Who discovered the America?
There are several contenders. Christopher Columbus, the Genovese controversial
explorer sought a westward route to the East Indies and until
he had departed this life, claimed he had achieved that desire. He never believed
he had planted colonies in Central America. The there is
Amerigo Vespucci—for whom the USA is named—the Italian navigator who explored
South America and realized that the New World was a new continent and not part
of Asia.
According to one account—the Icelandic
Eiriks saga—the second son of Erik the Red—Leif Eriksson was on his way back
home to Greenland when he sailed off course. Erik landed in Nova
Scotia and he named the land Vinland.
Some believe Vinland comes from the wild grapes the crew
found growing there. The Groenlendinga saga says he learned of the land from an
Icelandic trader and it was his intention to land there.
In 1960, indications that support the
theory of a Scandinavian settlement in L’Anse aux Meadows, New Foundland were found.
Was it the early Viking adventurers and explorers—no longer followers of the
Norse Pagan Gods and converts to Christianity and intent on converting natives—the
first ones who discovered what would become a new continent named America?
