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A development did not lead to Columbus' voyage to the Americas. What led Columbus to discover the Americas was this:

During this time period, the only known continents were Europe, Africa, and Asia, as they were all connected. There was immense trading between the continents, however, there were only two ways to get to Asia: through the Mediterranean or around Africa. The Italians controlled the Mediterranean trade route, so to get through them some heavy taxes had to be paid, if you were even let through at all. The trip around Africa was long and dangerous. So Christopher Columbus, an Italian, had an idea: sail across the Atlantic. He believed that Asia was right across the Atlantic from Europe. He went to Italy for the nation to fund his voyage but they called him crazy. This is because many people thought the Earth was flat and if you reached the end (which was believed to be the Atlantic), you'd fall off. He eventually offered his proposal to Spain, who accepted. So in name of Spain, Columbus and his men set sail across the Atlantic in hopes of finding a new trade route to the Indies. They imagined it to be a short sail so they didn't pack heavily. However, after a long time on sea, much longer than expected, land was spotted. They had believed to had landed in India, although, the people here spoke differently and looked a bit different. However, they referred to them as Indians, whom they thought they were. Columbus sailed many times back and forth between Europe and the so thought Indies. And it was not known until many years after his death that he had discovered a whole new land mass: the Americas. This was proven by Amerigo Vespucci, another Italian explorer, for whom the continents are named.

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12y ago

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