1491
Most schoolchildren can recite the rhyme “In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” But when he arrived in the Americas what did he find, really? History is very one sided in the retelling of what the Americas were actually like before Europeans arrived. We all know how the story ended, but what was the beginning really like? And was the landscape really all wilderness? Wilderness to whom?
1607 was the year of the first settlement in Jamestown, Virginia. The Mayflower didn’t set sail until 1620. So what was going on between 1492 and 1607?
If you’ve ever wondered if maybe there was more to the story, or if you’ve wondered what the Americas were like prior to 1492, check out the book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann.
The Indigenous populations had far more control over their situation than what common history has led us to believe. Their aim with bows and arrows was more accurate and with much farther range than the European guns of the time. Once the Indigenous people realized this, they just took a step back out of the range of fire. So much for the argument that Europeans had superior technology.
According to Mann’s research, Natives had the situation well in hand. They had the advantages of familiarity and comfort with the environment, food supply, agriculture and shelter. They did not allow any white settlements to develop beyond a certain point. What changed the tide against them was the arrival of European diseases, mainly small pox, which, by the way, was not a deliberate strategy. Europeans did not understand enough about germs at the time to plan this; small pox arrived by way of sick seamen.
Once the Indigenous population was decimated through illness they lost the control they’d had and the Europeans took over. Like I said, we know how the story went from there.
I found it fascinating to read about the busy, trading, teeming, thriving, ecologically managed place the author describes. The wikipedia summary of 1491 is far superior to anything I can describe. If you are at all interested, check it out.
Stay safe everyone.
Thanks Anne, well said. We need to be critical of what is written and try to see the bigger picture of things. I failed miserably in first year history at university – but felt the book What is history? by Carr thought provoking. It helped to put things into perspective and have me question who am I reading this from – what lens are they viewing the world?
Maybe not exactly in line with what you have presented but it is to question what we read.
Thank you Anonymous. I will look that one up. And by the way, I sat through one history class at university and didn’t have a clue what the prof was talking about. I switched classes to Canadian Literature. My territory.
Hi Anne. I will want to read that thanks
I’m looking forward to discussing it with you. Thank you.
LOL – I think I would have done worse in Can Lit. Not that I didn’t enjoy it – just didn’t express myself well. Still think of A Bird in the House of M. Laurence at times.