Bibliographical citation: Freedman, R. (2007). Who Was First?: Discovering the Americas. New York: Clarion Books: Publisher. 88 pages. ISBN: 9780618663910.
Awards: ALA Notable Books for Children (2008).
Author's website: none
Annotation: In this comprehensive and inquisitive account, Freedman explores the numerous theories put forth by historians that speculate who were the first people to discover the Americas. Newly unearthed artifacts and evidence of additional cultural influences have revealed more historical possibilities.
Personal Reaction: As one of those students who was taught the phrase that Freedman put on his book flap in order to remember when Columbus discovered America, "In fourteen hundred and ninety two Columbus sailed the ocean blue," I was very interested in this title. There are so many new and exciting discoveries that Freedman documents in his narrative. He also explores the various theories put forth by historians and the new evidence that indicates that Columbus was not the first person to come to the Americas. Historians have studied the influences on various cultures that prove the possibilities of peoples other than Columbus coming to the Americas. Additionally, there are many artifacts as well as oral stories passed down from generation to generation that support these ideas. One such idea was presented by a retired British Navy submarine commander, Gavin Menzies, who believes that the Chinese, led by Zheng He, may have been here in 1421 prior to Columbus. His theory is based upon early European maps that show areas not yet known at the time by the Europeans. Menzies also believes "mysterious carved stones and ancient structures found in the Americas" and what he believes to be the buried remains of shipwrecks (p. 27). There are Europeans maps that he believes were made based upon charts that the Chinese made during their many long and extensive voyages.
Freedman also explores the Scandinavian stories of the voyage of Leif Eriksson. Although they were tales passed down orally from generation to generation before they were finally written down, historians have documented that some of the information in these tales are historically accurate. A Norweigan writer and historian, Helge Ingstad, felt that these stories were based on fact and that the Vikings did indeed settle at some point in North America. Ingstad's studies led him to a village in Newfoundland where he and his archaeologist wife excavated areas they believed to be Viking ruins. Their findings proved Ingstad's beliefs.
Aside from all of these discoveries, what about the fact that despite who arrived first-the Chinese, the Vikings, or Columbus, there were already people living in America? Where did they originally come from and when? The "not-so-new world" as Freedman describes it, was very well populated with people who spoke approximately 1,200 separate languages and who were quite capable of creating, learning, and building their own civilizations (p. 58).
In his last chapter, Freedman explores yet another find in New Mexico in 1933 that proves that "humans were living in North America alongside mammoths, giant sloths, saber-toothed tigers, and other Ice Age creatures that are now extinct" (p. 71). As more and more information is uncovered, viewpoints keep changing as we add to our knowledge of history. We have to stop looking at history as a fixed entity, and instead see it as something that is always evolving and changing as we uncover more ways of studying the past.
Front/Back Matter: Table of Contents, Before Columbus, Chapter Notes, Selected Bibliography, Acknowledgements and Picture Credits, Index.
*Bibliographical citation information, award information, as well as image retrieved from www.bwibooks.com (Titletales)
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