the Vikings discovered the new world, far before Christopher Columbus did, almost 500
years before to be exact.
The Vikings, also known as the norsemen, settled in Greenland in the year 980.
This is because Erik the red was banished from Iceland for manslaughter.
He left Iceland to explore Greenland during his banishment.
He coaxed other Vikings into settling in Greenland, and eventually two main settlements were made
at the southern tip of greenland, with around 2-3 thousand norsemen.
From there, the Vikings, led by eriks son Eriksson, traveled south past baffin island
to newfoundland and possibly beyond.
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that the Vikings begun to trade with the indigenous
americans.
But somewhere along the way, the Viking colonies in north America began to decline, and were
eventually abandoned by the year 1377.
The Vikings were incredibly hostile toward the indigenous americans, they even called
them skraelings, which roughly translates to wretched people.
The Vikings treated the natives very poorly, so in retaliation, the natives forced the
Norsemen to leave and eventually make their way back to Iceland.
But what if the Vikings did not treat the native americans poorly, and they weren’t
forced to leave.
In short, What if the Vikings had stayed in north America?
Hello and welcome back to Lifes biggest questions.
I’m charlotte dobre.
Unlike Christopher Columbus, who actually thought he arrived in India when he was looking
for the new world, Errikson knew where he was going.
He heard of a strange land to the west from an Icelandic trader who sailed past north
America a decade earlier without setting foot on it.
And so, Erikson sailed to what is now Canada, but at the time, they called it Vineland.
But Viking settlers remained in Greenland, likely because of the violent encounters,
they had in north America.
This included the slaying of Erikssons brother Thorwald by the indigenous peoples.
So if this hostility did not occur, and the Vikings stayed in north America, how would
that have affected north America or even the world as we know it today?
One of the major ways a Viking settlement would have changed the course of history,
is that the norsemen would have inevitably mated with the native population.
There were some marriages between Vikings and aboriginals, but if the Vikings had not
been kicked out, we would have seen far more mixed race groups, like that of the metis.
The metis are mixed race aboriginals.
They developed as the mixed race decendants of unions between first nations women and
western European men.
One is to assume that if the norsemen and first nations began to inter mingle, we would
see a lot more mixed race decendants today.
The rich cultures and traditions of both would also become mixed.
The Vikings might have taught the first nations how to make iron tools, As well as sophisticated
farming techniques.
The Vikings had also begun converting to christiantiy by the time that they were in the vineland,
and with Christianity, came writing.
If the Vikings and indigenous peoples were able to coexist in the new world, they would
have taught the first nations to read and write, far before the Europeans did.
The languages of the two cultures also would have become mixed.
We saw this happen in south Africa with afrikkans.
If enough Europeans heard about the new world and came over to north America from Norway
and Iceland, perhaps Newfoundland would have a distinctly Viking heritage today.
Word about the new world would have spread in europe sooner, and inevitably voyages to
the new world would have occurred sooner.
Maybe even far before Columbus made his cross of the atlantic.
Vikings would have also explored the rest of the north American atlantic coastline,
and made their way south, maybe even as far south as central America.
Another way the world would be different today if the Vikings had stayed in north America,
is that the Vikings would have brought small pox to the indigenous peoples, far sooner
than when the Europeans did.
Because native americans did not have any prior contact with Europeans, and hadn’t
been exposed to their diseases, Smallpox killed of indigenous peoples by the millions.
If the vikings continued to move to the new world, inevitably, individuals with small
pox would have also.
But if the native population was infected with smallpox sooner, This means that, the
native population would have had time to recover, and develop a better immunity to smallpox.
Not to mention, native americans by then would have known how to avoid smallpox.
It is customary for first nations peoples to visit the sick, which inevitably lead to
the spread of the disease.
If the aboriginals already knew of smallpox and other diseases, they would have been more
rehearsed on how to avoid getting sick in the first place.
What do you think would have happened if the Vikings had stayed in north America?
Write your responses in the comments below as well as any topics you would like to see
next.
For now I’m charlotte dobre, this is lifes biggest questions, don’t forget to like
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