Columbus discovered America
The year when this Spanish navigator discovered a new land is indicated in history as 1492. And by the beginning of the eighteenth century, all other areas of North America, for example, Alaska and the regions of the Pacific coast, had already been discovered and explored. It must be said that travelers from Russia also made an important contribution to the exploration of the mainland.
Development
The history of the discovery of North America is quite interesting: it can even be called accidental. At the end of the fifteenth century, a Spanish navigator and his expedition reached the shores of North America. At the same time, he mistakenly believed that he was in India. From this moment begins the countdown of the era when America was discovered and its exploration and exploration began. But some researchers consider this date inaccurate, arguing that the discovery of a new continent occurred much earlier.
The year Columbus discovered America - 1492 - is not an exact date. It turns out that the Spanish navigator had predecessors, and more than one. In the middle of the tenth century, the Normans arrived here after they discovered Greenland. True, they failed to colonize these new lands, since they were repelled by the harsh weather conditions of the north of this continent. In addition, the Normans were also frightened by the remoteness of the new continent from Europe.
According to other sources, this continent was discovered by ancient sailors - the Phoenicians. Some sources call the middle of the first millennium AD the time when America was discovered, and the Chinese as the pioneers. However, this version also does not have clear evidence.
The most reliable information is considered to be about the time when the Vikings discovered America. At the end of the tenth century, the Normans Bjarni Herjulfson and Leif Eriksson found Helluland - “stone”, Markland - “forest” and Vinland - “vineyards” of land, which contemporaries identify with the Labrador Peninsula.
There is evidence that even before Columbus, in the fifteenth century, the northern continent was reached by Bristol and Biscay fishermen, who called it the island of Brazil. However, the time periods of these expeditions cannot be called the milestone in history when America was truly discovered, that is, it was identified as a new continent.
Columbus - a true discoverer
And yet, when answering the question of what year America was discovered, experts most often name the fifteenth century, or rather its end. And Columbus is considered the first to do this. The time when America was discovered coincided in history with the period when Europeans began to spread ideas about the round shape of the Earth and the possibility of reaching India or China along the western route, that is, through the Atlantic Ocean. It was believed that this path was much shorter than the eastern one. Therefore, given the Portuguese monopoly on control of the South Atlantic, obtained by the Treaty of Alcázovaz in 1479, Spain, always eager to gain direct contacts with eastern countries, warmly supported the expedition of the Genoese navigator Columbus in a western direction.
Honor of opening
Christopher Columbus with early age was interested in geography, geometry and astronomy. From a young age, he took part in sea expeditions and visited almost all the then known oceans. Columbus was married to the daughter of a Portuguese sailor, from whom he received many geographical maps and notes from the time of Henry the Navigator. The future discoverer carefully studied them. His plans were to find a sea route to India, but not bypassing Africa, but directly across the Atlantic. Like some scientists - his contemporaries, Columbus believed that, having gone west from Europe, it would be possible to reach the Asian eastern shores - those places where India and China are located. At the same time, he did not even suspect that on the way he would meet an entire continent, hitherto unknown to Europeans. But it happened. And from this time the history of the discovery of America began.
First expedition
For the first time, Columbus's ships sailed from Palos harbor on August 3, 1492. There were three of them. The expedition proceeded quite calmly to the Canary Islands: this section of the journey was already known to the sailors. But very soon they found themselves in a vast ocean. Gradually the sailors began to become despondent and begin to grumble. But Columbus managed to pacify the rebellious, maintaining hope in them. Soon signs began to appear - harbingers of the proximity of land: unknown birds flew in, tree branches floated up. Finally, after six weeks of sailing, lights appeared at night, and when dawn broke, a green, picturesque island, all covered with vegetation, opened before the sailors. Columbus, having landed on shore, declared this land to be the possession of the Spanish crown. The island was named San Salvador, that is, the Savior. It was one of the small pieces of land included in the Bahamas or Lucayan archipelago.
