Did Columbus discover America?
The “Discovery” of America
The View from Europe
• This question usually leads to theories of “ alternative”
discoverers -- Phoenicians, Vikings, the Chinese, Egyptians,
etc.
• Eviatar Zerubavel, a sociologist at Rutgers, has turned this
question in a different direction:
• When did Europeans mentally discover America?
• Or, in other words, when did it become clear that they were
looking at something entirely new?
• The answer is complex, but Zerubavel suggests that it took
at least three centuries for the Americas to be recognized for
what they were as separate continents, and hence the
discovery is not an “event” but a process.
The Globe before Columbus
• No one (or at least no one who could read, and
probably very few others) prior to Columbus
regarded the earth as flat.
• The question was rather one of how land was
related to water on the globe.
• The assumption, based on the records of ancient
Greek and Latin texts as well as more recent
travels (such as that of Marco Polo), was that all
land formed essentially one continuous landmass,
divided into three “continents,” surrounded by
ocean.
Insert plate 4 from Zerubavel
Martellus World Map of 1489
1492 and following:
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With Columbus’ voyages, and those of others, a host of different
views arose regarding what, exactly, was the destination of ships
which sailed west across the Atlantic. Most could be placed into three
categories:
The far coast of Asia or “India” (as in the previous map), filled with a
previously unknown people. Few held this beyond Columbus.
A “new world” -- a separate set of islands, which may have been any
of a number of “ lost lands” of ancient texts.
A new area not necessarily detached from the old landmass -- possibly
another, previously unknown, section of Asia.
At the time, Columbus’ belief that he was in Asia was doubted not
because of what he found there as much as because others knew that
his calculations for the circumference of the Earth were off. (The
circumference of the Earth, not its shape, was what was in dispute in
Columbus’ day.
2. The New World:
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Others, notably influenced by Amerigo Vespucci quickly asserted that
what was “ out there” was a truly new landmass.
Many widely read pamphlets were published under Vespucci’s name
(some of which he actually wrote) about his “four” voyages between
1497and 1504 (one of which we know he made) to America.
Of his expedition to South America in 1501-02, Vespucci wrote that he
became convinced that what he saw was an entirely new landmass, not
known to the ancient Greeks, hence a “New World.”
The various Vespucci tracts, whether genuine or not, spread throughout
Europe.
The impression given by these tracts was that there was a truly new, and
entirely strange, land to the West, unlike anything in the known world.
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Insert Plate 5 from Zerubavel
Waldseemüller’s map of 1507
A Big “HOWEVER”
• There was a great deal more information in the
Vespucci tracts than Vespucci himself could have
gathered in his fairly limited experience in the Americas.
• Much in these tracts was purely invented,
embellishments based upon what was, even in
Vespucci’s own writing, an embellished account. (To
please his patron, Lorenzo d’ Medici.)
• Anthony Grafton, a historian at Princeton, has shown
that much of the embellishments in these tracts is based
upon older texts such as the Greek Herodotus and the
fictional Travels of John Mandeville.
• Both of these writings played on a literary fascination
with the mystery of strange peoples and unknown lands.
Insert figure 3.10 from Grafton
Ortelius’ Map of the Americas, 1570
Conclusions:
∴ (1) The “realization” of a new continent was largely based on fiction.
∴ (2) Whatever was genuine certainly did not offer much in the way of
proof.
∴ (3) Many saw the embellishments for what they were and did not fully
buy into the “new world” idea.
∴ (4) The connections between the Vespucci writings and ancient Greek
accounts of “lost lands” such as those described by Herodotus, or the
“Atlantis” of Plato led to the conclusion that the Americas were not a new
landmass, but a forgotten one.
∴ Was America the remains of a lost civilization? Was it the Biblical land
of Nod, which lay “East of Eden?” (Gen. 4:16) Was it a completely new
land, but not a ‘ surprise’ because Herodotus and others had suggested that
more lands were out there? There was a lot on the table.
∴ (5) Many did not fully accept the “novelty” of the Americas.
The “Big Asia”
• Another common position was to see the lands to the
west as a previously unknown extension of Asia.
• The “discovery” of the Pacific Ocean by Balboa in 1513,
and the proof that this was a large body of water which
came with Magellan in 1520-21, did not mean that Asia
and America were separate.
• It would not be until the 18th century that Europeans
travelling East from Russia would establish that the
continents were not connected.
