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Christopher Columbus Pros And Cons

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Christopher Columbus

Although nearly every phase of any exploration had its good and bad outcomes the benefits of Columbus' discovery of the New World far outweigh the negative results of that enterprise; because his discovery stimulated further development of both Europe and the New World. His voyage was an epochal and magnificent discovery in that it confirmed the roundness of the earth and gave new validity to science, expanded trade and opened new markets and led to the industrialization of Europe, and opening the doors to a new world because the Old World was overcrowded and torn by strife. Columbus' did not just discover land and resources rather he discovered the New World. A New World that offered hope, freedom, and a new …show more content…

As an explorer, Columbus not only confirmed the world was round, but he decoded the Atlantic wind system, discovered the magnetic variation in the Western hemisphere and, among other things, contributed to the mapping of the Atlantic and the New World (Fernández-Armesto, 182). Columbus' great skill in navigation paved the way for later explorers to come to the New World. Before he had set out in pursuit of the East Indies, he studied charts, maps, and journals from earlier explorers and was certain that he could reach the Far East by sailing westward. His calculations were beyond correct and he never quite realized the fact that he was nowhere near the Far East, but in reality was on a whole other continent. "The task he set for himself – to cross the Ocean Sea was literally beyond the capacity of any vessel of his day. The task he performed – to cross from Europe to a New World – was beyond the conception of many of his contemporaries" (Fernández-Armesto, 183). Nobody thought that Columbus could reach the Far East – much less anything at all. He achieved the highly impossible and instead of being praised, is put down for his faults. Although Columbus did not find the spices of the East Indies there were still many new things to trade in the New World. Tomatoes, peppers, peanuts, sunflowers, cashews, potatoes, and tobacco were brought to the Old World and sugar,

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