The land where there is gold
The natives are peaceful and good-natured savages. Noticing the greed of those who sailed for the gold jewelry that hung in the noses and ears of the aborigines, they told with signs that in the south there was a land literally abounding in gold. And Columbus moved on. In the same year, he discovered Cuba, which, although he mistook it for the mainland, or rather, the eastern coast of Asia, he also declared it a Spanish colony. From here the expedition, turning east, landed in Haiti. Moreover, along the entire route the Spaniards met savages who not only willingly exchanged their gold jewelry for simple glass beads and other trinkets, but also constantly pointed to the southern direction when asked about this precious metal. Which Columbus named Hispaniola, or Little Spain, he built a small fortress.
Return
When the ships landed in Palos harbor, all the inhabitants came ashore to greet them with honors. Columbus and Ferdinand and Isabella received him very graciously. The news of the discovery of the New World spread very quickly, and those who wanted to go there with the discoverer gathered just as quickly. At that time, Europeans had no idea what kind of America Christopher Columbus discovered.
Second trip
The history of the discovery of North America, which began in 1492, continued. From September 1493 to June 1496, the second expedition of the Genoese navigator took place. As a result, the Virgin and Windward Islands were discovered, including Antigua, Dominica, Nevis, Montserrat, St. Christopher, as well as Puerto Rico and Jamaica. The Spaniards firmly settled in the lands of Haiti, making them their base and building the fortress of San Domingo in its southeastern part. In 1497, the British entered into competition with them, also trying to find northwestern routes to Asia. For example, the Genoese Cabot, under the English flag, discovered the island of Newfoundland and, according to some reports, came very close to the North American coast: the peninsulas of Labrador and Nova Scotia. Thus, the British began to lay the foundation for their dominance in the North American region.
Third and fourth expeditions
It began in May 1498 and ended in November 1500. As a result, the mouth of the Orinoco was also opened. In August 1498, Columbus landed on the coast already on the Paria Peninsula, and in 1499 the Spaniards reached the shores of Guiana and Venezuela, after which - Brazil and the mouth of the Amazon. And during the last - fourth - journey from May 1502 to November 1504, Columbus discovered Central America. His ships sailed along the coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua, reaching from Costa Rica and Panama all the way to the Gulf of Darien.
New continent
In the same year, another navigator, whose expeditions took place under the Portuguese flag, also explored the Brazilian coast. Having reached Cape Cananea, he put forward the hypothesis that the lands that Columbus discovered were not China, or even India, but a completely new continent. This idea was confirmed after the first trip around the world perfected by F. Magellan. However, contrary to logic, the name America was assigned to the new continent - on behalf of Vespucci.
True, there is some reason to believe that the new continent was named in honor of the Bristol philanthropist Richard America from England, who financed the second transatlantic voyage in 1497, and Amerigo Vespucci after that took his nickname in honor of the continent named so. To prove this theory, researchers cite the facts that Cabot reached the shores of Labrador two years earlier, and therefore became the officially registered first European to set foot on American soil.
In the mid-sixteenth century, Jacques Cartier, a French navigator, reached the shores of Canada, giving the territory its modern name.
Other contenders
The exploration of the continent of North America was continued by such navigators as John Davis, Alexander Mackenzie, Henry Hudson and William Baffin. It was thanks to their research that the continent was studied right up to the Pacific coast.
However, history knows many other names of sailors who landed on American soil even before Columbus. These are Hui Shen, a Thai monk who visited this region in the fifth century, Abubakar, the Sultan of Mali, who sailed to the American coast in the fourteenth century, the Earl of Orkney de Saint-Clair, the Chinese explorer Zhee He, the Portuguese Juan Corterial, etc.
But, in spite of everything, Christopher Columbus is the person whose discoveries had an unconditional impact on the entire history of mankind.
Fifteen years after the time when the ships of this navigator discovered America, the very first geographic map mainland. Its author was Martin Waldseemüller. Today it, being the property of the United States, is stored in Washington.
In 1492, Columbus crossed the Atlantic under sail, and for a long time considered the first European to set foot in the New World. Then came evidence of the Vikings, led by Leif Ericson, who preceded Columbus by five centuries. Early archaeological uncertainty gave rise to controversy over the primacy of the discovery of America. Authors appeared who claimed that the Chinese general Zheng He was only a few years ahead of Columbus. Not a European, but since he arrived in the New World by water, and not by bridge over the Bering Strait, we will allow him to take part in the competition. Then, someone discovered petroglyphs in West Virginia that pointed to the sixth century Irish navigator, St. Brendan (St. Brendan). Perhaps St. Did Brendan beat everyone else in discovering America? Eventually, Muslims joined the competition between the Spanish, Vikings, Irish and Chinese when explorers found evidence that Muslims from West Africa had discovered the New World even earlier.
