Cruz, Columbus walked along the southern coast of Cuba to 84 ° West longitude, discovered the Jardines de la Reina archipelago, the Zapata peninsula and the island of Pinos. On June 24, Christopher Columbus turned east and surveyed the entire southern coast of Haiti from August 19 to September 15. In 1495, Christopher Columbus continued the conquest of Haiti; On March 10, 1496 he left the island and on June 11 he returned to Castile.

3rd expedition

The 3rd expedition (1498-1500) consisted of 6 ships, 3 of which Christopher Columbus himself led across the Atlantic Ocean near 10 ° north latitude. On July 31, 1498, he discovered the island of Trinidad, entered the Gulf of Paria from the south, discovered the mouth of the western branch of the Orinoco delta and the Paria peninsula, initiating the discovery of South America. Having then left for the Caribbean Sea, Christopher Columbus approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered the island of Margarita on August 15 and arrived in the city of Santo Domingo (on the island of Haiti) on August 31. In 1500, Christopher Columbus was arrested on a denunciation and sent to Castile, where he was released.

4th expedition

4th expedition (1502-1504). Having obtained permission to continue searching for a western route to India, Columbus with 4 ships reached Martinique Island on June 15, 1502, on July 30, the Gulf of Honduras, and opened from August 1, 1502 to May 1, 1503 the Caribbean coast of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama to the Uraba Bay. Turning then to the North, June 25, 1503 crashed off the island of Jamaica; help from Santo Domingo came only a year later. Christopher Columbus returned to Castile on November 7, 1504.

Facts

Hypotheses

In addition, hypotheses were put forward about the visit to America and contact with its civilization by seafarers before Columbus, representing various civilizations of the Old World (for more details, see Contacts with America before Columbus). Here are just a few of these hypothetical contacts:

in the 5th century - Hui Shen (Taiwanese monk)
in the VI century - St. Brendan (Irish monk)
there are versions according to which at least from the 13th century America was known to the Knights Templar
OK. - Henry Sinclair (de Saint-Clair), Earl of Orkney (c. 1345 - c. 1400)
in Zheng He (Chinese researcher)
in the city - Juan Corterial (Portuguese)

Notes (edit)

Literature

Magidovich I.P. The history of the discovery and exploration of North America. - M .: Geografgiz, 1962.
Magidovich I.P. The history of the discovery and exploration of Central and South America. - M .: Thought, 1963.
John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. The book of common delusions. - Phantom Press, 2009.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

See what the "Discovery of America" is in other dictionaries:

Discovery of America by the expedition of Christopher Columbus- Columbus's expedition began on August 3, 1492, when the ships Santa Maria, Pinta and Ninha left the bay of the Spanish city of Palos de la Frontera. On September 16, 1492, bunches of green began to appear on the way of the expedition ... ... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers

Salvador Dali Discovery of America by the effort of sleep by Christopher Columbus, 1958 1959 Oil on canvas. 410 × 284 cm Moose ... Wikipedia

Discovery of America and Spanish conquests- In the spring of 1492, the Spaniards took Granada the last stronghold of the Moors on the Iberian Peninsula, and on August 3 of the same year, three caravels of Christopher Columbus set out on a long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from the Spanish port of Palo ... ... The World History. Encyclopedia

Christopher Columbus. Discovery of America Christopher Columbus. The Discovery Genre Drama Director John Glen Starring Marlon Brando Tom Selleck Duration 122 min ... Wikipedia

Christopher Columbus. The Discovery Genre Drama Director John Glen Starring Marlon Brando Tom Selleck Duration 122 min ... Wikipedia

An invention, a find. Discovery of America, invention of gunpowder. Finding ... Dictionary of Russian synonyms and expressions similar in meaning. under. ed. N. Abramova, M .: Russian dictionaries, 1999. discovery, invention, find, know-how, patent; finding; Start … Synonym dictionary

Opening- Discovery ♦ Découverte To make a discovery means to make explicit what already existed (as opposed to an invention) but was unknown. Such are the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus and the discovery of the law of universal gravitation by Newton. Concept ... ... Sponville's Philosophical Dictionary

OPENING- - identification of natural things, phenomena, patterns, etc., really existing in nature, but not known before (the discovery of America, the periodicity of elements, mineral deposits, etc.), which is dominated by internal ... ... Philosophy of Science and Technology: Thematic Dictionary

Country ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see Discovery (disambiguation). Opening of Mass Effect: Revelation Cover of the Russian edition of the book Author ... Wikipedia

Books

Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of America, D. Winsor. Illustrated historical and critical research, translated from English by F.I.Bulgakov. The book contains information about the sources, about the ancestors and homeland of Columbus, his life in Portugal and ...

