--- title: "Who discovered America?" description: "Who discovered America?" author: "Amartya Singh" published: 2023-10-17 updated: 2023-10-18 canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/103609/who-discovered-america category: "history, politics & society" tags: ["history"] reading_time: 2 minutes --- # Who discovered America? ## Answers ### Answer by Saumya Mishra **[Christopher Columbus](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/103614/when-did-christopher-columbus-sail-to-america) discovered America in the year 1492. Nevertheless, it should be remembered that the inhabitants of the** [**Americas**](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/101287/who-were-the-leaders-of-the-american-civil-rights-movement) **lived there for [tens of thousands](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/51135/why-did-fdr-intern-tens-of-thousands-of-japanese-and-japanese-americans-during-the-war) of years prior to the arrival of Columbus. It cannot be denied that Columbus’s voyages paved the way for the** [**European**](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/100646/what-is-the-european-union-eu-and-what-does-it-do) **colonization of the Americas, which had immense ramifications for the** [**continent**](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/100594/how-many-continents-can-be-found-on-our-planet) **and her people.** - The Italian explorer, Columbus was making his way to India but for the Spanish Crown. He felt that his trip across the [Atlantic Ocean](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/112638/who-was-the-first-female-pilot-to-fly-solo-across-the-atlantic-ocean) and that he would get to Asia. In 1492, Columbus set sail from Spain with three ships: these include the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. After [two months](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/41056/what-tactic-did-senators-use-to-try-block-the-passage-of-the-civil-rights-act-of-1964-for-more-than-two-months) of sailing Columbus’s crew saw land falling upon them on October 12th, 1492. Columbus assumed that it was Asia, but it was actually the Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea. - Between 1492 and 1504, Columbus made four trips He traveled through the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico [as well as](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/156547/difference-between-max-width-and-width-as-well-as-max-height-and-height) [Central America](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/41702/who-pushed-for-a-canal-across-central-america-linking-the-atlantic-ocean-and-the-pacific-ocean). Columbus did not get to Asia, but his journeys paved the way for European exploration and colonization of America. - European colonization and conquest of America resulted in great changes experienced by the continent and its people. Smallpox and measles are some of these new diseases, which were deadly and destroyed the native people. Millions of [enslaved Africans](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/42374/how-were-enslaved-africans-treated-after-they-reached-the-colonies-in-the-americas) were taken to America, where they worked on plantations and in mines while the Europeans did it too. - Some of these cultures were also destroyed as a result of the European colonization of the Americas. The Europeans implemented their language, religion, and traditions upon the natives. Additionally, they also compelled the native population to become Christians.\ \ --- Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/103609/who-discovered-america Copyright © MindStick Software Pvt. Ltd. This Markdown version is provided for developers, AI systems, and offline reading.