Cahokia was a large pre-Columbian settlement in North America, with up to 20,000 people living in and around it. It covered six square miles and included at least 120 earthen mounds. Archaeological finds include evidence of a game called Chunkey and human sacrifice. The city began to decline after a flood in 1200 AD and […]
Columbus Day celebrates Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World on October 12, 1492. It became a US national holiday in 1937 and is celebrated worldwide. Columbus set sail to find a new trade route to Asia, but instead discovered the Bahamas and founded the first Spanish colony in the New World. Columbus Day is […]
Columbus enslaved the Taino people on Hispaniola for European settlers, leading to the death of 90% of the population from European diseases and harsh slavery. The Taino were skilled in agriculture and inventive, but did not have a written language or religious practices. They made beautiful pottery and were free to leave their partners without […]
No true portrait of Christopher Columbus exists, with all known likenesses created from written descriptions. Other myths include Columbus being the first European to discover America and the names of his ships being nicknames. Christopher Columbus may have discovered a “new world” in America, but no one has been able to discover a true portrait […]