Someone else is declaring their primacy in the discovery of America (as, indeed, in other discoveries too). Today we will consider only the five listed above. They can't all be first. Which of them discovered America first? And among those who lost the championship, were all of them there?
Now no one doubts the veracity of Columbus's story. He landed in the Bahamas in 1492 and, although he believed he had reached India, he saw a large continent blocking progress. During his three expeditions over 12 years, Columbus explored the Caribbean, part South America and the coasts of Central America. Following in Columbus' footsteps, colonists and other explorers arrived. It was after the discovery of Columbus that the connection between America and Europe was established. Let us now consider other contenders for primacy in chronological order from the date of Columbus's landing.
Muslims do not claim a specific date for the discovery of America. They express an opinion about the likelihood of Europeans visiting the continent long before Columbus. Piri Reis was an Ottoman navigator and cartographer who died in 1553. His name means Captain Pirie and is best known in connection with a map drawn in 1513. Alternative historians cite the Piri Reis map as an incredibly accurate depiction of the Earth's surface, exceeding the knowledge of Columbus. Consequently, the Turks traveled all over the world, including America, Brazil and even Antarctica. All modern claims about the primacy of Muslim sailors in the discovery of America are based on the Piri Reis map.
There is no doubt about the historical significance of the Piri Reis map, but most of the sensational claims based on it are incorrect. The map doesn't change history, it matches what we know. Piri Reis's notes in the margins of the map say that this is a generalized edition that he completed based on two dozen existing maps compiled by the seafaring nations of Europe and Asia. Including ancient Greek maps of the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, Arabic maps of India, Portuguese maps of Pakistan and China, Columbus maps describing the Caribbean and the eastern coast of America. The Piri Reis map is far from the accuracy and completeness of the content that they are trying to rely on. Significant discrepancies are obvious at first glance. The lack of commentary on the source materials led Piri Reis to make mistakes. Peary annexed Brazil to Antarctica. Perhaps this was an attempt to show “Undiscovered Lands”, or perhaps an attempt to squeeze a detailed South America into one sheet. Portuguese navigators, who followed Henry the Navigator, carefully explored the western shores of Africa and crossed the Atlantic before Columbus. Columbus studied navigation in Portugal. Portuguese sailors followed on the heels of Columbus when he reached the New World. Information about the western shores of the Americas, from Newfoundland to Argentina, was collected quite quickly. In the first decade of the 16th century there were enough resources to compile a map of Piri Reis.
In short, it is not necessary to talk about the Muslim journey to the shores of America to explain the origin of the Peri Reis map. Moreover, there is no documentary or archaeological evidence of such an event. We give the version of the Muslim Discovery of America 0.5 trust points out of a possible 5.
Zheng He was a prominent Chinese Admiral of the 15th century and died 18 years before the birth of Columbus. Many legends are associated with this name and his travels. It is well known and documented that he traveled south and west from China, reaching the coast of Africa. But there is no evidence that Zheng decided to cross the Atlantic and reach the shores of America. New information came to light in 2006, when Chinese lawyer Liu Gang discovered a 1763 map copied from an original dated 1418, entitled “Overall Map of the Geography of all Under Heaven.” The map, representing America in all its glory, confirmed that Zheng He's cartographers were ahead of Columbus in discovering the New World, coming from the other direction.
Unfortunately, the card didn't turn out to be very significant. No one takes it seriously because it is a copy of a well-known French map from the 1600s. On the map, California appears as an island and is subject to description errors. The title is a common error from modern simplified language, but is not an error for a user of Traditional Chinese from the Qing Dynasty.
Louis Gang turned out to be his own enemy in this venture. In 2009, he published the book “The Code of the Ancient Map” to popularize the map itself. In the book, he goes back 400 years, announcing the discovery of another Chinese map of the world, dated 1093. This “map” is even sadder. Louis presents photographs of Zhang Kuangzheng's tomb from 1093, which show peeling paint and plaster. He changed his interpretation of the map, due to damage to the drawing, to a pathetic version. Opener Zheng He receives one trust point out of five, while Louis has a deficit of 15.
