Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Did the Chinese reach North America First?

Do you buy Menzies' argument that Zheng He's fleet made it to North America? Evaluate the evidence he offers and explain why or why not?

I believe that Menzie's assertion is plausible that Zheng He's fleet made it to North America, however some of the evidence he provides leaves his argument questionable. First off, he mentions that the ships of the Chinese were superior in size, however that does not mean that these ships had the ability to avoid natural disasters that would impede them. Additionally, large ships did not make a substitution for the ability of navigators to travel the ocean. However, one piece of evidence he provides that does seem reasonable is the fact that the wreckage of Chinese ships could be seen at Bimini. However, one questionable piece of evidence that Menzie provided was that Native American DNA was more related to Chinese DNA than African or European DNA. This molecular form of closer connection between Native Americans and the Chinese absolutely meant nothing to me, and makes it seem as if he was just trying to add useless coating on top of his argument. Although, I would agree his one solid evidence was the wreckage of ships at Bimini, but some of the other evidences he supplies leaves me questioning his argument. 


Not sure exactly where all this highlighting is coming from and I can't get rid of it, but I apologize if it hurts your eyes.

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