America: A History in Stick Figures

Ahh, America! A country founded through Revolution. A history of greatness along with a history of shadiness. I invite you to come on this journey through American history, there will be triumphs and tragedy, highs and lows, but most importantly there will be stick figures!!

Chapter One

A very long time ago it was believed the world was flat. No one questioned what was beyond the horizon because there was nothing beyond. If a brave soul were to travel to the horizon, they would simply fall off the edge of the world.




As it would turn out, the world was not flat, but it was indeed round! There was a whole world out there, even as Cat Stevens would say, " A wild world". This was probably a shock to the Europeans that yes, indeed, there were other people. What these people saw as a great opportunity would end up being pretty terrible for the people living in the "Americas".

The first explorer to set foot in America was a Viking named Leif Ericsson[1]. This occurred around 1000 A.D. and he and his men landed at what is now Newfoundland which they called Vinland. There were many voyage made there, but there was no permanent settlement. So when people say Christopher Columbus discovered America, this is wrong in so many ways, but Leif Ericsson was there before him.

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[1] Not to be confused with 1970s teen sensation Leif Garret.

Of course there were a whole slew of exploeres who came to the "New World". There were Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch..Oh My!!

In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sale to find the Indies. Of course the three ships should be mentioned: The Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria[2]. Well eventually Columbus and his crew reached land. He was pumped, he had found the Indies, Spain would be so proud of him!

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[2] As rumor would have it, these were names of 3 ladies of the night..or women of ill repute, or hussies.

So he met the locals and dubbed them "Indians", however, he was totally wrong. He was nowhere near the Indies, he was actually in the Caribbean Islands, but old Chris could make this work.



To make a long story short, Columbus enslaved the people and exploited them. Many died from diseases that they had never encountered, so they did not have the antibodies to fight the sickness.

So, Columbus is often times cited as discovering America. But well...there were people already there so it was already discovered. But school children across America do get a day off because of him.