How Did Christopher Columbus Be Taught In Public Schools

Should the theory that Christopher Columbus discovered America be taught in public schools? (October 10th, 2016 - New York Times)

“Who is Christopher Columbus?” This simple question is answered in one of two ways for most people. It’s either answered by saying, “Oh, he’s that guy that discovered America!” or “Columbus… oh he’s that awesome influential explorer that we celebrate on the second monday of every October.” But has anyone actually given some thought into it and noticed how faulty that statement is? Well, I have.

In correction, Christopher Columbus did not discover America, nor was he the first European to set foot on America. So when schools teach young children that Columbus discovered America, they are just shoving random junk

Imagine you were back in elementary school, would you like to be taught that Columbus discovered America, do all these activities and projects about how he was the founder of America then ahain later on in life be taught that he is not discoverer of America? I sure wouldn’t. I believe it is a waste of my time, learning something useless when instead I should be taught the truth which will then extend my knowledge further as I progress into higher grades.

Once again, Columbus did not discover America. Native Americans had already settled down and was living peacefully in the Americas by the time Columbus first set sail. To be honest, Columbus wasn't even the first European to set foot on the Americas, that title deservingly goes to Leif Erickson “an icelandic explorer and the first known European to have discovered North America.” (BBC

For instance according to Quora.com it states, “He did so discover America. He may not have been the first. But, he definitely did not know it was there before he landed on it and so that definitely counts as a discovery.” To clarify, this shows that some people believe that Christopher Columbus did discover America because they think that despite him being first, Columbus discovered the Americas for himself and the European public back in Spain.

To add on, some people give credit to Christopher Columbus for discovering America because they believe that although the vikings did make it to America way before Columbus, they did not leave any lasting impact on the world. In support Quora.com states, “Columbus paved the way for permanent colonization & exploitation of the Americas. The Vikings didn't have the same kind of lasting