Was there any knowledge of America before Columbus?
Upvote:2
There is no reliable or verifiable evidence which proves that Christopher Columbus got "information about America from Africans", nor is there a shred of evidence proving that there were any African sailors aboard the Nina, Pinta or the Santa Maria.
I would say that such a question is a stretch of the historical imagination, considering the fact that Christopher Columbus never traveled to the African continent-(unless one considers The Canary Islands as a distant part of the African continent), nor did Columbus have any direct contact with African peoples. (It is possible that Columbus may have traveled through Morocco, due to its very close proximity to Spain, though the evidence for such a claim is flimsy...at best).
Columbus's travels began within the Mediterranean sea region and then with his "discovery" of America-(which in actuality, was The Bahamas), Columbus then ventured throughout the Carribean, Central America and the Northern part of South America-(though never "setting foot" in the continental United States). And, as a reminder, Columbus's initial journey was originally planned for the East Indies whereby he would establish distant trade routes with countries, such as India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia-(and perhaps even China).
I am not sure how Africa and Africans are central to the "discovery" of America during Columbus' time. The first Africans were brought to America-(primarily as slaves), by the Spanish Conquistador, Ponce De Leon in 1512/13...more specifically, to Northern Florida-(what is today, Saint Augustine), twenty years AFTER Columbus' accidental "discovery" of the AmericaS. This is the more traditionally acceptable view regarding the origins of the first Africans to the Americas-(or at least to America proper).
There is also no reliable or verifiable historical or archeological evidence that either the Phoenicians-(or their North African cousins, the Carthaginians), had ever "discovered" America over 2000 years ago. Such a thesis is rooted in lore and mythology...but not rooted in historical and archeological science.
Upvote:6
No, because Columbus didn't know about America
Columbus set out to find an alternative route to East Asia, after the closing of the Silk Road by the Ottomans. This is the argument he made to the Spanish crown, and the Portuguese earlier; this is also why the Portuguese rejected him, since they already had a sea-based trade route south around Africa, discovered four years before Columbus's voyage (and also recognized how bogus Columbus's calculations were).
Due to shoddy mathematics, Columbus believed that by sailing West, he could reach East Asia more quickly. He had no idea that his measurements were completely off, and that there was a whole other continent in the way. By the time he made landfall, he still thought he was in China. It took ten years for anyone to realize that this was actually a new continent.
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