Driven by the storm far west of Africa, they found a fertile, well-watered forested country. But these stories, as well as the remains of ancient American monuments, which, according to some, bear the imprint of Phoenician, Greek and Egyptian culture, do not give sufficient reason to assume that the western continent was already discovered by ancient seafarers. An indication that already in the V century. n. e. from China, there could be a communication with America through Kamchatka and the Aleutian Islands, it was made back in 1761 by the author of the history of the Mongols, de Guinem. He tried to prove that the Chinese knew America by the name of Fuzanga. The scholar Klaproth thinks that Japan was called Fusang. Researcher Neumann argued that in those days, Chinese sailors did indeed go to Fusang and that the description of this country only applies to Central America.

The Normans were the first to open the way to America from Europe. Erich the Red-haired in 982 moved from Iceland to Greenland and founded a colony on its western coast, which later had 2 cities, 16 churches, 2 monasteries and 100 settlements and was under the authority of a special bishop. On the way to these settlements, Bjarni Herjulfson (986) was blown aside by the storm and was the first to see New World... Erich's son Leif discovered in 1000 Helluland(stone ground), Markland(land of forests) and rich in grapes Vinland, which is believed to be present-day Labrador, a country near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and over Hudson's Bay. This assumption is confirmed by the fact that runestones of a Germanic character are found here. The discovery of such stones at nearly 73 ° N indicates how far the Greenlandic Normans had penetrated. The Vinland colonies, however, did not last long, partly due to internal strife, partly due to enmity with the Skrelingers, as the settlers called the natives of the Eskimo. Only from time to time the Normans from Greenland visited Vinland and Markland, but in 1347 these visits stopped, and at the end of the 15th century. the once flourishing Greenland colony has completely died out due to the frequent attacks of the Eskimos and thanks to the appearance of the "black death". Two Venetians, brothers Antonio and Niccolo Zeni, brought to Europe the news that between 1388 and 1404 an expedition was undertaken from the Faroe Islands (Friesland), exploring some places along the northern coast of America. However, their stories, mixed with Greek fables, do not provide any reliable information. It is said that the Biscay anglers also, long before Columbus, reached the shores of Newfoundland.

But the glory of the real discovery of the American mainland belongs to the Genoese Christopher Columbus . With three poorly equipped ships, he went west to find the shortest route to India and China, and, having sailed from the harbor of Palos on August 3, 1492, on October 12 of the same year, he landed in one of the Bahamas - Guanagani (now San Salvador ). In the same year, Columbus discovered Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti), the next year the islands of Dominica, Maria Galante, Guadeloupe, Antigua, Puerto Rico, and a few years later all the islands, later called the West Indies, became known. Only after Giovanni (John) Cabot (1497) discovered Newfoundland, Labrador and the coast of the North American mainland to Florida, Columbus reached (1498) the Orinoco River and the banks of the Cumana, and thus also entered the American mainland.

Discoverer of America Christopher Columbus. Painter S. del Piombo, 1519

Brazil opened in 1,500 Portuguese Cabral whom the storm brought here on the way to the Cape of Good Hope. Yucatan was discovered in 1507 by Pignon and Diaz de Salis. Pons de Leon discovered Florida in 1512, and Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and reached the opposite sea, which he, coming from the north, called the "South Sea". In 1515 Grihalva arrived in Mexico, and Fernand Cortez conquered it in 1519. In 1520 Fernando Magallans ( Magellan) passed the strait, named after him by Magellanov, and proved the erroneous opinion that new open land none other than the eastern shores of Asia. From that time on, they began to distinguish the West Indies (America) from the East Indies (India proper).

