Question

Why is it relevant to explore the question of whether Africans came to the western hemisphere before Columbus?

Answer 1

History of human exploration in the southern hemisphere has been always discussed through lens of the European history where we regard Columbus as the man to discover America. But things are not as easy as the European interpretation. In the American indigenous people's culture, in the ancient civilizations of America, many historians have found the influence of African civilization. The best example can be the Pyramids found in Peru and Central Mexico. As we all know that pyramids were 1st made by the Egyptian people. Some historians have pointed out that Columbus himself has written that he came to know from the native Americans that the black people from another continent regularly visited their place for the trading of goods like ornaments made from the skulls of the dead anima. According to many historians, these black people came to the American continent from the southeast direction indicating that the blacks have come fro Africa.

As in the last century, most of history has been written only through the European perspective. Lots of real truth is yet to be discovered by historians. America or the western hemisphere is not only about European dominance and slavery of blacks who moved from Africa to America. The explanation that depicts that Africans came to America only as slave is not the whole picture. Both America and Africa have ancient civilizations ( Maya, Aztek, Inca civilization in America, Egyptian civilization in Africa). Which were technologically very advanced. We do not have any pieces of evidence that can fully deny that Africans and American civilization did not have any relation before Europe's intervention. America should not only be depicted as the past colony of Europe. America has its own indigenous rich and diversified culture. And if we want to know about the racial and cultural history of Americans behind the European dominance we should explore the question that whether Africans came to the western hemisphere before Columbus?