Leif Eriksson was the son of Erik the Red, a Viking who landed in Greenland. Leif followed in the footsteps of his powerful father and founded the colony of Vinland. Most of Leif's deeds are known from two sagas: the Greenlander Saga and the Saga of Erik the Red. The main character of the saga is a person, not historical facts. The manner of presentation of the sagas is narrative in the style of “I came and I speak.” The main place of action in the sagas is the settlement of Vinland, the narrative time is approximately 1000.
Fortunately, the legend about Leif Eriksson received more significant confirmation. In 1960, archaeologists discovered ruins in the northern tip of Newfoundland. "Jellyfish Grotto" (L'Anse aux Meadows or Jellyfish Cove) and some other Norwegian settlements have been discovered. These are more than excellent historical finds. The method of construction, design, and materials undoubtedly confirm the everyday traditions of the Norwegians. We do not know for sure the connection between Vinland and L'Anse aux Meadows, nor whether Leif Eriksson was here. But there is confidence in the coincidence of the heyday of the Norwegian settlement and the period of the appearance of the saga.
Since we have a Norse settlement on our hands that underpins the long sea crossings of the Vikings and corresponds to a period around the year 1000, Leif Eriksson gets a 4.5 trust point, and the Vikings as a whole 5 out of 5 possible.
St. Brendan the Sailor was a legendary 6th century monk who sailed around the British Isles in leather boats. He is mentioned in only two sources: The Travels of St. Brendan and The Life of Brendan. The story tells about the Island of the Blessed or St. Brendan. Supposedly this is off the coast of Africa, but both Brendan and his island live only in legends.
Unfortunately, this statement comes with a long list of problems. Serious archaeologists do not undertake to decipher rock paintings. They are too far from the texts. The prevailing opinion is that these are scratches from sharpening tools by ancient aborigines. The marks on the stone were discovered by amateurs, filled with ash for contrast, and photographed. Barry Fell, a retired marine biologist, only saw the dashes in the photo and never examined the original. Ogham transcript experts disagreed with Barry Fell's conclusions and refused to examine the writing. We don't know what discoveries await us, but no one takes West Virginia petroglyphs seriously these days. St. Brendan receives 0 trust points out of a possible 5 and petroglyphs 0.5 points until new information becomes available.
Summing up, we have a winner. The Vikings, under the auspices of Leif Eriksson, or perhaps in his presence, discovered America earlier than other Europeans. The Portuguese, Spaniards, Irish and Turks appeared on these shores much later. Zheng He would not have received primacy even if he arrived earlier than the Vikings. Since the New World is sufficiently populated by immigrants from Asia through the Bering Strait, it would still be several tens of thousands of years late for the holiday.
Translation by Vladimir Maksimenko 2013
The question of who discovered America is probably the most difficult in the sense that it is difficult to dot all the i’s. You’ll say, “Christopher Columbus,” and the answer will be, “Then why isn’t America called Columbia?” And you will instantly get lost. And if such a question were to come up on the exam, it would be a disaster! 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 navigators on the continent was a discovery. This was a discovery for Europeans, who had been pottering around in their Europe for more than a thousand years: first they had Hellenic civilization there (Greece and), then the dark Middle Ages began. They were busy burning witches at the stake, and far from searching for new lands.
After all, long before the Europeans (and before Columbus), America was discovered (for themselves):
- 15,000 (fifteen thousand) years ago, back in glacial period enterprising guys from Asia were most likely looking for warm places. Along the glacier that now connects Eurasia and North America, the Bering Strait, they came to the continent. 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, led by Saint Brendan, sailed to North America. It is unclear why the Irish would suddenly look for the New World, and there was no exact evidence of this fact. Until, in 1976, the desperate explorer Tim Siverin built an exact copy of the Irish boat and sailed here from Ireland under his own power!
- In the 10th century, the Vikings, who were avid sailors and most likely looking for prey, sailed here. So the search for prey led far to the 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. So said British naval officer Gavin Menzies. The Chinese also looked for India to get rich and, according to the British theory, colonized South America.
I think it now becomes clear to you for whom Columbus (if it was really him) discovered America - for the Europeans.