Fernand Magellan

In 1524, the Florentine Giovanni Verazzani explored, on behalf of France, the eastern coast of North America. In 1527, Pizarro discovered Peru in South America, and Cabot discovered Paraguay. In 1529 Betzerr and Grihalva sailed from Mexico to California; in 1533 Welser landed in Venezuela, Cartier - in Canada, Diego de Almagro - in Chile, Pedro de Mendos - at the mouth of La Plata. The following year, Cartier sailed to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In 1541 Orellana explored the Amazon River. Fernando de Soto - Mississippi, Philip von Hutten - inland countries of South America. Thus, 50 years after the discovery of a new part of the world, the entire American continent was generally known, with the exception of the northern and northwestern parts.

Conqueror of Mexico Hernan Cortez

With the discovery of Cape Horn by Lemer and Schuten, the southern tip of the American mainland was identified (in 1616), but attempts to explore its northern shores remained fruitless. . On the west coast of America Francis Drake, having passed through the Strait of Magellan, already in 1578 reached 45 ° north latitude, but only in 1648 the Cossack Dezhnev managed to swim across the strait separating Asia from America. Subsequently, this strait in 1725 - 1728 was explored by Bering and named after him. Inland northern Canada penetrated to the Mississippi in 1682 Lasalle, who then went down the river to its very mouth. South America was explored by Condamine, having traveled all the way to the mouth of the Amazon.

The travels of Burneby, Gerne and Hutcheson (1747 - 1775), as well as the expedition to the Red River of the Frenchman de Pages (1767), significantly expanded knowledge of the interior countries of North America. At the same time (1747 - 1751) Kalm and Löfling explored the Spanish possessions, and John Byron explored Patagonia and the Falkland Islands. Only in the late 1770s, during his third voyage, Cook traveled around the western shores of North America from 45 ° north latitude beyond the Bering Strait to the Prince of Wales Cape that he discovered.

From the end of the 18th century, a number of scientific and highly successful expeditions to America began. Alexander Humboldt and Bonpland explored (1799 - 1803) its equatorial regions; McKineair (1804) - British West Indies; Michaud - Western Allegheny; in 1806 Lewis and Clark - the countries of Upper Missouri and Columbia. Kruzenshtern traveled in 1803 to the northwest coast. Speaks, Martius, Naterer and others escorted the Archduchess Leopoldina to Brazil in 1817 and together with Eschwege gave detailed information about this country. In addition, many attempts were made to penetrate between the islands of the North Polar Sea, as well as to explore the eastern shores of Greenland. Expeditions undertaken by the British, Americans, Germans, etc., penetrated to 83 ° north latitude .

In the 19th century, travel and new discoveries in America became extremely numerous, but now, for the most part, they have acquired a private character of the study of certain narrow areas. Between investigations of a general nature or covering large regions, more should be mentioned: the journey of the Englishmen Spies and Lowe in 1834-35 from Lima through the Andes along Ucayali and Maranyon to the mouth of the Amazon; ethnological and meteorological research of Gabels in Central America in 1864 - 1871; the archaeological discoveries of Desiree Sharne (1880 - 1882) in Mexico, Yucatan and Guatemala. The most remote parts of South America between the upper reaches of Paraguay and Parana were the subject of study of many travelers and expeditions in 1882 - 1889, among which Fontana, Feilberg, Calvamonte and Beauvais were especially successful, while Krevo died on the Pilcomaya River, and Tuar did not succeed only to establish the correct message, but even to penetrate from Paraguay into Bolivia through the Gran Chaco desert. This path was traversed only in 1889 by Calvamonte and Arana. One of the largest studies (1868 - 1876) belongs to Reis and Stübel, who traveled to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.

(1492-1493) of 91 people on the ships "Santa Maria", "Pinta", "Niña" left Palosa de la Frontera on August 3, 1492, turned to the West from the Canary Islands (September 9 ), crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical zone and reached the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, where Christopher Columbus landed on October 12, 1492 (the official date of the discovery of America). On October 14-24, Christopher Columbus visited a number of other Bahamas, and on October 28-December 5, he discovered and surveyed a section of the northeastern coast of Cuba. On December 6, Columbus reached Fr. Haiti and moved along the northern coast. On the night of December 25, the flagship Santa Maria landed on the reef, but people escaped. Columbus on the ship "Ninya" 4-16 January 1493 completed the survey of the northern coast of Haiti and 15 March returned to Castile.

