History of Western civilization Genovese born mariner, Christopher Columbus set out under the auspices of the Crown of Castile (Spain) to seek an oversea route to the East Indies via the Atlantic Ocean. Rather than Asia, Columbus landed in the Bahamas, in the Caribbean. Spanish colonization followed and Europe established Western Civilization in the Americas. The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama led the first sailing expedition directly from Europe to India in 1497-1499, by the Atlantic and Indian oceans, opening up the possibility of trade with the East other than via perilous overland routes like the Silk Road. Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer working
Cantino planisphere was probably visited by an English expedition in 1497-98, and again, by the Portuguese explorer Gaspar Corte-Real in 1500 and 1501. The map makes clear that the land was discovered and charted for Portugal by Gaspar Corte-Real, for King Manuel I of Portugal. The North American section of the Cantino map is historically very important. It represents one of the very first mappings of America's East Coast, and includes descriptive place names. It may map both coasts of Florida, and 11 years before Ponce de León got credit for discovering Florida in 1513. Other suggestions include the possibility it reflects