In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue, but who came before him? Why do Americans feel the need to celebrate “the founder of America” who did not actually “find” America?

Before Christopher Columbus there was a  Norse explorer named Leif Erikson who is frequently cited as the European who discovered America in 1001 A.D. But even before that, their were the Native Americans!

In elementary school, students learn that Christopher Columbus was the original founding father of America. But even if we overlook the not-so-tiny fact that there were already millions of Indigenous People on the mainland of America, he actually sailed to the Bahamas, according to Biography.com.

Also, the popular belief that he was trying to prove that the world was round, but many people already believed the world was round. In fact, the first people to realize the world was round were the ancient Greeks in the 5th century B.C. Columbus was trying to prove that there was a middle passage, or a water route to Asia.

When Columbus first set foot on Hispaniola, he encountered native people called the Taino. They were a friendly group that wanted to trade with Columbus and his crew.

“They were very well built, with very handsome bodies and very good faces… They do not carry arms… They should be good servants,” Columbus said. …