Sometimes children ask important questions that adults never think of. Because we accept most things as they are taught to us and sometimes we avoid asking even seemingly simple questions.
The discovery of America is a turning point that changed world history, we all know that. Well, let’s ask a childish question: Weren’t the first people who discovered America the natives living there?
Italian explorer, Admiral Christopher Columbus (or Christopher Columbus), was the head of Spain’s “Atlantic Ocean expeditions” in the 13th century.
The aim was to discover new trade routes and new lands that could be colonized. To put it simply, what Columbus really wanted was to constantly go west and find a shorter and easier way to reach Asia, especially India. But something happened that he didn’t expect.
Instead of going to the shores of Asia, he went to a new and large continent that he had never known. Some sources even say that Columbus initially thought this place was India, but the place he arrived at was a point in South America close to today’s Panama Canal.
America had actually already been discovered by others. Thousands of years ago.
Civilizations such as Maya, Aztec, Inca; They developed important agricultural practices, advanced in architecture, established trade networks, and made progress in many other areas.
At that time, the idea of another continent besides Asia, Europe and Africa turned everything Europeans knew upside down.
Because at that time, Europeans believed that the Earth consisted of three continents and that the central point in the middle of these three continents was the holy land of Jerusalem, and that another son of Noah settled on each continent and formed different nations in each of them.
A fourth continent was fundamentally shaking the idea of the World written in the Bible and the Torah. Therefore, when Christopher Columbus discovered America, it took a long time to convince Europeans that a new continent existed.
Consider the shock effect that the New World created on the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa.
It was a groundbreaking development. When we talk about a discovery, we are actually talking about it being new for Europeans, about learning something they could never have guessed before.
World maps changed in Europe after the discovery of America by Europeans. Cultural, historical and economic relations began between the Old World and the New World, which will continue forever.
As time passed, Columbus began to be remembered not so well.
For centuries, Europeans saw Columbus as the “Great Admiral of the Oceans” and the “Great Explorer”. His name was engraved in golden letters in history books. A giant mausoleum was prepared for Columbus. His sculptures adorned many places in America and Europe. The anniversary of the discovery is still celebrated as Columbus Day in America.
He was a great hero for some. But as time passed, the perspectives and criticisms of not only the European and American ruling classes, but also the oppressed peoples, began to be increasingly taken into account.
The colonialism that followed the discovery of America, the inhumane treatment of America’s indigenous peoples, and the many atrocities that lasted for hundreds of years were sufficient reasons for Columbus, the European groups that first discovered America, and the founding figures of America to be widely condemned figures.
In fact, we know almost all of world history through the eyes of Europeans.
That is, mainstream historiography either focuses specifically on the actions and contributions made by European communities or how they influenced them.
Even the word “discovery” itself is actually a word belonging to the vocabulary of Europe at that time. The name given to the passionate search of Europeans for new trade routes, resources and growth opportunities at that time.
When we say that Columbus discovered America, we are actually saying that he was the last one in history, not the first one to discover it.
Whether it is correct to call Columbus a great explorer and the landing of America by Europeans as a discovery is still highly controversial. But Columbus’s expedition to America was the discovery that brought about the most important and lasting effects in world history.
When he discovered it, the whole world knew about America. Therefore, saying that America was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 is the most concise and useful definition, although it is not the most complete and realistic definition. Also, even if we don’t like it, it is worth remembering, “History is always written by the winners.”
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