• (The “single landmass” theory which had been around
since Ptolemy (100-170 c.e.) had a very long life.)
Insert Zerubavel, Plate 24
Edward Wright’s World Portolan, 1599
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Some Implications of the “Big Asia”
• Columbus’ basic understanding of what he had done
remained intact -- he united west and east.
• The potential for an overland route to China from the
American coast was often considered.
• The native peoples of the Americas were still often
considered as a subset of Asian civilization. Thus:
• In 1576 Martin Frobischer labeled Baffin Island, in
Northeastern Canada, “Asia.”
• In 1634 Colonists in New England were debating whether
their colony bordered the land of the Tartars.
• When, in 1634, Jean Nicolet explored Lake Michigan inland
as far as Wisconsin he landed wearing a silk robe, with the
expectation that he might be met by Chinese officials.
Insert Zerubavel plate 27, left half
Gastaldi and Pagano World Map, 1550
Conclusion:
• More than a century after Columbus, and possibly not until
the Russian expeditions, America was not necessarily
regarded as distinct from the landmass of the Old World.
• When America was “discovered” for what it actually is
remains an open question.
• Europeans turned to ancient texts to figure-out, as much as
possible, what they were encountering in the West.
• It was “new” to all Europeans to some extent, but they went
to great lengths to accommodate their old theories (scientists
still operate this way.)
• The variety of ways in which America was perceived greatly
affected how Europeans saw the native peoples of the
Americas.
Europeans and the “Other”
Making Sense of the Peoples of the
Americas
Introduction:
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For the European mind, it was as big a challenge to
make sense of the inhabitants of the new lands as it
was to explain their geographical relationship to what
was known.
As with their theories of Geography, they built new
theories upon the old.
Basing their theories upon ancient texts (ala
Humanism) and their own contemporary experiences,
several images of the American native emerged:
The Noble Savage.
The Barbarian.
The Lost Peoples of Scripture.
Beginning with #3:
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As the most important text in Renaissance and Reformation society, the
people of Europe turned to the Bible to gain clues regarding the identity
of the people of America.
But the Bible offered many answers, none of which were entirely
satisfactory.
Were they merely Asian pagans in need of conversion?
Were they simply not mentioned in the Scriptures, since there is nothing
which looks quite like the American native in the Hebrew Old
Testament?
How did they get to America from Mount Ararat after the Flood which
wiped-out the world’s first population?
Few were satisfied with the first question, and the last question was an
important one.
On the last question, there were many perfectly logical explanations of
how the American peoples came to America. Thus, to the European
mind, there were good explanations of WHO they were.
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Classical Sources:
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Insert figure 3.17 from Grafton: read from p. 149
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The Bible was not the only authoritative text in Renaissance Europe.
The texts of pagan antiquity also informed the European image of the
native American.
There was a wealth of material about strange peoples beyond the
borders of Europe in the classical texts.
Perhaps they were Atlanteans? Francisco Lopez de Gomara thought
so, pointing to the linguistic use of atl in the original Aztec language.
Was Peru mentioned in Herodotus? This was a common theory.
What the classical texts gave to Renaissance Europeans, however,
was not just theories about who the people of America were, but also,
and with much graver consequences, a thoroughly ambiguous image
of foreign populations.
As Anthony Grafton points out, this is the tension between the image
of the savage barbarian and the image of the noble savage.
Benito Arias Montano: Map of the Migrations of Noah’s Children -- 1593
Noble
Savage
The Noble Savage
• The image of the “barbarian” from the texts of classical antiquity
was often celebrated as being morally and even culturally
superior, in some ways, to the cultures of Greece and Rome.
• Most frequently this was done with the intent of authors to show
the corruption and decadence of their own culture, not accurately
describe foreign people and culture.
• As a result, there was a wealth of material which modeled how
to view “foreign” cultures in a positive light, without any real
concern for accuracy.
• As another result, there was a wealth of material which
portrayed the ancestors of Europeans as “noble savages.”
• It was easy enough to draw parallels between “ old world”
savages and “new world” savages.
The Savage Barbarian
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Theodore de Bry, 1590
Picture of an ancient “Pict”
(native of ancient Britain) based
upon Roman descriptions.
From the first volume of
America, this picture was
included in order to understand
the new cultures by direct
comparison with European
ancestors.
