Who Was The Best Choice Of Christopher Columbus
During the late fifteenth century, Spain had many very qualified explorers that could have been sent to find a new trade route to India, but instead the monarchs chose Christopher Columbus, a Genoan. Although it would seem more likely that the King would send his own explorers to find a new passage, Columbus was the best choice for this mission. It was not because he was the best explorer available, but because he was the only one willing to make the trip and because Spain did not want to send its best navigators on such a mission. At this time, Spanish explorers were perfectly comfortable with traveling around Africa to India. The chosen path was always close to land and was well known. Few wanted to travel into unchartered ocean to find a route that may not exist. Most explorers were either not brave enough or too smart to take that risk. They had no reason to even try. Columbus was
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It is likely that the king expected him to die and did not care because he had no real ties. If he sent a skilled native explorer, it would be bad for him if he died. This could be why he sent a foreigner to make a profit for his country. There was no risk, little cost, and a very high reward. One way to think about this is to consider the Cold War. America and Russia did not want the risk and cost of a direct battle, so they used other militaries to fight each other in proxy wars in places like Vietnam and Korea. This system made it less risky for the two countries to fight. Compare that to the journey made almost 500 years earlier. Just like how the two superpowers used proxy wars and armies to reduce their potential losses, Spain used Columbus as a proxy explorer for a similar reason- taking the negative impact away from the country. This proxy brought Spain great riches and spread Catholicism and Spain had to pay very
It is likely that the king expected him to die and did not care because he had no real ties. If he sent a skilled native explorer, it would be bad for him if he died. This could be why he sent a foreigner to make a profit for his country. There was no risk, little cost, and a very high reward. One way to think about this is to consider the Cold War. America and Russia did not want the risk and cost of a direct battle, so they used other militaries to fight each other in proxy wars in places like Vietnam and Korea. This system made it less risky for the two countries to fight. Compare that to the journey made almost 500 years earlier. Just like how the two superpowers used proxy wars and armies to reduce their potential losses, Spain used Columbus as a proxy explorer for a similar reason- taking the negative impact away from the country. This proxy brought Spain great riches and spread Catholicism and Spain had to pay very