Name: Shauntel Grant
Question#2: “Do alternative narratives of ‘discovery’ have greater explanatory power than the traditional ‘Columbus narrative’?
The name Columbus has been for many years and still is synonymous with the discovery of the Americas. It is a “fact” that has been confidently laid in history and for many historians, it would seem blasphemous to even try and challenge such an assertion. But are we disseminating the correct stories in our history books and is Columbus Day even worthy of being celebrated?
The conventional view is that Columbus set sail on the first of his four great voyages in 1492, having been sponsored by Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Spain. Historian Peter N. Stearns[1] asserts that the first voyage on August. 3-March 15, Columbus left Palos, Spain, with three caravels, La Pinta, La Niña, and the Santa María. Martín Pinzón and Juan de la Cosa commanded two of them. They left the Canaries on September 6 and reached land in the Bahamas on October 12, naming it San Salvador. Columbus then discovered Cuba, which he thought was the territory of the Great Khan, and Santo Domingo (Española). He established a post, Navidad, on Santo Domingo, and set out on the return voyage January 4, 1493, touching the Azores February 15, landing at Lisbon March 4, and finally reaching Palos March 15. Columbus announced that he had discovered the route to the Indies, news of which quickly spread throughout Europe and caused much excitement.
Consequently, alternative narratives of “discovery” have cast tremendous doubts on traditional accounts, as there has been overwhelming and compelling archaeological and historical evidence which counters the theory that Columbus was the first to land in the New World in 1492. Many scholars and historians have purported several theories of Pre-Columbian discovery, however, from my perspective; there are only two which have superior explanatory power than that of the traditional Columbus narrative that is,...