When you think of America before Columbus, you mostly think of it as a pristine wilderness where small native villages lives in harmony with nature.
However, the history books and scientific evidence tell a different story. In fact, when Columbus stepped ashore America in 1492, there were already millions of people already living there.
We like to refer to America as the New World, but a very old one was already in place. There was a vast infrastructure of cities, orchards, canals, and causeways.
There are even things that European got from America. For example, the South American potato helped spark a population explosion in Europe. In 1491, before Columbus “discovered” the continent, there were more people living in America than in Europe.
By 1500, European settlers and their plants and animals altered much of America’s landscape. But thinking of America as a pristine wilderness with small villages here and there is just plain wrong. Watch the documentary to see how the continent looked before Columbus.