2nd expedition

3rd expedition

4th expedition

Pioneer Candidates

The first people who settled in America are the indigenous Indians who crossed there about 30 thousand years ago from Asia along the Bering Isthmus.
In the 10th century, around 1000, the Vikings, led by Leif Eriksson. L'Ans aux Meadows contains the remains of a Viking settlement on the continent.
In 1492 - Christopher Columbus (Genoese in the service of Spain); Columbus himself believed that he opened the way to Asia (hence the name West Indies, Indians).
In 1507, the cartographer M. Waldseemüller proposed that the open lands be named America in honor of the explorer of the New World Amerigo Vespucci - this is considered the moment from which America was recognized as an independent continent.
There is good reason to believe that the continent was named after the English patron of the arts. Richard America from Bristol, which financed the second transatlantic expedition of John Cabot in 1497, and Vespucci took the nickname after the already named continent. In May 1497, Cabot reached the shores of Labrador, becoming the first officially registered European to set foot on American soil, two years before Vespucci (talking about North America). Cabot mapped the coast of North America from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. In the calendar of Bristol for that year we read: "... on the day of St. John the Baptist, the land of America was found by merchants from Bristol who arrived by ship from Bristol with the name" Matthew "(" methic ").

Hypothetical

in 371 BC. e. - Phoenicians
in the 5th century - Hui Shen (a Taiwanese Buddhist monk who made a trip to the Fusan country in the 5th century, identified in different versions with Japan or America)
in the VI century - Saint Brendan (Irish monk)
in the XII century - Madog ap Owain Gwynedd (Welsh prince, according to legend, visited America in 1170)
there are versions according to which at least from the 13th century America was known to the Knights Templar
in 1331 - Abubakar II (Sultan of Mali)
OK. 1398 - Henry Sinclair (de Saint-Clair), Earl of Orkney (c. 1345 - c. 1400)
in 1421 - Zheng He (Chinese explorer)
in 1472 - João Corterial (Portuguese)

Thor Heyerdahl's version of the Egyptians' visit to America is also known. As part of the evidence, there were expeditions on boats Ra and Ra-2, built using ancient technologies. The first boat failed to reach the Caribbean Islands, but only a few hundred kilometers were missing. The second expedition reached its goal.

Write a review on the article "Discovery of America"

Notes (edit)

Literature

Bakles D. America through the eyes of pioneers / Per. from English 3. M. Kanevsky. - M .: Mysl, 1969. - 408 p .: ill.
Magidovich I.P. The history of the discovery and exploration of North America. - M .: Geografgiz, 1962.
Magidovich I.P. The history of the discovery and exploration of Central and South America. - M .: Thought, 1963.
John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. The book of common delusions. - Phantom Press, 2009.



Before Columbus

Great sea discoveries

Conquistadors

Mapping

Excerpt from the Discovery of America

While Boris continued to make the figures of the mazurka, he did not cease to be tormented by the thought of what news Balashev had brought and how he could learn it before anyone else.
In the figure where he had to choose the ladies, whispering to Helen that he wanted to take the Countess Pototskaya, who seemed to have gone out onto the balcony, he, sliding his feet on the parquet floor, ran out the exit door into the garden and, noticing the sovereign entering the terrace with Balashev , paused. The Emperor and Balashev were heading for the door. Boris, in a hurry, as if not having time to move away, respectfully pressed himself against the lintel and bent his head.
The sovereign, with the excitement of a personally offended person, finished off the following words:
- Enter Russia without declaring war. I will make peace only when not a single armed enemy remains on my land, ”he said. It seemed to Boris that the emperor was pleased to express these words: he was pleased with the form of expressing his thoughts, but was unhappy that Boris heard them.
- So that no one knows anything! - added the emperor, frowning. Boris realized that this was referring to him, and, closing his eyes, slightly tilted his head. The sovereign again entered the hall and spent about half an hour at the ball.
Boris was the first to know the news of the French troops crossing the Niemen and thanks to this he had the opportunity to show some important persons that much that was hidden from others, he sometimes knew, and through that had the opportunity to rise higher in the opinion of these persons.