Discovery of America
The reasons that pushed Europeans to search for new lands were prosaic: the European market was overflowing with goods, colonies were needed to sell them. Europe was actively moving towards colonial capitalism. You can find other reasons in our article.
Spain is the strongest state in that Medieval Europe- was no exception. The crown actively sponsored all the expeditions of various scoundrels who promised to open new lands for it. 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 at Columbus in a letter that the route to India was actually shorter than all sorts of court scoundrels believed. From that time on, Christopher became interested in this event - to find a way to the legendary India. Next, 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 project - the path to there.
All discussions about this project came to nothing. 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 what Spain could lose. As a result, the expedition was finally equipped.
America was discovered by Europeans during the first expedition of 1492-1493. It consisted of three ships: Santa Maria, Niña and Pinta. The year 1492 is considered the year of the discovery of America.
Amerigo Vespucci (1454 - 1512)
The remaining three expeditions were exploratory: Europeans explored new terrain. Until the end of his life, Columbus himself was sure 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, a cheerful old man, Amerigo Vespucci, set off on one of the expeditions to the New World. The old man went to assess the financial capabilities of the New World, took notes and, most importantly, compiled a serious map of the new continent.
Therefore, in 1507, cartographer Martin Waldseemüller proposed naming new continents in honor of this cheerful old man. That's why America is called that.
Best regards, Andrey Puchkov
The first expedition of Christopher Columbus (1492-1493) consisting of 91 people on the ships "Santa Maria", "Pinta", "Nina" left Palos de la Frontera on August 3, 1492, and turned from the Canary Islands to West (September 9), crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical zone and reached the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas archipelago, 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 explored 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 a reef, but the people escaped. Columbus on the ship Niña completed his exploration of the northern coast of Haiti on January 4-16, 1493 and returned to Castile on March 15.
2nd expedition
The 2nd expedition (1493-1496), which Christopher Columbus led already with the rank of admiral and as 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 North-West, 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 crossed the Cordillera Central ridge. On April 29-May 3, Columbus with 3 ships sailed along the southeastern coast of Cuba, turned south from Cape Cruz and discovered the island on May 5. Jamaica. Returning to Cape Cruz on May 15, Columbus sailed along the southern coast of Cuba to 84° west longitude, discovering the Jardines de la Reina archipelago, the Zapata Peninsula and Pinos Island. On June 24, Christopher Columbus turned east and explored the entire southern coast of Haiti from August 19 to September 15. In 1495, Christopher Columbus continued his conquest of Haiti; On March 10, 1496 he left the island and returned to Castile on June 11.
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 River delta and the Paria Peninsula, marking the beginning of the discovery of South America. Having then entered the Caribbean Sea, Christopher Columbus approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered Margarita Island 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 following a denunciation and sent to Castile, where he was released.
4th expedition
4th expedition (1502-1504). Having obtained permission to continue the search for the western route to India, Columbus with 4 ships reached the island of Martinique on June 15, 1502, the Gulf of Honduras on July 30, and opened the Caribbean coast of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama to the Gulf of Uraba from August 1, 1502 to May 1, 1503. Turning then to the North, on June 25, 1503 he was wrecked off the island of Jamaica; help from Santo Domingo came only a year later. Christopher Columbus returned to Castile on November 7, 1504.
Discoverer Candidates
- The first people to settle in America were the indigenous Indians, who moved 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'Anse 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 had discovered the route to Asia (hence the names West Indies, Indians).
- In 1507, cartographer M. Waldseemüller proposed that open lands were named America in honor of the New World explorer Amerigo Vespucci - this is considered the moment from which America was recognized as an independent continent.
- There is sufficient reason to believe that the continent was named after the surname of an English philanthropist Richard America from Bristol, who financed John Cabot's second transatlantic expedition in 1497, and Vespucci took his nickname in honor of 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 (we are talking about North America). Cabot compiled a map of the coast of North America - from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. In the Bristol calendar 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 on a ship from Bristol with the name “Matthew” (“metic”).
