African Maritime Knowledge Shaped European Speculation About the Americas

1. The Portuguese weren’t guessing — they were listening

King John II’s belief in a western mainland didn’t come from myth or astrology.

It came from African sailors.

Reports circulated that:

         Canoes from the Guinea coast (West Africa)

         Loaded with trade goods

         Had been found far out in the Atlantic, drifting westward

To Europeans, this was shocking.

To West Africans, it wasn’t.

The peoples of the Upper Guinea Coast — Wolof, Mandé, Serer, and others — had long traditions of:

         Open‑ocean fishing

         Long‑distance canoe travel

         Navigating currents and winds

         Trading across vast stretches of water

So when Africans said, “There’s land out there,” Europeans took it seriously.