The unexpected news of the French crossing the Niemen was especially unexpected after a month of unfulfilled expectations, and at the ball! The Tsar, at the first minute of receiving the news, under the influence of indignation and insult, found that, which later became famous, a saying that he himself liked and fully expressed his feelings. Returning home from the ball, the sovereign at two o'clock in the morning sent for the secretary Shishkov and ordered him to write an order to the troops and a rescript to Field Marshal Prince Saltykov, in which he certainly demanded that the words be placed that he would not reconcile until at least one the armed Frenchman will remain on Russian soil.
The next day the following letter was written to Napoleon.
“Monsieur mon frere. J "ai appris hier que malgre la loyaute avec laquelle j" ai maintenu mes engagements envers Votre Majeste, ses troupes ont franchis les frontieres de la Russie, et je recois al "instant de Petersbourg une note par laquelle le comte Lauriston, pour cause de cette agression, annonce que Votre Majeste s "est consideree comme en etat de guerre avec moi des le moment ou le prince Kourakine a fait la demande de ses passeports. Les motifs sur lesquels le duc de Bassano fondait son refus de les lui delivrer, n "auraient jamais pu me faire supposer que cette demarche servirait jamais de pretexte a l" agression. En effet cet ambassadeur n "y a jamais ete autorise comme il l" a declare lui meme, et aussitot que j "en fus informe, je lui ai fait connaitre combien je le desapprouvais en lui donnant l" ordre de rester a son poste. Si Votre Majeste n "est pas intentionnee de verser le sang de nos peuples pour un malentendu de ce genre et qu" elle consente a retirer ses troupes du territoire russe, je regarderai ce qui s "est passe comme non avenu, et un accommodement entre nous sera possible. Dans le cas contraire, Votre Majeste, je me verrai force de repousser une attaque que rien n "a provoquee de ma part. Il depend encore de Votre Majeste d "eviter a l" humanite les calamites d "une nouvelle guerre.
Je suis, etc.
(signe) Alexandre. "
[“Sovereign brother! Yesterday it dawned on me that, in spite of the straightforwardness with which I observed my obligations towards Your Imperial Majesty, your troops crossed the Russian borders, and only now received from St. Petersburg a note by which Count Lauriston notifies me about this invasion, that Your Majesty considers himself to be in hostile relations with me since the time when Prince Kurakin demanded his passports. The reasons on which the Duke of Bassano based his refusal to issue these passports could never have led me to suppose that the act of my ambassador was the pretext for an attack. And in reality he did not have a command from me, as he himself announced; and as soon as I found out about this, I immediately expressed my displeasure to Prince Kurakin, commanding him to fulfill the duties entrusted to him as before. If Your Majesty is not inclined to shed the blood of our subjects because of such a misunderstanding, and if you agree to withdraw your troops from Russian possessions, then I will ignore everything that happened, and an agreement between us will be possible. Otherwise, I will be forced to repel an attack that was not initiated by anything on my part. Your Majesty, you still have the opportunity to save humanity from the scourge of a new war.
(signed) Alexander ". ]