Hypothetical
In addition, hypotheses were put forward about the visit to America and contact with its civilization by sailors 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 371 BC e. - Phoenicians
- in the 5th century - Hui Shen (Taiwanese Buddhist monk who in the 5th century traveled to the country of Fusang, identified in different versions with Japan or America)
- in the 6th century - Saint Brendan (Irish monk)
- in the 12th century - Madog ap Owain Gwynedd (a 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 Templar Order
- in 1331 - Abubakar II (Sultan of Mali)
- OK. 1398 - Henry Sinclair (de St. Clair), Earl of Orkney (c. 1345 - c. 1400)
- in 1421 - Zheng He (Chinese explorer)
- in 1472 - João Corterial (Portuguese)
Thor Heyerdahl's version about the Egyptians visiting 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 was only a few hundred kilometers short. The second expedition achieved its goal.
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Notes
Literature
- Bakeless D. America through the eyes of discoverers / Trans. from English 3. M. Kanevsky. - M.: Mysl, 1969. - 408 p.: ill.
- Magidovich I. P. History of the discovery and exploration of North America. - M.: Geographgiz, 1962.
- Magidovich I. P. History of the discovery and exploration of Central and South America. - M.: Mysl, 1963.
- John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. The Book of General Delusions. - Phantom Press, 2009.
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Excerpt characterizing the Discovery of America
While Boris continued to make mazurka figures, he was constantly tormented by the thought of what news Balashev had brought and how to find out about it before others.In the figure where he had to choose ladies, whispering to Helen that he wanted to take Countess Pototskaya, who seemed to have gone out onto the balcony, he, sliding his feet along 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 headed towards the door. Boris, in a hurry, as if not having time to move away, respectfully pressed himself against the lintel and bowed his head.
With the emotion of a personally insulted man, the Emperor finished 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 sovereign was pleased to express these words: he was pleased with the form of expression of his thoughts, but was dissatisfied with the fact that Boris heard them.
- So that no one knows anything! – the sovereign added, frowning. Boris realized that this applied to him, and, closing his eyes, bowed his head slightly. The Emperor again entered the hall and remained at the ball for about half an hour.
Boris was the first to learn the news about the crossing of the Neman by French troops and thanks to this he had the opportunity to show some important persons that he knew many things hidden from others, and through this he had the opportunity to rise higher in the opinion of these persons.
The unexpected news about the French crossing the Neman was especially unexpected after a month of unfulfilled anticipation, and at a ball! The Emperor, at the first minute of receiving the news, under the influence of indignation and insult, found what 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 secretary Shishkov and ordered 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 make peace 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 a l"instant de Petersbourg une note par laquelle le comte Lauriston, pour cause de cette aggression, 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" aggression. 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.”
[“My lord brother! Yesterday it dawned on me that, despite the straightforwardness with which I observed my obligations towards Your Imperial Majesty, your troops crossed the Russian borders, and only now have I received a note from St. Petersburg, with which Count Lauriston informs me regarding this invasion, that Your Majesty considers yourself to be on hostile terms with me from the time 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 served as a reason for the attack. And in fact, he did not have a command from me to do this, as he himself announced; and as soon as I learned about this, I immediately expressed my displeasure to Prince Kurakin, ordering him to carry out 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 provoked 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, calling Balashev to him and reading him his letter to Napoleon, ordered him to take this letter and personally hand it over to the French emperor. Sending Balashev away, the sovereign again repeated to him the words that he would not make peace until at least one armed enemy remained on Russian soil, and ordered that these words be conveyed to Napoleon without fail. The Emperor 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.
Having left on the night of June 13th to 14th, 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 as he approached, ordering him to stop. Balashev did not stop immediately, but continued to walk along the road.
The non-commissioned officer, frowning and muttering some kind of curse, advanced with the chest of his horse towards Balashev, took up his saber and rudely shouted at the Russian general, asking him: is he deaf, that he does not hear what is being said to him. Balashev identified himself. The non-commissioned officer sent the 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 being close to the highest power and might, after a conversation three hours ago with the sovereign and generally accustomed to honors from his service, to see here, on Russian soil, this hostile and, most importantly, disrespectful attitude towards himself of brute force.
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, the larks burst into life with a hooting sound.
Balashev looked around him, waiting for the arrival of an officer from the village. The Russian Cossacks, the trumpeter, and the French hussars silently looked at each other from time to time.
A French hussar colonel, apparently just out of bed, rode out of the village on a beautiful, well-fed gray horse, accompanied by two hussars. The officer, the soldiers and their horses wore an air of contentment and panache.
