The Discovery of America: A Myth to Deconstruct

In his thirty-fifth work, slated for publication in early 2026, *Histoire politique d’Haïti de 1804 à 2025 ou Mémoire d’un État capturé* (Political History of Haiti from 1804 to 2025 or Memory of a Captured State), historian and professor Pierre Josué Agénor Cadet debunks the myth of the “discovery” of America, a symbol of history written by the victors. He calls for rehabilitating the memory of indigenous peoples, the first dispossessed of the new world. By Pierre Josué Agénor Cadet Approximately 533 years after Christopher Columbus's landing in America, the question of the discovery of America still sparks debates, controversies, and polemics. America, instead of being a “new land,” had the sea as its means of access. However, according to many historians, Columbus did not discover a continent whose inhabitants already knew of its existence. But the problem is this: who discovered America? Traditionally, in schools and many history books, we learn that it was the son of a Genoese weaver, named Christopher Columbus (1450 or 1451 – 1506), who discovered America in 1492. But many historians and other researchers dispute this version. According to some scholars, the Chinese Zheng He (1371-1433) discovered America before Christopher Columbus. They found support from oceanography and submarine experts such as Gavin Menzies, a former underwater commander. Alexandre Dubé, in “Frankly, who discovered America first?”, referencing Thomas Guenole’s question “Frankly, who discovered America first?”, suggests that Asian peoples explored America nearly 40,000 years BCE. Other authors point to Japanese, Basque, Portuguese, or Irish fishermen. Christopher Columbus (1492), Giovanni Gaboto (1497-98), Amerigo Vespucci (1499), Pedro Alvares Cabral (1500), Re-Vespucci (1501), Re-Colomb (1502), Ferdinand Magellan (1519-1521/22), Hernán Cortés (1515-1524), Verrazzano Giovanni (1524), Jacques Cartier (1534), Francisco Pizarro (1535)… From a strictly European perspective, discoveries occurred in the 15th and 16th centuries. A 15th-century document, a map found by the Vikings of Vinland, south of Greenland, extending from Russia to the Atlantic, proved that the Normans landed in North America 500 years before Christopher Columbus. Another case is a Chinese map that is part of a scientific debate. “Several academics believe that this map is not only authentic but also the first known cartographic representation of North and South America. To establish the history of conquest, the question is not 'who discovered America,' but rather 'under what conditions and why.' Gavin Menzies, a former naval officer and British author, asserts in his book *1421, the Year China Discovered America* (published in 1965), which he supports with numerous scientific proofs describing the contours of Europe, Scandinavia, North Africa, Asia, and the Far East—all territories known since the 15th century. To determine if these writings are real, the Vikings, who are the first discoverers of America, demonstrate that current technologies reserve this discovery as the most resounding event of civilization.
Thus, it seems evident that Christopher Columbus did not discover America. Bibliographical References

1. *Christophe Colomb n’a pas découvert l’Amérique* (Christopher Columbus Did Not Discover America), Paul-Éric Blanrue
2. *Re: “Franchement, qui a découvert l’Amérique en premier?”* (Re: “Frankly, Who Discovered America First?”), Thomas Guenole
3. *Franchement, qui a découvert l’Amérique en premier?* (Frankly, Who Discovered America First?), Alexandre Dubé
4. *La statue romaine qui nous rattache à l’Amérique* (The Roman Statue That Connects Us to America), Jocelyn Rochat
5. *La découverte de l’Amérique* (The Discovery of America), Marianne Mahn-Lot, Paris, Flammarion, 1970 6. *Les Conquistadors: La découverte et la conquête de l’Amérique latine* (The Conquistadors: The Discovery and Conquest of Latin America), Jean Descola, Tallandier, 2020

Pierre Josué Agénor Cadet