On June 13, at two o'clock in the morning, the sovereign, having summoned Balashev and read him his letter to Napoleon, ordered him to take this letter and personally hand it over to the French emperor. Sending Balashev, the sovereign again repeated his words to him that he would not reconcile as long as at least one armed enemy remained on Russian soil, and ordered him to convey these words to Napoleon without fail. The sovereign did not write these words in the letter, because he felt with his tact that these words were inconvenient to convey at the moment when the last attempt at reconciliation was being made; but he certainly ordered Balashev to hand them over to Napoleon personally.
Leaving on the night of June 13-14, Balashev, accompanied by a trumpeter and two Cossacks, arrived at dawn in the village of Rykonty, at the French outposts on this side of the Neman. He was stopped by French cavalry sentries.
A French hussar non-commissioned officer, in a crimson uniform and a shaggy hat, shouted at Balashev, who was approaching, ordering him to stop. Balashev did not immediately stop, but continued to walk along the road.
The non-commissioned officer, frowning and grumbling some kind of curse, advanced with the chest of a horse on Balashev, took up his saber and rudely shouted at the Russian general, asking him if he was deaf that he did not hear what was being said to him. Balashev identified himself. The non-commissioned officer sent a soldier to the officer.
Not paying attention to Balashev, the non-commissioned officer began to talk with his comrades about his regimental business and did not look at the Russian general.
It was unusually strange for Balashev, after closeness to the highest power and power, after a conversation three hours ago with the sovereign and generally accustomed to honors in his service, to see here, on Russian soil, this hostile and, most importantly, disrespectful attitude of brute force towards himself.
The sun was just beginning to rise from behind the clouds; the air was fresh and dewy. On the way, the herd was driven out of the village. In the fields, one by one, like bubbles in water, larks were sprinkled with a sense of smell.
Balashev looked around him, expecting the arrival of an officer from the village. The Russian Cossacks, the trumpeter, and the French hussars occasionally looked at each other in silence.
The French hussar colonel, apparently just out of bed, left the village on a beautiful well-fed gray horse, accompanied by two hussars. The officer, the soldiers, and their horses had an air of contentment and panache.

The question of who discovered America is probably the most difficult in the sense that it is difficult to dot the i's. You say: "Christopher Columbus", and the answer to you: "Then why is America not called Columbia?" And you will be lost in a moment. And do not let such a question still fall into the exam - and in general trouble! Let's look at this question: who was actually the first to discover this incredible continent?

All versions

When we talk about the discovery of North and South America, we must not forget for whom the arrival of European sailors to the continent was a revelation. This was a discovery for the Europeans, who swarmed in their Europe for more than a thousand years: at first they had a Hellenic civilization (Greece and), then the dark Middle Ages began. They were busy burning witches at the stake, and far from looking for new lands.

Indeed, long before the Europeans (and before Columbus) America (for themselves) was discovered:

15000 (fifteen thousand) years ago, back in the Ice Age, enterprising guys from Asia were most likely looking for warm places. They came to the continent along the glacier that now connects Eurasia and North America, the Berenga Strait. And they became a local, autochthonous population. And Columbus called the local aborigines Indians because he thought he had discovered India!
In the 6th century, the Irish sailed to North America, led by Saint Brendan. Why should the Irish suddenly seek the New World is incomprehensible, and there was no exact confirmation of this fact. Until, in 1976, a desperate explorer Tim Siverin built an exact copy of the Irish boat and sailed here from Ireland on his own!
In the 10th century, the Vikings came here, who were avid seafarers and most likely were looking for prey. So the search for prey started far southwest of Greenland, and they ended up here. Perhaps the first Vikings founded the first European settlements here! So in 1960, archaeologist Helge Ingstad discovered traces of such a settlement in Canada!
In the 15th century, the Chinese discovered South America before Columbus. This is what British naval officer Gavin Menzies said. The Chinese were also looking for India to get rich and, according to the British theory, colonized South America.

I think now it has become clear to you for whom Columbus (if it was really him) discovered America - for the Europeans.

Discovery of America

The reasons that pushed the Europeans to search for new lands were prosaic: the European market was overflowing with goods, and colonies were needed to sell them. Europe was actively moving towards colonial capitalism. You can find other reasons in our article.

Spain - the strongest state of that Medieval Europe - was no exception. The crown actively sponsored all the expeditions of various rogues, who promised to open new lands for her. Since the name of the navigator who discovered America is Christopher Columbus, let's take a closer look at his personality.

Christopher Columbus, famous navigator (1451 - 1506)

Christopher was actually from Genoa. In his youth he studied at the University of Pavia. Around 1474, the famous geographer and astronomer Paolo Toscanelli fired a bullet to Columbus in a letter that the journey to India was actually shorter than any court rogues believed. From that time on, Christopher became interested in this event - to find a way to legendary India. Further, Christopher traveled throughout Europe, collecting information about the location of this very India. As a result, in the mid-80s of the 15th century, he drew up his own project - the way to there.

