How did Western man get to America?

The discovery of America: that historical event that marked a before and after for the course of humanity, an event full of lights, shadows, and considerations to take into account.

Despite having been viewed for hundreds of years as a landmark and an exciting process of discovery, historical revisions throughout Over the years and a less "Europeanized" perception, increasingly challenged by a globalized world, have nuanced this historical event, since neither the settlers were so good, nor the natives, savages.

Beyond the ethical considerations and the moral problems that this entire colonization process entailed, no we can deny that the travel and logistics that accompanied the discovery of America are, at the very least, facts fascinating for the time. So, immerse yourself with us in this historical review, in which we explain how Western man came to America and all that this entailed.

• We recommend you read: "History of human beings: 15 key dates"

The arrival of Western man in America: a logistical feat

Normally, the disclosure regarding the discovery of America usually focuses on the time of the departure of Christopher Columbus. Financed by the Catholic kings of Aragon (Spain), this brave navigator left the peninsula on August 3, 1942 in order to to reach Asian lands from the West, with a crew of 90 men and three ships, whose names resonate in any lesson in story: La Niña, La Pinta and La Santa María.

The rest is part of history: on this trip the discovery of America took place, which was followed by three more for different purposes. We can summarize them in the following lines.

1. First trip

During the first trip the discovery of America was made, the October 12, 1492, producing the first landing on the island of Guanahani. Beyond what certain media want to narrate, the arrival on this island was not an easy task: there were various outbreaks of mutiny among the crew, and upon the arrival of these men on American soil, the provisions and reserves of the vessels were under minima.

Here the Spaniards had their first contact with Taino society, an ethnic group divided at that time by five chiefdoms, each led by a chief to whom tribute was paid. It should be noted that the settlers found a relatively developed society, based on the cultivation of corn, cassava and cotton, an essentially agrarian structure. The Taínos and the Spanish exchanged products peacefully, but despite this relationship (as indicated by Colón's own newspapers), the idea of enslavement it began to haunt the minds of sailors from the first moment.

2. Second trip and subsequent interactions

It is clear that many more events occurred between the first and second trips, but we especially see interest to make certain nuances in later lines, so we will comment on these events at large traits. Columbus returned to these lush lands after returning to Spain, setting sail from Cádiz on September 24, 1493. In this case it was not an expedition, but a fleet with clear intentions to settle: 17 ships, 5 naos (a specific type of vessel) and 12 caravels. Approximately 2,000 sailors were distributed among all these vessels.

Here the first conflicts between natives and settlers began to develop, because to his misfortune, Columbus found one of the settlements located on the island baptized as "Hispaniola" (currently the Dominican Republic and Haiti) destroyed and without a trace of the 39 sailors who were there. they settled. Of course, not all native peoples agreed with the colonization process that was unfolding before their eyes.

During this second voyage and the two subsequent ones (1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502, respectively), Columbus and his crew They discovered and settled on various islands: Cuba, Jamaica, lands of South America and many other locations geographic. Beyond the description of each event, conflict, or discovery, after describing the first steps of Columbus and his crew, we find it especially interesting to delve into other lesser-known facets of this process historical.

The instrumentation that made the arrival possible

Of course, the caravels, some light, tall and long boats (true feats of engineering at the time) were the great protagonists of this journey of epic proportions. These maritime vehicles based their operation on jacias, pulleys and poles, in such a way that the ship was conceived as an organic structure capable of adapting to the many circumstances that a transoceanic trip supposed.

On the other hand, knowing the occupied three-dimensional space was a less complex task, because after months only seeing water around them, the location in a three-dimensional space by the sailors was truly impossible. Therefore, they used several sophisticated instruments:

• Astrolabe: an astronomical instrument that allows to determine the position and height of the stars on the sky. It consisted of a circle divided into degrees.
• Quadrant: a metal plate in the shape of a quarter circle. It was used to measure the height of the stars above the horizon, calculating latitude and time.
• Crossbow: used to measure the height of the sun above the horizon.
• Vial: a kind of "hourglass" that allowed the crew to measure short periods of time.
• Seasick needle: a kind of rudimentary compass with a sophisticated mechanism.

As we can see, the three-dimensional and temporal location during the trip was as essential as the infrastructure itself. ships, so without these rudimentary but useful instruments, it is possible that none of us would be reading these lines in this moment.

Since we do not want to transform the remaining lines into a broad engineering lesson, we can summarize the functionality of the caravels and ships in the following lines: the operation of it is based on the application of the law of the lever, because as Archimedes said, «give me a point of support and I will move the world".

Colonization, deaths and climate change

Various scientific estimates emphasize that, before the arrival of Columbus, in 1492 approximately 60.5 million people lived on the new continent. The epidemics brought in the form of diseases by the settlers and various violent acts depleted these ethnic groups, since only in 100 years, this number population decreased by 90%.

Due to this evident population reduction, thousands of cultivated hectares were neglected. For this reason, these lands were occupied by wild plants and trees, which absorbed a considerable amount of carbon compared to the cultivated media. Current analysis of glaciers allows us to estimate that, between 1500 and 1600, the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide was reduced by between 7 and 10 parts per million, which translates (theoretically) to 0.15 degrees Celsius less throughout the world.

In summary, the disappearance of indigenous populations (beyond the ethical considerations that this may entail) could represent a reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide, which would explain, at least in part, the first steps of the Little Ice Age, a period marked by the global temperature drop that spanned from the early fourteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century.

Beyond estimates and climatic musings, it is clear that the indigenous population suffered a severe blow to identity and well-being from the colonization process: languages ​​and Western religions were imposed, the resources extracted (especially gold and silver) and various epidemics were spread throughout the continent: smallpox, typhus and yellow fever, among others. many. All of this translated into a drastic indigenous population decline, which, as we have seen, could be felt across the globe.

Resume

In this space we have tried to go beyond a mere historical review of Columbus's travels through the Americas: from the discovery of the mainland, we have branched the knowledge to the instrumentation used by the sailors and to the population and climatic effects of such an event historical.

Of course, this type of journey through history makes us realize the path we have traveled as a civilization and how much we still have to go today. Acts previously seen as heroics are today transformed into acts of doubtful morality (if there is any doubt about how atrocious it was) questioned, but, of course, we cannot deny that the arrival of Western man in America was an event without parallel from a purely historical and technological point of view.

Bibliographic references

• Prieto, J. J., Ceccarelli, M., Fortes, J. C., Cabrera, J. A., & Gonzalez, R. AND. (2015). State of the art of medieval technology and his contribution to the discovery of America. Naval Engineering, (940), 85-91.
• Koch, A., Brierley, C., Maslin, M. M., & Lewis, S. L. (2019). Earth system impacts of the European arrival and Great Dying in the Americas after 1492. Quaternary Science Reviews, 207, 13-36.
• ColónPorto-Gonçalves, C. W. (2011). Abya Yala, the discovery of America. CDD 306., C. (1992). the discovery of America. Caracas: Monte Ávila Editores.