How Did Christopher Columbus And The Flat Earth Myth

Millions of people in the United States of America today truly believe that Christopher Columbus changed the world through his epic journey to the America’s that proved to the Old-World inhabitants that the world was not flat. However, contrary to popular belief Columbus did not become the first person to discover the Earth was not flat. Thus, many historians were trying to figure out how this misconstrued notion became so commonplace in popular culture across America. Eventually, Mano Singham discovers where he believes the myth came from and wrote it in Columbus and the Flat Earth Myth. Singham argues the myth emerges from biased American writings that portray Columbus in a greater light than he was and the unlikely evolution debate which

Many philosophers came to this conclusion “based on careful observations and solid reasoning” (Singham 1), these observations came from the sailors who noticed that a ship going past the horizon would not fall off and instead come back usually in one piece. Therefore, when Columbus proposed his trip to go to India to the King and Queen of Spain they did not worry about the ship falling off the world. Instead, they were concerned with the untrustworthy data Columbus presented to highlight the worthiness of his trip. The data was shown to the Spanish who correctly deduced that the trip just could not be possible with the provisions Columbus stated. Ultimately, after some compromises between the two sides the trip to India got approved which led to Columbus accidently reaching the New-World. Afterwards, many Americans who heard the story of Columbus wanted to use it to their advantage which resulted in a “form of American chauvinism that wanted to believe that the world was pretty much steeped in ignorance before Columbus’ voyage” (Singham 3). Therefore, without Columbus discovering America, Europeans would be stuck in an antiquated world due to the many important scientific breakthroughs American’s found. The flat Earth myth would cement itself in popular culture with Washington Irving’s History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, the story captured the hearts of its readers with Columbus being depicted in a much more grandiose light than he ever was in real life. Additionally, the story was romanticized to show “Columbus arguing passionately for a round Earth against the dimwitted clerics and philosophers of his time” (Singham 3). This idealized depiction of Columbus stuck with Americans as it quenched the underdog mentality Americans had at the time. It did so by having a group of people defying all odds to accomplish something revolutionary like