In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.  And the discovery made all the difference in the world!  Even as he sailed, he had a sense of great purpose beyond his own person—beyond the interests of his country even.  Columbus had vision, faith and idealism.  His crew, however, was rough, experienced, practical, and some were the dregs of society.  They didn’t have a lot of personal loyalty toward him, even if Columbus did have his mission and charter straight from the King and Queen of Spain.  His crew were on the verge of mutiny, when someone cried, “Land, ho!”  Columbia was in sight.  Columbus was right: the world was round. 

An accident gradually displaced the name Columbia for the New World.  Even though one finds reference to Columbia centuries after discovery, the favored name became “America,” because a mapmaker labeled it such.  The pen is indeed mighty (if people read).  Several years ago The Library of Congress pledged $10 million to purchase the first map bearing the name “America” published in 1507.  A German mapmaker compiled discoveries made in the late 1400s and early 1500s, to update his maps and spread the latest knowledge of geography.  One of the early explorers was Amerigo Vespucci, who visited the Western Hemisphere in 1501 and 1502—a decade after Columbus’ first trip.  But the mapmaker thought Amerigo had been first, so he labeled the new continents after him.

Poor Columbus.  He was the instrument of something great, but he didn’t get the credit until after he was dead.  The Lord works in mysterious ways.  Not only that, but Columbus didn’t really know where he was when he was alive and kicking.  Native Americans are called “Indians” now, because Columbus thought he was somewhere near the coast of India.  That would have been about right, except that he underestimated the size of the world and ran into an unknown and very big roadblock—between Europe and the short trade routes to Asia Columbus thought he would find.  This New World meant there was another ocean still to cross, in order to get to Asia.  The 1507 map is the first to label a separate Pacific Ocean.  The Atlantic Ocean is small by comparison.

Now one presumes the Indians knew they were there, even before Columbus told them.  So “discovery” is a relative term.  The year 1492 marks Europe’s discovery of America, as well as the Indians’ discovery of European man.  The year 1492 is also significant in world history, because King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled the Muslims and Jews from Spain.  This ensured that Europe would be Christian and that Europeans coming to the New World would conquer in the name of country, and in the name of Christ.

Columbus began what became a frantic European race of “discovery” and exploration in the New World.  European rivals Spain, Portugal, England and France rushed to obtain a place here.  Spain of course had the jump on the rest of Europe, and all the early successes.  A northern province owned by Spain, however, would break away—the Netherlands or Dutch would eventually buy Manhattan Island from the Indians and lodge New Amsterdam, which later became New York when the English bought out the Dutch.  England was a very late bloomer in the New World, having tried and failed on numerous occasions to start a colony.  Finally, the English succeeded at two modest locations: Jamestown, Virginia in 1607; and Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620.  These would begin the North American colonies of England, and nascent North and South of our United States and American heritage. 

Spain’s interest in North America was mainly to keep the English and French at bay.   Spain set up a northern buffer zone, a region of forts and missions in the American Southwest to protect its lucrative prize further south.  By 1600, Spain was extracting large amounts of gold and silver from mines all over Central and South America, as well as profits from sugar plantations in the Caribbean.  Each year Spanish treasure ships ferried the bullion.  It was transported by land to the Caribbean coast and put in ships bound for Spain.  An expedition from Acapulco also sailed annually to the Philippines, returning with Asian spices and other trade goods.  England would play catch-up for more than a century in North America, establishing its empire on a different, but more enduring long-term basis.  We know the English turtle won the race, but Columbus deserves his credit.

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Wesley Allen Riddle is a retired military officer with degrees and honors from West Point and Oxford.  Widely published in the academic and opinion press, he serves as State Director of the Republican Freedom Coalition (RFC).  This article is from his newly released book, Horse Sense for the New Millennium which is available on-line at www.WesRiddle.net and from fine bookstores everywhere.  Email: Wes@WesRiddle.com.