Ancient America (1858 Newspaper Article Describing Olde World)

Fascinating subject. Nice narration and presentation.

Jon Levi YT video: Ancient America (1858 Newspaper Article Depicting Olde World)

As usual, Jon Levi's presentation is top notch and provocative; he provides narrative and excellent image-context for this video (Jon's channel is entertainingly educational with a very unique, appealing style. I highly recommend his work for the inquisitive and history-inclined of you who enjoy digging deeper.)

This video is based on a legit newspaper article from 1858 describing the author's own observations and unmistakable evidence of a pre-existing "empire" and "Dominion" in America and Mexico already in place by the time America was "discovered" -- but abandoned for a still undetermined number of years / decades / centuries.


(Newspaper article Excerpt):

"Strange as It may appear, America abounds In antiquities so extensive, so beautiful and majestic, as to rival those of Thebes or Nineveh. Ruins of ancient cities, of immense extent; fortifications, mounds and pyramids; temples with walls built of hewn stone showing a refined taste in architecture and adorned with human figures beautifully executed; large figures ornamented with hieroglyphics, probably giving a record of those who reared them, but which no man lias been able to decipher; remains of ancient palaces, with beautiful specimens of sculpture and painting, with many other marks of ancient greatness, prove to us that this is not a new world, but that a powerful empire existed at a very remote period of time, teeming with a population highly skilled in arts, and in a state of civilisation far beyond anything we have been led to conceive of the aborigines, previous to the discovery of the continent by Europeans.

The Antiquities of America extend from the eastern shores of Maine and Massachusetts to the Pacific, and from the great lakes and British dominions, to Peru and La Plata in South America ; in fact, thoughout the extent of both continents. Immense forests grow over the ruins of largo cities, and the gigantic size of the trees, with indications that other generations of trees sprung up and grew before them, proves that the ruins were in existence before the Christian era.
In every portion of the United States interesting ruins have been discovered. In the State of New York have been found sculptured figures of one hundred animals of different species, executed in a style far superior to anything exhibited by any of the existing tribes of Indians. The State of Ohio abounds in ruins of towns and fortifications, with extensive mounds and pyramids. At Marietta, and in Missouri, beautiful pottery, silver and copper ornaments, and pearls of great beauty and lustre, have been dug from the earth. In the caves of Tennessee and Kentucky, mummies have been found, in a high state of preservation, clothed with cloths and skins of various texture, inlaid with feathers. Like discoveries have been made at Carrolton,near Milwaukie, in the State of Wisconsin -- ruins of huge fortifications appear. Similar ruins appear in the State of Missouri. On the south side of the Missouri river, in the western portion of the State, is an enclosure of some five hundred acres, which includes the ruins of a building (no doubt ancient tower) with walls over one hundred feet high, and eighty feet wide at the base, attached to which are a led a redoubt and citadel, with work much resembling the structure of a tower in Europe. But it is in the south of Mexico that magnificent and beautiful ruins present themselves in abundance. Ruins of majestic cities and magnificent temples and altars, with beautiful works of sculpture, tastefully wrought; palaces adorned with paintings colors chiefly sky-blue' and light green -- which show by their richness and elegance, to bo the work of highly cultivated people. These ruins, majestic and beautiful in appearance, but overgrown with thick forests of mahogany and cedar of immense dimensions and great age, prove to the world that a great empire existed here at a very remote period of time, and that this empire teemed with an immense population, a people skilled in the mechanical arts, and in advanced state of cultivation"...
...Architecture, sculpture, painting, and all the arts that adorn civilized life, have flourished in this country, at a period far remote. There is evidence sufficient to prove that these cities were in ruins at least sixteen or eighteen hundred years ago...

... How few reflect on the fact that America is an old dominion the seat of an ancient, mighty empire. These facts are opening themselves every day to the eyes of the astonished world, and it is to be hoped that the spirit of inquiry, which seems at present to animate all classes of learned men, may throw light on the early history of this remarkable region.

(Underlined irony in BOLD.)


If you've watched the vid (or read the 1858 article), what's your impressions?

SOURCE:

Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, January 06, 1858

Original image, text and article is provided by Penn State University Libraries; University Park, PA and found at the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

An ASIDE:

Poster Comments at Jon Levi's You Tube videos are always a very interesting read. This particular subject (and original 1858 newspaper article) was recommended to him to cover FROM one of his subscribers.