As a former history teacher, I have to put my 2 cents in here.
American history books, at least back when I was teaching in the 70's and
80's, taught that there were probably many visitors from Europe to the "New"
World prior to Columbus and his cohorts. Leif was foremost among those
mentioned. However, the books taught, and I agree, that Columbus'
contribution was that his voyage to America opened up these continents for
exploitation. Therefore, his voyage resulted in their 'discovery.'
It is very similar to the concept of some 'little whole in the wall'
restaurant that has been around for years finally making it big when someone
takes the idea and markets it. McDonald's and its trademark Golden Arches
comes to mind here. The McDonald brothers have been immortalized much like
Amerigo Vespucci, but the man behind McDonald's was Ray Kroc and the man who
gets the credit for discovering America is Christopher Columbus.
Connie
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