The most important event in the history of great geographical discoveries, and indeed world history in general, was Columbus's discovery of America- an event as a result of which the inhabitants of Europe discovered two continents called the New World, or America.
The confusion began with the names of the continents. There is strong evidence for the version that the lands of the New World were named after the Italian philanthropist Richard America from Bristol, who financed the transatlantic expedition of John Cabot in 1497. The Florentine traveler Amerigo Vespucci, who visited the New World only in 1500 and after whom America is believed to have been named, took his nickname in honor of the already named continent.
In May 1497, Cabot reached the shores of Labrador, becoming the first recorded European to set foot on American soil, two years before Amerigo Vespucci. Cabot compiled a map of the coast of North America - from New England to Newfoundland. In the Bristol calendar for that year we read: “...on St. John the Baptist was found in the land of America by merchants from Bristol who arrived on a ship named "Matthew."
Christopher Columbus - discovery of America
Christopher Columbus is considered the official discoverer of the New World continents. He was originally from Italy and came to Spain from Portugal. Having found a familiar monk in a monastery near the city of Palos, Columbus told him that he had decided to sail to Asia by a new sea route - along the Atlantic Ocean. He was allowed an audience with Queen Isabella, who, after his report, appointed a scientific council to discuss the project. The members of the council were mainly clergy. Columbus ardently defended his project. He referred to the evidence of ancient scientists about the sphericity of the Earth, to a copy of the map of the famous Italian astronomer Toscanelli, which depicted many islands in the Atlantic Ocean, and behind them the eastern shores of Asia. He convinced the learned monks that the legends spoke of a land beyond the ocean, from the shores of which sea currents sometimes bring tree trunks with traces of their processing by people. Columbus was an educated man: he knew how to draw maps, drive ships, and knew four languages. He managed to convince the scientific council of the validity of his expectations.
The rulers of Spain believed the traveler and decided to conclude an agreement with Columbus, according to which, if successful, he would receive the title of admiral and viceroy of the lands he discovered, as well as a significant part of the profits from trade with the countries where he was able to visit. Thus began the era of geographical exploration and discovery, which began with the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.
Discovery of America by Columbus: year 1492
On August 3, 1492, three ships “Santa Maria”, “Pinta” and “Nina” with 90 participants set sail from the port of Paloe. The ships' crews consisted mainly of convicted criminals. 33 days have already passed since the expedition left Canary Islands, but the ground was still not visible. The team began to grumble. To calm her down, Columbus wrote down the distances traveled in the ship's log, deliberately understating them.
On October 12, 1492, sailors saw a dark strip of land on the horizon. It was a small island with lush tropical vegetation. Tall people with dark skin lived here. The natives called their island Guanahani. Columbus named it San Salvador and declared it a possession of Spain. This name stuck with one of the Bahamas. Columbus was fully confident that he had reached Asia. Having visited other islands, he asked local residents everywhere whether this was Asia. But I didn’t hear anything consonant with this word. Columbus left some people on the island of Hispaniola, and he himself went to Spain. To prove that he had discovered the route to Asia, Columbus took with him several Indians, feathers of unprecedented birds, some plants, including maize, potatoes and tobacco. On March 15, 1493, he was greeted as a hero in Palos.
This was the first visit by Europeans to the islands of Central America, as a result of which the basis was laid for the further discovery of unknown lands, their conquest and colonization.
In the 20th century, scientists drew attention to information that suggested that contacts between the Old World and the New occurred long before Columbus’s famous discovery of America.
In addition to the hypotheses about the settlement of America by the “ten tribes of Israel”, as well as the Atlanteans, there is a number of significant scientific data that America was visited long before Columbus. Some researchers even argue that Indian culture was brought from outside, from the Old World. In academic science, the theory that the civilizations of America developed almost completely independently before 1492 has more supporters.
Hypotheses about the visit of America by the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Chinese, Japanese and Celts remain unconfirmed, but there is fairly reliable data about the visit of America by the Polynesians, preserved in their legends; In addition, it is known that the Chukchi established an exchange of fur and whalebone with the ancient population of the northwestern American coast, but it is impossible to establish the exact date of the beginning of these contacts. Europeans visited the American continent during the Viking Age. Scandinavian contacts with the New World began around 1000 AD and continued approximately until the 14th century.
