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Old 10-20-2014, 06:50 AM
 
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Christopher Columbus wasn't Jewish. He wasn't thought to be Jewish since his times,
all you have here is the recent imaginations of some writers who employ association
with Jewish merchants and financiers.
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Old 10-20-2014, 01:03 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Snowball7 View Post
Christopher Columbus wasn't Jewish. He wasn't thought to be Jewish since his times,
all you have here is the recent imaginations of some writers who employ association
with Jewish merchants and financiers.
That's not true! Many had/have proof that he was a marrano/converso.
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Old 10-20-2014, 01:50 PM
 
Location: Østenfor sol og vestenfor måne
17,916 posts, read 24,234,317 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meowtotheworld View Post

Unfortunately for the Vikings, Leif Ericson's sister got into a bit of trouble while the Vikings were trying to conquer Nova Scotia from a base in Greenland, and to save both her life and honor, the Vikings put off their ambitious plans for some time.
What is your source? The only ambitions the Norsemen had in Vinland (North America) was to gather resources that were not available in the Greenland colony, mainly timber, hides, and possibly ore, from seasonal camps they inhabited on summer expeditions from Greenland. They also engaged in some trading with the indigenous people.

There is no evidence of ambitions or desire to "conquer Nova Scotia" (did you mean Newfoundland, anyway?) apart from these simple, intermittent resource gathering and economic activities. No evidence from history (Vinland sagas) or archaeology (L'Anse aux Meadows site) to indicate any colonial or hegemonic impulse from the Norsemen. It is my impression from the sagas that the Norsemen knew they were outmanned from the start and their technology was barely above that of the indigenous people. Even in the famously terse prose of the sagas, you get the distinct impression that the Norsemen were usually on eggshells when among the indigenous people. These weren't armored men with muskets, vision, policy, and a vigorous fledgeling Spanish empire backing them, they were early medieval men and women with babies camping out thousands of miles from their precarious Greenland colony.

As far as the story of Freydis, Leif Ericsson's sister, there was no danger to her honor involved. The natives were trading peacefully with the Norsemen until they were startled by a domestic bull and the trade was halted. Three weeks later the natives launched an attack on the entire Norse encampment. the pregnant Freydis picked up a sword and slapped it against he breast to intimidate the attackers and the Norsemen ended up fleeing Vinland. That is the sum of the story. No danger to her honor was recorded.
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Old 10-20-2014, 03:17 PM
 
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Maybe he was Jewish. I don't know. So many theories about his true ethnicity have been floated over the years that it seems impossible to know for sure at this point.
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Old 10-20-2014, 04:07 PM
 
Location: University City, Philadelphia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meowtotheworld View Post
I give Columbus some big reps, but I wouldn't call him the most famous explorer in history.

That title would be a tossup between Ferdinand Magellan, James Cook, and Hernan Cortes with Magellan winning by a meow.
I agree with you. That is why cities across the US have Magellan Day Parades, our nation's capital is in the District of Cook, a major city in Ohio is called Cortes and a country in Latin America is called Cortesia.
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Old 10-20-2014, 05:26 PM
 
Location: Cushing OK
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meowtotheworld View Post
Leif Ericson was likely the first European, and there are stories that a few Norseman may have made their way into Mesoamerica where they made quite an impression on the Aztecs.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, Leif Ericson's sister got into a bit of trouble while the Vikings were trying to conquer Nova Scotia from a base in Greenland, and to save both her life and honor, the Vikings put off their ambitious plans for some time.

The Spanish(or a Genoan) ended up getting there first.

Then their is the whole question about Amerigo Vespucci.
One accepted likelyhood today is that Columbus and Ericson were a couple of those who ran into this large continent in the middle of the large seat to the west. In Minnesota and that region they find the ruins of small villages and possbily temples marked with what looks to be ancient Irish symbols. The Irish were one of the first to develop masterful skill in sailing and their boats were equipped for open waters. It's equally possible they also 'discovered America'.

I like honoring all those who got blown off or just got curious and ended up leaving their mark behind, even if it is just the ruin of a temple. It shows the human spirt to not be satisfied with what is and you have and the inborn need to look beyond.

I think if the situation across the sea hadn't become difficult, the Vikings would have returned and left a bigger footprint, but weather patterns changed and their food supply became endangered and they turned south instead. 'Greenland' which is an ice scape was settled in a warm period and failed to support life when tha tended. It was a chief base for launching long distances west.
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Old 10-21-2014, 08:29 PM
 
Location: Brooklyn, NY.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Slobotrevja View Post
Was it Columbus that discovered America? Thanks
No, it was the Vikings. However, they did not get back to Europe to tell anyone as they all died.
Also, I read that some Chinese Admiral may have come to California before 1492.
Moot points as the Asiatic tribes who crossed from Siberia into America "found" it first.

Imagine if a human astronaut lands on some planet that has natives say in 2492AD; could he/she claim to have "discovered" the planet?
Unless, ifcourse Earth is "discovered" first by aliens from planet Zorkon.
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Old 10-22-2014, 08:24 AM
 
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There have been discoveries of Roman and Phoenician artifacts in the
New World. Some suspect planting of evidence, however.
It should be apparent that there indeed was a confluence of
thought and likely migration across the seas well before either
the vikings or Columbus. Monuments, ziggurats, folklore (white gods
would return) all point to earlier transatlantic travels. The Pacific
is also a mystery to some degree there is disagreement whether
the Polynesians settled Hawaii in the 300-400s or 11-1200's.
Still, the Viking travels to Greenland, likely Acadia, and perhaps
New England (or even the Midwest, if you want to get a little
fanciful) were abandoned and did not have lasting effect on
history. It was the Columbine mission in 1492 that opened up
the New World at a time when the maps were nothing but
conjecture. People were confident there was a northern territory
west of Greenland but unsure about when the far more vast expanse
of water across the middle and southern portions of the globe ended.
Columbus settled that.
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Old 10-22-2014, 10:01 AM
 
Location: The High Desert
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Columbus was one of many. There is some interesting DNA evidence of at least one east Asian (Japanese?) arrival in western South America (Ecuador) sometime around 5,000 years ago. Maybe fishermen following the current or blown off course. They left their DNA but probably not much else....and most likely didn't make the trip back home.
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Old 10-22-2014, 10:06 AM
 
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Here is a funny sum-up of Columbus.


Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Columbus Day - How Is That Still A Thing (HBO) - YouTube
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