All discussions of this project have led nowhere. Even a meeting with the king and queen yielded nothing. Columbus intends to move to France in the early 90s and try his luck there. But Queen Isabella still realized that Spain could lose. As a result, the expedition was nevertheless equipped.

America was discovered to Europeans during the first expedition in 1492-1493. It consisted of three ships: Santa Maria, Niña and Pinta. Just 1492 is considered the year of the discovery of America.

Amerigo Vespucci (1454 - 1512)

The other three expeditions were exploratory: the Europeans were exploring a new area. Columbus himself was sure until the end of his life that he had discovered India. So why did the New World come to be called America? Who discovered it: Columbus or Vespucci?

The fact is that in 1499 the cheerful old man Amerigo Vespucci went on one of the expeditions to the New World. The old man went to assess the financial capabilities of the New World, made notes and, most importantly, made a serious map of the new continent.

Therefore, in 1507, the cartographer Martin Waldseemüller suggested naming the new continents in honor of this cheerful old man. That's why America is called that.

Best regards, Andrey Puchkov

As everyone probably well knows, such a process as the discovery of the continent of America is a very broad topic, but this article will tell you about the discovery of America in a nutshell, laying out the main point.

The discovery of America is one of the most important events in the world history of mankind, as a result of which the Old World - that is, Western Europe, learned about the existence of a new, huge continent called America.

Expeditions of Christopher Columbus - the discovery of a new continent

Great navigator Christopher Columbus in 1492 year went on a sea voyage in order to find a shorter route to the rich country of India.

The King and Queen of Castile and Aragon sponsored this expedition with three ships.

12 october the same year Christopher Columbus reached the current Bahamas and this day is considered the date of the discovery of a new continent. After that, they discovered a number of islands. March 1493 Columbus returned back to Castile. Thus ended his first of four expeditions to America, which he also discovered.

The second expedition already consisted of a fairly large number of ships and people. If in the first there were only three ships and a crew of less than a hundred people, then in the second expedition there were seventeen ships and more. 1 thousand people on board. The most important achievement of this expedition can be considered conquest of Haiti... After that, Columbus v 1496 year again returns to Spain.

Swing third expedition which started v 1498 year, was much smaller - only six ships. The discovery of South America began with the third expedition. This expedition was interrupted v 1500 year for the reason that Columbus was arrested and sent to Castile, but upon arriving there, he was fully acquitted.

Already at this moment, a huge number of those people appeared who wanted to appropriate the brilliant discovery of Christopher Columbus. V 1502 Columbus struggles to get sponsored again for yet another search for a short, sea route to India. During this expedition, he discovered the shores of modern Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama etc. But in 1503 year, Columbus's ship was wrecked, because of which he was forced to stop the expedition to 1504 year, returning to Castile.

After that, Christopher Columbus never returned to America.

However, as further study of history showed, it was not Christopher Columbus who first set foot on the lands of the new continent, this was done long before his birth.

And yes, in general, humanity began to populate America only in 30 thousand years BC e.

And they discovered it for the first time, although they did not know that it was a whole continent, none other than the masters of the seas - Vikings, back in the 10th century.

Leif Eriksson should be considered the discoverer. Leif is the son of Eric the Red, a Viking and seafarer who discovered Greenland.
This fact is confirmed by traces of a Viking settlement found in L'Ans aux Meadows (the current territory of Newfoundland and Labrador (which is in Canada)).

As for the journey of Columbus, he himself believed that he had discovered not a new continent, but the shores of Asia. And only in his last years, he realized that he had discovered a new continent.

The open continent was named after one of the main explorers of the New World - Amerigo Vespucci... This memorable event took place in 1507 year, from that moment on, the continent was considered independent.

There are also several hypotheses in history that other seafarers may have discovered America. The most popular hypotheses are:
- in the fourth century BC e. the Phoenicians might have discovered it;
- in the sixth century A.D. e. it could be Brendan, the Irish monk;
- at about 1421 year Chinese navigator Zheng He;

However, there is no confirmation of this yet.

home » Turkey » Discovery of the continent of america. Who Discovered America - Columbus or Vespucci? What did Christopher Columbus discover? Discoveries of Christopher Columbus