Why were american indians called indians?

Chris Columbus was in denial Columbus had no intention of trying to discover the "new world". The intent of his voyages was to prove that the world was round, and that he could get to India by sailing west, rather than travelling east. Which of course is absolutely true... there's just that small matter of a couple great big continents in the way.So he sets out with his three ships, and after a few months, land ho!

"Whoo hoo, we're there! The Earth is round! I've proven it!

" "Uh, Chris? These folks don't look like Indians to me..." "Of course they're Indians, we're in India!" "But... they don't speak the same language as the Indians..." "SHUT UP! They're Indians!

We're in India!" ... and so it went. Columbus returned to America three or four more times, and as I recall, died believing he had proved the world was round and that he'd reached India by sailing west. For whatever reason, the name stuck.

Sources: 6th grade history class .

Because... when Columbus landed in the West Indies in 1492, he had set out trying to find a short cut to India by going around the world and ending up nearer India(instead of the long and very dangerous trip around the tip of Africa). At the time, the Europeans were importing most of their spices from India but it was a long and dangerous trip. When Columbus found land (and darker skinned people than Europeans), he assumed that he had landed in a part of India and hence called the people Indians.

He had no idea that there was a whole other continent in the way. So there you go...it was simply a case of being in the wrong place. SOTWord's Recommendations Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus Amazon List Price: $28.99 Used from: $0.78 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 19 reviews) .

Because Columbus thought that he had reached India. Columbus had figured that by going west he would only have to travel about 4000 miles to reach India so when he first hit land he assumed that that was where he was so the natives would obviously be Indians. Sources: my history degree KingofRandomCrap's Recommendations Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus Amazon List Price: $28.99 Used from: $0.78 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 19 reviews) .

They thought they were in the East (India) and thus called them such .

Yes, they did not know that the American continent existed.. Nothing else to add here... :) .

" "what ethnicity do I look?" "I am a white immigrant seeking to connect with some American Indians - those who still practice their original culture. " "Looking for a book called "the four d? " by Louie?

About a md who goes back to his tahoke indians as a medicine man" "Do North American Indians believe in a native Heaven and an afterlife? " "What ethnicity do I look like? (pictures).

I am a white immigrant seeking to connect with some American Indians - those who still practice their original culture.

About a md who goes back to his tahoke indians as a medicine man.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.