What it accomplished was a
certain sympathy for the people
of the New World,
But also a host of invalid
assumptions about their culture.
From the Universal Cosmography of André Thevet, 1575,
describing how the American Native loves war and never
makes peace. (Taking all the nations as a whole this was true,
but it was equally true of Europe at the time.)
There were plenty of very accurate stories coming back from the
Americas which supported the “noble savage” image.
However, there were also plenty of accurate stories of intense cruelty
perpetrated by the natives of the Americas.
These, too, had a parallel in the image of the barbarians presented in
classial Latin and Greek literature.
Classical authors also portrayed the foreigner as so viciously cruel that it
made their own culture look better by comparison.
(It was not uncommon for the “noble savage” and the “savage barbarian”
image to be found side by side in the same texts.)
As a result, there were ready models for describing “foreign” cultures in
a negative light, also without any real concern for historical accuracy.
As another result, there was a tendency to think of foreign cultures as
unconscionably backward, and in need of the “civilization” which
allowed Europeans to “overcome” their own savagery.
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American “Amazons” courtesy of
the same author.• When describing
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American natives,
European authors
would borrow freely
from classical legends,
such as that of the
“Amazons” or female
warriors of ancient
Greece.
The fact that no such
tribes existed (and the
most reliable reports
from the New World
reported this honestly)
did not prevent the
morbidly attractive
image from being
propagated.
Bartolomé de las Casas
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Sometimes the missionaries in America ignored the Church’s concerns,
at others they were tireless defenders of the natives.
One of the most tireless was the Dominican, Bartolome de las Casas
(1474-1566).
Las Casas returned from his missionary activity to Spain with the goal
of setting the record straight -- that Spanish rule had brought
destruction, not religion to the natives.
In addition to a highly publicized debate in Valladolid, las Casas
published his message as broadly as possible.
His publications were especially popular in Protestant lands, where his
tales were taken as further proof of the errors of the Catholic Church
(quite the contrary of what las Casas intended.)
His writings helped form the “black legend” in which the tales of
Spanish abuses were spread and heavily embellished.
(This is also the ground of much gratuitous Catholic bashing to this
day.)
Conclusions, part 1:
• In all cases Europeans interpreted the people of the
New World according to the categories which they
had received from antiquity.
• Before passing inappropriate judgments on them,
we must recognize that we operate in the same
way.
• It is a human trait to judge the unknown by the
known.
• This is both an appropriate way to survive in the
world, and the source of inaccurate biases and
prejudices.
IMPORTANT POINTS:
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The image of the noble savage and the savage barbarian frequently
merged in the European mind, even as it had in Greece and Rome.
Among the conquerors this provided the motive for conquest as a
noble enterprise.
“The Indians were at once so barbarous as to deserve conquest and so
splendid as to endow their Spanish conquerors with unimaginable
glory.” (Anthony Grafton, in New Worlds, Ancient Texts)
However, not all “conquerors” were of the same mindset.
The economically motivated Conquistadors emphasized the “savage”
side of the image to justify slavery, slaughter, and other abuses.
From the first, however, the Catholic Church was concerned about the
human cost of the activity of the Conquistadors, and repeatedly
condemned these actions.
The Protestants
capitalized on
Las Casas’
writings, but also
on the classical
image of the
“Noble Savage.”
This woodcut
from Theodore
de Bry’s America
purports to
depict the death
of the Incan
“Emperor”
Atahualpa at the
hands of Pizzaro.
Note the classical
architecture in
the setting.
Regarding the Native American:
• In many respects we have not shed the basic categories of
the early modern era in considering the Indian.
• The basic categories of “Barbarian,” “Noble Savage,” and
“helpless victim” dominate non-Indian interpretations of
the Indian, as well as official government policies.
• Notably absent, in most cases, is the recognition that all of
these images are artificial, and avoid both the honestly
positive and the honestly negative realities of the Native
American history and culture.
• As a result “Indians” have been demonized, glorified, or
pitied, but largely not understood.
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Regarding the Image of America,
and the Image of Europe
• Many of the images of America as a land of savages
were transferred to the White settlers.
• In Europe, these images are still alive and well.
• Similarly, the image of Europe as the pinnacle of
civilization is still common in our culture.
• On the one hand, these biases are further evidence of
the undeniable connection between European and
American culture.
• On the other hand, there is no substance behind
these images.
• GET OVER IT.
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