Who discoverd america and why did it take to long?

Question

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Answer 1

Hard to know how to answer your question, because I'm not sure what you mean by 'discovered'. According to historians, it seems as though early humans came across the Bering Straits (which were not submerged at that time, according to one theory,or which were frozen, according to another) or, according to Knut Fladmark, they came down the coastal route along the west and east coasts of N. America and the sea level was much lower at that time. Take your pick. They would seem to be the first 'discoverers' of the American continent. After they had settled, there were likely sporadic 'discoveries' as fishermen from Spain and England drifted onto the eastern coast, or fishermen from Japan drifted onto the western coast. These were all in prehistoric times, so there were no records of their voyages and no one 'claimed' the land. But there have been multiple 'discoveries' of the American continent.

Answer 2

As far as can be determined, people first travelled from Asia across a land bridge where Bering Strait is now [between Russia and Alaska].

The dates are debatable, but the next group of people were probably the Celts, but the traces left [Ogham runes] are generally dismissed as bogus.   It is known for sure that the Vikings had cruised along the east coast of what is now US and Canada in the early 1000s, penetrating as far as Churchill, Manitoba.

  The Koreans visited the west coast in the 1400s, and it is now thought that the Chinese may have been there a century or so before that.  

It is possible that Polynesians had already landed along the west coast of South America by the 1300s.

The next major invasion came with the arrival of the Portuguese in the mid 15th Century.  By 1460, seasonal fishing villages were established in Newfoundland.

Contrary to popular belief, Columbus likely visited the eastern coast of America around 1480.  Armed with first hand knowledge, he eventually convinced the Spanish crown to fund his voyages of discovery, during which he did not set foot on the mainland.  Amerigo Vespucci, and Giovanni Gabotto--probably personal friends of Columbus--both set foot on the mainland of the new continent.  Columbus died apparently unaware that the place he had 'discovered' was not India.

Finally, though somewhat speculative, and not widely known, Sir Francis Drake sailed up the west coast of North America in search of the Northwest Passage [his maps suggest that he circumnavigated Vancouver Island], while Frobisher attempted to sail the Passage from east to west, perhaps to rendezvous with Drake.

Answer 3

East Asians through the Bering Straight.

First European were most likely the Vikings/Norwegians/North Germanics who made through way to Iceland then Greenland then Newfoundland...etc.

First European commonly credited is Columbus, though he died thinking America was actually India.

Why did it take so long?  People have been in the Americas for hundreds (if not thousands) of years.

Answer 4

The "Indians" discovered it before it even existed

Answer 5

I think you're asking which Europeans discovered America.  The 'who' part is debatable, the 'why did it take so long' isn't.

I'll now do 'who' then 'why' in turn:

1)'who' is debatable, because we can ask which Europeans eacame first, which Europeans came first and made an impact,

which came first and made scientific observations, and lastly,

whether you mean the continent of America or the islands off the continent.

So, possible answers are St. Brendan and his Irish monks

(about 550 AD), Vikings in the 11th century - but neither left any (or very little) trace or records of this.  Columbus first discovered the islands, later Vespucci the continent, Cabot the part that is now the US (around New ENgland).

2)Why....No motivation for doing so earlier.  Europe was a self-sufficient economy for a very long time.  But as the economy grew...This changed by the 15th century, with the great expansion of trade, and the expansion of trade with east Asia.  At the same time, peoples in the Middle East - the

crossroads between east Asia and Europe - charged tremendously-high tariffs for trade passing thru their land.

A few people thought it worthwhile to try sailing westward just to avoid these tariffs...and thus, the age of exploration was born.

Once the very first exploration began, more exploration was encouraged by the results, as people saw the chance of great

riches from the New World.

Answer 6

The native Americans did.  They descended from people who had to walk all the way out of Africa, then populate across Asia, then across the Pacific to America.  Later, Leif Erikson (a viking) would discover America.  He was the first European that we know of.  The vikings established colonies but they were not successful.  Later Christopher Columbus would sail to the new world looking for an alternate trade route to Asia.

Answer 7

The Vikings were first, and then Amerigo Vespucci (this is where America gets its name). Columbus NEVER touched America.