Top 10 Civilizations That Beat Columbus to America

Fact checked

America Was Discovered… But Not By Who You Think

Most people are aware that Columbus wasn’t the first person to land on America – he didn’t even get to America, like, at ALL – he landed in the Bahamas.  THE BAHAMAS. [1]

He was also a pretty awful person, too – according to The Washington Post, “He committed atrocities against native peoples on the islands and decimated their populations while he also terrorized Spanish colonists, according to the biography ‘Columbus’ by Laurence Bergreen.” [1]  He kind of sucked, honestly.

There is fascinating evidence that civilizations from The Vikings to The Polynesians not only actually stepped foot on American soil, but there is also the possibility some cultures settled there for a time.

Which brings us to an incredibly cool list from Top 10 List [2] called, “Top 10 Civilizations that might have beaten Columbus to America“.

Author Priyam Ghosh says, “We all were made accustomed to the story that Columbus was the person who discovered the great land of America in the year 1492.

Top 10 Civilizations That Beat Columbus to America

 

But you would be surprised to know that probably Columbus wasn’t really the first one who went on to discovering and finding the land of America, but there were other civilizations who had expeditions to that land and never named it.

Technically which could mean that Columbus wasn’t the first one to step into America and that other civilizations had already been to America, either knowingly or unknowingly, on their journeys and expeditions.

There were some civilizations which actually stayed and stuck to this land for a few years’ time but people hardly know about it because of their ancient time period. The civilizations which could have visited the land of America before Columbus made his discovery were pretty old and taken shelter without any proper recordings, due to which the stories of their settlement in America seems vague and unclear even today.

So here is a list of the top 10 civilizations that might have beaten Columbus to America, and probably found and discovered the land of America is their really old and ancient times.

Top 10 Civilizations That Beat Columbus to America

And, without further ado… the list:

1. Polynesians

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The Polynesians knew about the use of sweet potatoes when this vegetable only grew in South America. So this could possibly means that the Polynesians may have landed in the coast of Peru because it is impossible to grow sweet potatoes by seed as it is grown by tuber, which was found only in South America. The Polynesians went to Peru and brought sweet potatoes using Hawaii as their middle stop, or however they actually brought the sweet potatoes they did have a clear idea and visited South America even before Columbus did. The population of Eastern Island today show evidences of the similarities between Native Americans and Polynesians who had interbred at that time.

2. The Japanese

Top 10 Civilizations That Beat Columbus to America

Anthropologists Nancy Yew Davis theorized that a lot of Japanese had moved to North America after natural disasters and other shifting of social structures affected their living in Japans greatly. In 1350, a group of Buddhist monks traveled to California and this same group settle with the name of ‘Zuni’. Even today, the Zuni people in New Mexico are completely different when it comes to language, culture and DNA from the other tribes, and are found more similar to the Japanese, along with sharing genetics and a rare kidney ailment.

3. The Irish

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Many Spanish explorers were believed to have entered America, and encountered the Duhare tribe, who stayed in America but were different from the Native Americans. The Spanish and Duhare people got along well together and started influencing each other’s thoughts and theories through their respective civilizations. The same is supported by Irish monk Saint Brendan who was said to have travelled till North America and that a Welsh Prince named Madoc was forced to leave his country after his father’s death and moved to North America. He gathered more people to go along with him and resided in the modern day Alabama region, due to which medieval Welsh constructions could also be seen and observed.

4. Egyptians

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The finding and discovery of the bodies of several ancient Egyptian mummies native to the New World, especially the mummy of Ramesses II might have led to the thought that Egyptians could have had found their way and route of this New World. There were noted similarities between the Egyptians and the Mesoamericans yet there is very little evidence to support these similarities.

5. Romans

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The Romans already knew that the world was round and they also excelled in sailing and seafaring, which could have taken them till the land of America. In 1933, archeologists found a genuine miniature Roman bust in Mexico, along with some Roman coins in the United States, which provides evidence that the Romans had been to the land of America.

6. The Knights Templar

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The Knights Templar was supposed to be an intelligent civilization with good banking skills but were persecuted or dissolved in the 14th century. When they were persecuted, some knights turned for help to Henry Sinclair who was the Prince of Orkney Islands. Sinclair then began with an expedition with the knights to the New World and probably never returned to Scotland after setting foot in America. The Gnostic beliefs of the Knights Templar was supposed to have an influence on the Native Americans and their teachings brought about a change in the fathers of Native America, evidences of which could be found as a portrait of a medieval knight in Massachusetts and the remains of an old castle, a cannon and a stone wall in Nova Scotia.

7. Malians

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The empire of Mali in West Africa was ruled by the richest man of all time and extremely powerful, Mansa Musa, who told the story of his predecessor Mansa Abubakari II who might have led himself and his troops to America. Abubakari had commissioned a voyage to the end of Atlantic Ocean, but not all the ships returned after the sail, the other troops who confirmed the news saying that a giant whirlpool swallowed up the boat. Then Abubakari himself led the voyage with 2000 ships and the fleet never returned. When Columbus set foot in America, he evidently found giant stone carvings of heads, called the Olmec Head, which were an evidence of the pre-Columbian America. He also encountered African traders and African spears in gold.

8. Siberians

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Siberians are the people who could be given the most truthful and utmost credit for stepping foot in this land of America. Many Siberians were believed to have moved to the northern parts of North America during the Ice Age, which dates back to more than 20,000 to 30,000 years ago, who traveled to America across the Bering Strait. Recently in 2012, a team of anthropologists also confirmed that this theory could actually hold true as there have been a lot of similarities found and a shared mutation between the Altai people of Siberia and the Native Americans.

9. Semites

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Semites were believed to have visited the land of America, especially the Phoenicians who were apparently solely responsible for the pre-Columbian Native American empires. The legend of Votan is popular and believable where it is said that this mythological figure had founded the land in the early 1000 B.C. and also there is a Carthaginian coin which may reflect a map of the world. Because Carthaginians are descendants of the Phoenicians, it is quite possible that this land was known to them even before Columbus had discovered it, though there are not established evidences found to support this theory. It is also believed according to the Book of Mormon that three groups of Isrealites settled with the Americans known as Juredites, together as they were believed to be the ancestors of Native Americans.

10. The Chinese

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China was ruled by the Ming dynasty during the time period of 1368-1644. During this time, Europe was making developments to its shipping and sails, and therefore China didn’t remain far behind and conducted various naval expeditions, one of which could have been to America. In 1421, when China supposedly made landfall, a British historian Gavin Menzies found many similarities between the Chinese and American traditions. Conceptualized as the ‘1421 Theory’, the historian believed that even before Columbus made his way to the New World, the Chinese had already established their influence among major American tribes and were interbreeding with the American natives, though not much evidence has been found to support this theory.

 

[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/10/14/christopher-columbus-3-things-you-think-he-did-that-he-didnt/

[2] http://top-10-list.org/2014/08/02/top-10-civilizations-that-might-have-beaten-columbus-to-america/

Royce Christyn

Royce Christyn

Journalist at News Punch
Documentarian, Writer, Producer, Director, Author.
Royce Christyn

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