What historical “fact” did you encounter in school that you later discovered was entirely incorrect or misrepresented?
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What historical “fact” did you encounter in school that you later discovered was entirely incorrect or misrepresented?
One historical “fact” that many people learned in school but later discovered to be misrepresented is the simplistic narrative around Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America. In school, we were often taught that Columbus discovered America in 1492, implying that the land was uninhabited and unknown to Europeans. However, this overlooks the presence of Indigenous peoples who had been living there for thousands of years, as well as the Norse expeditions led by Leif Erikson around the year 1000. This portrayal also glosses over the subsequent impact of Columbus’s voyages, which included colonization, exploitation, and significant suffering for Indigenous populations. Understanding this more complex history helps to provide a fuller picture of America’s past.