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<blockquote data-quote="MGibster" data-source="post: 9492504" data-attributes="member: 4534">I love some good alternative history as much as the next guy, but evidence of Basques fishing the waters off Newfoundland is pretty weak.&nbsp; There's evidence of Basques intermingling with Native American groups, including Basque loan words in some Native American language, but the Basques presence in the Americas is well documented starting in the 1500s.&nbsp; The idea that Newfoundland was a secret Basque fishing site, especially for centuries, is incredulous.&nbsp; It's only becomes more incredulous if when someone argues the Basques might have intermingled with indigenous groups or decades or longer.&nbsp; Nobody's going to talk about the strange, previously unknown people?&nbsp; I don't think so.&nbsp; [USER=6906155]@Paul Farquhar[/USER] is right about Columbus being propaganda.&nbsp; Don't get me wrong, he was a good sailor and navigator (despite being bad at figuring out the circumference of the world), but he was certainly a horrible person.&nbsp; For those who might not know, Columbus didn't become an important figure in American history until Italian American groups adopted him.&nbsp; Many Americans were not happy about Italian immigrants, and the idea of Columbus was used to to sell the idea that these Italians were just as American as anyone else.&nbsp; &quot;See?&nbsp; It was an Italian dude who discovered the New World!&nbsp; Stop discriminating against us!&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="MGibster, post: 9492504, member: 4534"] I love some good alternative history as much as the next guy, but evidence of Basques fishing the waters off Newfoundland is pretty weak. There's evidence of Basques intermingling with Native American groups, including Basque loan words in some Native American language, but the Basques presence in the Americas is well documented starting in the 1500s. The idea that Newfoundland was a secret Basque fishing site, especially for centuries, is incredulous. It's only becomes more incredulous if when someone argues the Basques might have intermingled with indigenous groups or decades or longer. Nobody's going to talk about the strange, previously unknown people? I don't think so. [USER=6906155]@Paul Farquhar[/USER] is right about Columbus being propaganda. Don't get me wrong, he was a good sailor and navigator (despite being bad at figuring out the circumference of the world), but he was certainly a horrible person. For those who might not know, Columbus didn't become an important figure in American history until Italian American groups adopted him. Many Americans were not happy about Italian immigrants, and the idea of Columbus was used to to sell the idea that these Italians were just as American as anyone else. "See? It was an Italian dude who discovered the New World! Stop discriminating against us!" [/QUOTE]

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