• What was the discovery of America?
• History of the discovery of America
• Causes of the discovery of America
• Consequences of the discovery of America
• Why was it called America?
• Outstanding figures of the discovery of America
• Day of race

We explain how was the discovery of America, its history, causes and consequences. Also, why is it called America.

Christopher Columbus arrived in America sent by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain.

What was the discovery of America?

When talking about the discovery of America, it actually refers to the arrival of the first European explorers to the shores of this continent, which had been ignored by the culture western until the fifteenth century.

This historical event took place on October 12, 1492, when an expedition of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, led by the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), crossed the ocean Atlantic and stepped on American soil.

The discovery of America was an event of historical importance for the entire West, so much so that it indicates the end of the Middle Ages and the start of the Modern age (For other historical considerations it is preferred to use the fall of Constantinople in 1453).

It was also an event that forever changed the history of the Kingdom of Spain, as well as the British Empire. To a lesser extent it was also important for the Kingdom of Portugal and other powers colonialists who disputed the political and territorial possession of the so-called "New Continent" from then on.

There is, however, a discussion around the term "discovery", from different perspectives. To begin with, there is some evidence that the Vikings would have reached the American shores five centuries earlier, so that the Spanish would not really have been their "discoverers."

On the other hand, the term suggests that there was no one in the territory American when Columbus and his entourage arrived. This omits the fact that there were between 40 and 60 million pre-Columbian American settlers, as well as their thousands of years of vast cultural history prior to the encounter with Europe.

History of the discovery of America

Christopher Columbus made four trips that were later followed by other expeditions.

The history of the discovery of America begins in the Europe of the fifteenth century, whose imperial powers were in their early stages of economic accumulation, prior to the emergence of the capitalism and the industrial model of production.

The nations Europeans were looking for new territories to exploit and new trade routes to transport goods from the Far East to Europe. At the time, some calculations estimated that the Earth's diameter was small enough to navigate.

Thus, the navigator Christopher Columbus wanted to find a new route to China and India. His objective was to go around the world in address contrary to the usual, that is, in a sustained direction towards the west of the world.

In order to carry out his expedition, he went to the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, who decided to finance his trip and grant him three caravels for a first exploratory trip: the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa María.

On that first trip, after more than a month of travel, and already lost hope, Columbus stumbled upon the American continent without intending to. Specifically, with the island of Guanahani (according to other versions, Cayo Samaná), renamed then by the Spanish as San Salvador.

Later he continued the trip to Cuba, Hispaniola (where the Santa María ran aground, and with its remains the Fort Navidad was erected), and finally began the return to Europe in January 1493. The beauty of the scenery The Caribbean people made him think that he had reached the Biblical Garden of Eden, which the appearance of the docile Taino Indians reinforced.

The success of his first trip led to a second one, on September 24, 1943, the purpose of which was to secure Spanish dominance over the newly discovered territories and continue on his way to China and India. This is how the islands of La Deseada, Dominica, Guadalupe and Puerto Rico were “discovered”.

However, when he returned to Hispaniola, he found Fort Navidad in ashes, the victim of an offensive by the indigenous Caribs, under the command of the cacique Caonabo. In its place he founded Villa Isabela, and later toured the islands of Juana (today Cuba) and Santiago (today Jamaica). He then headed south, and then returned to Hispaniola, whence he returned to Europe in 1496.

In 1498 Columbus undertook a third voyage, this time arriving on the island of Trinidad around the month of July. He visited the Gulf of Paria and the mouth of the Orinoco River (today in Venezuela), landscapes that he described in his diary with great surprise.

Then he toured the Venezuelan islands of Nueva Esparta State (today Margarita, Coche and Cubagua), where he founded the pearl settlement of what was later the town of Nueva Cádiz. On his return to Hispaniola, Columbus was arrested and returned to Spain in chains, by men dissatisfied with his command.

The fourth and last voyage of Columbus to America took place between 1502 and 1504, with the prohibition to set foot on Hispaniola and the mission of finding a strait on those new coasts that would allow the way to China and India. It is seen that the Spanish still had no idea where they had arrived.

On this occasion, Columbus explored the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, territories in which he established contact with the ancient mayan, who introduced him to cocoa.

After those four great trips, other so-called minor trips were made, thanks to which the Venezuelan coast was crossed. In them, Américo Vespucio understood that it was a question of an entire continent, and not just a group of islands.

These minor or Andalusian voyages were not under the command of Columbus, but of other sailors with whom the Spanish crown wanted to take away his monopoly about the new continent. Among them were Pedro Alonso Niño, Andrés Niño, Bartolomé Ruíz, Alonso Vélez de Mendoza, Diego García de Morguer, Juan Ladrillero and Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, among others.

Causes of the discovery of America

Ottoman control of the Middle East made trade in this way more expensive.

The discovery of America was motivated, essentially, by the following causes:

• The need for Spain to find a direct trade route to Cathay (China) and India, in order to have access to spices, incense and other goods highly valued in Europe, but only accessed through the Silk Road.
• In addition, the growing influence of the Ottomans in the Middle East, after their conquest of Constantinople, made any attempt at a trade route through the Middle East more expensive, which undermined Europe's trade possibilities with the eastern nations.
• The thirst for adventure and wealth of Christopher Columbus, influenced by the travels of Marco Polo, to whom the Catholic kings gave 10% of the wealth they found.
• The competition of the Spanish crown with the Portuguese, since this nation of navigators had already discovered, through numerous voyages across the Atlantic, the Azores and Madeira islands. Part of this competition between the two kingdoms was also the conquest of the Canary Islands by the Spanish.

