Exploration: How America Was Discovered

Exploration Author Name University Name 1 Handsome Lake's narrative "How America Was Discovered" originated as a dream vision, which was a type of religious experience. It was shared as an oral teaching tale for his people. When we read this text removed from its original oral, communal context, what do we lose? The story of How America Was Discovered opens with a queen who has a young and talented minister as one of her servants. The queen orders her minister to dust a couple of books that she had once hidden in an old chest. While doing so, he finds Bible and starts reading the book. He reads that a white man murdered the son of the Creator, which directly reminds us of Christ. It’s safe to say that Handsome Lake’s narrative has originated as a dream vision, but when we remove its oral, communal context, we get no chance to learn about Christ or find how America was actually discovered. According to the book, the young minister gets confused about the creation and purpose of Christ and is told by the chief ministers that he should seek God himself. That beautifully depicts we should ourselves seek the history of America rather than depending on texts, and if we don’t do so, we may lose our interest in the American history and won’t ever get to know who discovered America. 2 What are the "gifts" that the minister gives to Columbus, and why are they important? The young man is himself promised position, wealth, power and fame if he manages to introduce corrupting influences to virtuous people. He seems to ...