Contrary to popular belief, Christopher Columbus was not the first person to discover America. In fact there was nothing to be discovered because there were always people here. American history teaches us that Columbus discovered a "New World" in 1492. We are told that there were people there before his arrival and that Columbus and his men made peace with the previous inhabitants of the "New World" and lived in complete harmony.
However, that is far from the truth. The previous inhabitants or Native Americans did not easily give up their rule of the land. They were actually forced to conform to the unexpected, new way of living brought to them by the Europeans. Many of the Natives were murdered for lack of conformity. These people were told that they were no longer allowed to live their normal lives on their own land.
Eventhough, they came before Columbus, the Native Americans were mistreated and treated like an inferior minority. Like many minorities in America, Native Americans have had their share of hardships, but have used it to make them stronger and continue to prevail in society. Today Native Americans live peacefully but often separate from other communites. They keep their original culture strong and continue to remind people that they came before Columbus.
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