Consequences of the discovery of America

Large numbers of people were brought from Africa as slaves.

The consequences of the discovery of America are very numerous and of enormous importance, both for America and for Europe, since they forever transformed the West, as well as the conception that was had of the geography of the world until then. The main of these consequences would be:

• The conquest of America. Thus began the European exploration of the American territory and its subsequent colonization, which led to the bloody wars of conquest that decimated the population Native American, they brought down local empires (particularly the Aztecs and to Incas) and forever changed the fate of America.
• European colonial expansion. Initially, the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal were the ones who claimed the greatest lands in America, especially the former, founder of a huge Spanish-American colony, initially divided into three great viceroyalties. Later, the British Empire did the same in the northern lands of the continent, and other colonial empires such as France, Holland, Sweden, and Germany also seized smaller portions of the new American lands.
• Refinancing of the Kingdom of Spain. The Spanish monarchy, thanks to the tons of gold, silver and other materials extracted from America, as well as the commercial control of its American colonies, had access to unexpected riches, which allowed it, among other things, to get involved in the wars it subsequently fought. against their European rivals.
• The arrival of the African slaves. Once America was conquered, the European colonial system needed workforce, and they supplied it with persons snatched from African continent as slaves. These individuals from different ethnicities, nations and traditions, contributed a unique cultural load to the nascent American culture.
• The food exchange. The incorporation of the numerous food and edible materials from America to the European and world diet, revolutionized the culinary culture of the West forever. Potatoes, corn, cocoa, sweet potatoes, squash, peanuts, vanilla, chili peppers, avocado, tobacco, and gum were products that America contributed to the whole world. In turn, American cultures inherited European foods and ways of eating, such as wheat, oats, barley, rye, and sugar cane.
• The incorporation of new species animals. With the conquest, species never before seen locally arrived in America, such as the horse, the donkey, the beef, the sheep, the pig, the chicken, the rabbit. This caused the extinction of some local species, and the incorporation of many of these new species, with enormous success in the new ecosystem.
• The foundation of Latin American culture. With the arrival of Columbus and the violence That followed, gave birth to the cultural process that, over 500 years, would give rise to the Latin American culture and nations, unique in the world for their combined heritage of pre-Columbian, African and European traditions.

Why was it called America?

As we have seen, the Spanish came to America thinking they were in India. In fact, for a long time it was known as the West Indies.

The name of America began to be used in 1507, in honor of the navigator Americo Vespucci, thanks to its introduction in the cartographic treatise Cosmographiae Introductio by Mathias Rigmann and Martin Waldseemüller. Initially, the name applied only to the South America.

Outstanding figures of the discovery of America

The Catholic Monarchs financed Columbus's trip.

In the discovery of America were prominent figures:

• Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). Italian navigator and cartographer, later admiral, viceroy and governor general of the West Indies at the service of the Crown of Castile, was the "discoverer" of America. His idea of ​​reaching the Far East by sea was what allowed the arrival of Europeans to the "New World."
• The Catholic Majesties. As the Catholic Monarchs, both Isabel I of Castile (1451-1504) and Fernando II of Aragon (1452-1516), kings of Spain in the transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age, became known, after joining their crowns and starting the Spanish monarchy. During his reign the conquest of the Kingdoms of Granada (Nasrid) and Navarra, the Canary Islands and Melilla was achieved, practically reaching the territory that the Spanish nation has today. It was they who financed Columbus's expedition to the Far East.
• Americo Vespucci (1454-1512). Famous explorer, merchant and cosmographer of Florentine origin, later nationalized Castilian, participated in at least two of the "minor trips" to the American continent, which today pays tribute to him with his name. His enormous fame is also due to his major cartographic works, such as Mundus novus Y Letter to Soderini .
• Rodrigo de Triana (¿? -1526 or 1535). Really named Juan Rodríguez Bermejo, this Spanish sailor was part of Columbus's crew on his first trip to America, and he is credited with the first glimpse of the new continent, which he announced under the cry of "Land in sight!" or "Land, land!" Much of this is unknown character, which would be a son of a Moorish nobleman dedicated to pottery, or perhaps a citizen from the Triana neighborhood, in Seville.

Day of race

Traditionally, in Latin America (and also in the United States) the day of the arrival of Columbus to the continent is commemorated on October 12 of each year. This custom was inaugurated in the 20th century and had as motivation initial celebration of a new cultural identity: Latin American, fruit of the synthesis between Spain, Africa and Native American peoples.

Although its traditional name has been "Columbus Day", there is a debate about what this commemoration should be called, which varies by country and culture. For example, in Spain the name "Hispanic Day" or "National Holiday Day" is chosen, while in the United States it is called "Columbus Day”(“ Columbus Day ”).

Among Latin American nations, the choice is usually made between “Day of the meeting of two worlds”, widely criticized for referring to a kind of idyllic or friendly meeting, when in reality it turned into a bloody war; the "Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity", with a more conciliatory tone; or the "Day of Indigenous Resistance", in frank commemoration of the peoples defeated during the war of conquest.