The name of the Scandinavian navigator and ruler of Greenland, Leif I Eriksson the Happy, is associated with the discovery of America. This European discovered North America five centuries before Columbus. His campaigns are known from the Icelandic sagas, preserved in such manuscripts as “The Saga of Eric the Red” and “The Saga of the Greenlanders.” Their authenticity was confirmed by archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.
Leif Eriksson was born in Iceland into the family of Erik the Red, who was expelled from Norway along with his entire family. Eric's family was forced to leave Iceland in 982, fearing blood feud, and settle in new colonies in Greenland. Leif Eriksson had two brothers, Thorvald and Thorstein, and one sister, Freydis. Leif was married to a woman named Thorgunna. They had one son, Torkell Leifsson.
Before his trip to America, Leif made a trading expedition to Norway. Here he was baptized by King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway, an ally of Prince Vladimir of Kyiv. Leif brought a Christian bishop to Greenland and baptized its inhabitants. His mother and many Greenlanders converted to Christianity, but his father, Erik the Red, remained a pagan. On the way back, Leif saved the shipwrecked Icelander Thorir, for which he received the nickname Leif the Happy. Upon his return, he met a Norwegian named Bjarni Herjulfsson in Greenland, who said that he saw the outline of land in the west, far out to sea. Leif became interested in this story and decided to explore new lands.
Around the year 1000, Leif Eriksson and a crew of 35 sailed west on a ship purchased from Bjarni. They discovered three regions of the American coast: Helluland (probably the Labrador Peninsula), Markland (possibly Baffin Island) and Vinland, which received its name for the large number of grape vines. Presumably this was the coast of Newfoundland. Several settlements were founded there, where the Vikings stayed for the winter.
Upon returning to Greenland, Leif gave the ship to his brother Thorvald, who instead went to explore Vinland further. Torvald's expedition was unsuccessful: the Scandinavians collided with the Skralings - North American Indians, and in this clash Torvald died. If you believe the Icelandic legends, according to which Erik and Leif did not make their trips at random, but based on the stories of eyewitnesses like Bjarni, who saw unknown lands on the horizon, then in a sense America was discovered even before the year 1000. However, it was Leif who was the first to make a full-fledged expedition along the shores of Vinland, gave it a name, landed on the shore and even tried to colonize it. Based on the stories of Leif and his people, which served as the basis for the Scandinavian “Saga of Eric the Red” and “Saga of the Greenlanders,” the first maps of Vinland were compiled.
This information, preserved by the Icelandic sagas, was confirmed in 1960, when archaeological evidence of an early Viking settlement was discovered in the town of L'ans-aux-Meadows on the island of Newfoundland. Columbus's discovery of America at that time was indeed a discovery, because they knew nothing about the New World did not know. But Columbus was not a pioneer in the full sense of the word. Currently, the exploration of the territory of North America by the Vikings long before Columbus’s travels is considered a definitively proven fact. Scientists have reached an agreement that the Vikings among Europeans were indeed the first to discover North America, but the exact place their settlements are still unknown. At first, the Vikings did not distinguish between their settlement in Greenland and Vinland, on the one hand, and Iceland, on the other. The feeling of different worlds appeared to them only after meeting with local tribes, which were very different from the Irish monks in Iceland: The Saga of Eric the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders were written approximately 250 years after the colonization of Greenland and reveal that there were several attempts to establish a settlement in Vinland, but none lasted more than two years. There are several possible reasons why the Vikings abandoned settlements, including disagreement among the male colonists regarding the few women who accompanied the voyage, and armed skirmishes with the local inhabitants, whom the Vikings called Skralings. Both of these factors are indicated in written sources.
Until the 19th century, historians considered the idea of Viking settlements in North America exclusively in the context of the national folklore of the Scandinavian peoples. The first scientific theory appeared in 1837 thanks to the Danish historian and antiquarian Karl Christian Rafn. In his book American Antiquities, Rafn conducted a comprehensive examination of the sagas and examined possible places sites on the American coast, as a result of which he concluded that the country of Vinland, discovered by the Vikings, really existed. History continues to lift the veil of its secrets. Scientists have yet to verify the likelihood and time of an even earlier discovery of America and contact with this continent by people from the Old World.
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