Was Columbus' Discovery Epochal?

Was Columbus’s discovery epochal?

Many of us have grown up believing from our earliest school years that

Christopher Columbus was the voyager who found America. In between the

centuries several European explorers navigated around the world

searching for treasures and new lands. Of all the explorers, Columbus is the

most celebrated and acknowledged - for supposedly founding America in 1492.

Columbus was born in Italy in 1452, of humble origins; he grew up surrounded

by sea ships and sailors due to his father’s job. Ever since Columbus was a little

boy he loved the sea. Christopher Columbus became a sailor at the age of 15

years old. After many years of experience with the sea and with a captain with

him he became an excellent sea captain. Over the years he collected all sorts of

maps that showed that the earth was round, some maps even showed that it was

possible to sail west and end up east. Some acclaim that he found a new world

and jumpstarted an age of exploration like no other. With Columbus’s founding

of America, massive colonization, giant trade increases, and more resources as

gold and silver were being surfaced.

Christopher Columbus wanted gold, wealth, and power. He wanted to find a

short way to get to the Indies by ship. He was greedy and cared too much about

finding gold. His discovery might be considered epochal since it provoked so

many things in the course of history, but not necessarily in a positive way, it

entering Europe, changing the political and social dynamic of the continent.

The discovery of the Americas also brought new foods such as potatoes and

corn, sources of cheap food that led to population growth. It also introduced

new ideas about religion, politics and economics to Europe. He “discovered” the

new world thousands of years after the natives and 500 years after the Vikings,

Leif Erickson was the first to actually discover America, however, Columbus is

important because his explorations made Europeans much more aware of the

New World, which helped to encourage more exploration of noth and south

America in the 1500s . people get confused with this because it was Columbus’s

voyages that led to the first long lasting European contact with America, marking

a period of European exploration and colonization of foreign lands that lasted

for several years as we know. He had, therefore, a huge impact in the historical

development of the modern western world.

While one can debate whether Columbus was good or bad (I’d say evil), there is

no denying that the discovery of the Americas marked a critical turning point in

world history, therefore it was infact epochal. We can also affirm that America

would probably not be the same if it weren’t for the unfortunate way he treated

the natives