Columbus discovered the New World

Christopher Columbus [1] (about 1451 ~ 1506), Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón)

He cast all his eyes on the sea. As soon as it became possible to be a sailor, Columbus left land and began his career at sea. The young Columbus worked as a sailor on the Genoese merchant ship and traveled to Spain, Portugal, England, France and Iceland. During this period, Columbus accumulated valuable navigation experience. Before formal sailing education, these interests and experiences will support future navigators.

In 1476, Columbus fell into the water during a fierce battle during the voyage and swam to Portugal on a broken ship plank, where he learned navigation knowledge. At this time, intelligence and diligence helped Columbus. Yes, here, he learned Portuguese and Latin, and used these languages ??to conduct in-depth research on cosmology and mathematics that are essential for navigation, and learned to draw maps and use various navigation tools. More importantly, in Portugal, a powerful maritime country, Columbus was mentally prepared for the voyage: he read "The Travels of Marco Polo" and had unlimited reverie about the richness of the East, which gave him the idea of ????going to the East. ; He came into contact with the scholar Toscanelli, accepted the "round earth theory", and strengthened his belief in reaching the East from the sea. At this point, when sailing westward, all we owe is the "material" east wind.

When Columbus' request for funding from the Portuguese royal family was rejected, he came to Spain. Out of the same pursuit of gold, Columbus reached an agreement with the Spanish royal family (signed the "Santa Fe Agreement"). He had his own fleet and his own crew, and set sail with the Lord's blessing and mission. .

On August 3, 1492, the first westward voyage began. On the way, due to drifting for a long time without seeing land, the sailors almost rioted. But he persisted and headed westward, and at 2 a.m. on October 12, he discovered "land" in the waters of the Bahamas. He named the island "San Salvador". In this way, the New World was discovered.

On March 4, 1493, Columbus returned to Lisbon and returned to Barcelona at the end of April 1494, where he was awarded a heavy prize. At this point, the first voyage ended successfully.

Subsequently, Columbus made three westward voyages from 1493 to 1496, 1498 to 1500, and 1502 to 1504. He continued to discover and "perfect" this new continent, and a new era came.

A devout Christian

Columbus wrote in his will: "With the help of the Holy Spirit, I obtained and later fully understood an idea... Inheriting the Almighty Lord, I In 1492, the Indian continent..." When he was about to die, Columbus still did not forget his "master", and his piety was evident. Columbus also sailed under the flag of the Crusaders during his voyage. He used this to illustrate that it was his duty to preach for God and that he was loyal to the "Lord". One of the purposes of Columbus's journey westward was to preach. This was both a "king's command" and an unshirkable obligation for him as a Christian. In fact, Christians in Western Europe believed that pagans who did not believe in God should be eliminated by killing. This is not difficult to explain Columbus's behavior of massacring Indians after arriving in America. Columbus slaughtered Indians to show his devotion to God.

Pioneer of an Era of Change

Columbus' discovery became a new era in the development and colonization of the New World and was a major turning point in history. The European population expanded rapidly in the 15th century. The discovery of the New World gave Europeans a place to immigrate, and they also had ores and raw materials that could change the European economy. But at the same time, this discovery led to the destruction of American Indian civilization. The opening of new shipping routes further promoted cultural exchanges between various parts of the world. Products such as rubber, corn, tobacco, sweet potatoes, cocoa, and potatoes from the Americas were brought back to Europe by the Spaniards and spread throughout the world. European immigrants brought barley, rye, oats, rice and other plants as well as horses, cattle, mules and other livestock into the Americas and took root. This greatly enriched the civilizational exchanges between the Eastern and Western hemispheres. On the other hand, in the long run, this discovery also led to the emergence of some new countries (the United States) in the Western Hemisphere that were completely different from the various Indian tribes that had settled in the area, which had a great impact on various countries in the Old World. It can be said that Columbus's discovery of the New World was objectively progressive on the basis of injustice.

However, it should be noted that the large amounts of gold and silver that caused the primitive accumulation of capital and the price revolution in Europe were not brought back by Columbus alone, but the result of his plundering with many subsequent seafaring colonists. It is too far-fetched to attribute the credit for the budding development of European capitalism to Columbus alone.

It is not accidental

Columbus is like other great explorers. Even without Columbus, his discoveries would have been made by others. This is a historical necessity. In the 15th century, European commerce and trade extended in all directions and the economy developed rapidly. This situation inevitably produced and stimulated exploration activities. We seem to be able to conclude that Europeans will discover the New World sooner or later, and it will not be long after Columbus's discovery. But if Columbus had not discovered the New World during his expedition in 1492, but had it been discovered by the French or the British in 1510, then the subsequent development would have been completely different from today's history.