Menzies' Argument

Overall, I think Menzies' argument that Zheng He's felt made it to North America is plausible. The reason I agree with his theory, is primarily because of the variety of evidence he has gathered to make his case. He had first mentioned the largeness of the ships in Zheng He's fleet. Larger ships would allow more durability for long voyages and Menzies had pointed out that if smaller European ships could reach the Americas, so could the Chinese. Next, he had mentioned Niccolò de' Conti, a merchant explorer from Venice, who had supposedly came into contact with Zheng He's fleet, and then managed to use their information to construct maps with Fra Mauro. Menzies also mentions how the Chinese fleet had developed a pizzigano chart of two islands that lied close to North America. The island descriptions listed in the pizzigano chart matched the modern descriptions. In addition to this, underwater slipways were made for ships that supposedly docked these islands. Then finally, Menzies mentioned how geneticist, Gabriel Novicks had identified that Native American DNA is more closely related to Chinese DNA than African or European DNA. In fact, Giovanni Verrazzano, the first European explorer to set foot in what is today known as New York, had seen people that resembled the Chinese. The Newport Tower at Rhode Island was also a piece of Menzies' evidence. He believed the the Chinese had left behind astronomical construction in places they had visited. The Newport Tower being one of these constructions, was supposedly used to examine longitude, according to professor Bill Penhallow. An alternate take on the construction is that it served the purpose of a lighthouse. Some of the evidence Menzies used could be questioned but for the most part I am convinced of his argument.