Random Things That Would Have Happened If Christopher Columbus Missed Americas (14 items)

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  (#1) Some Other Explorer Would Have Run Into The Americas, Only Delaying The Same Inevitable Outcomes

  If Columbus hadn't landed in America, would Europeans have completely abandoned the idea of a western route to Asia? Would anyone dare to cross the Atlantic, knowing the route had destroyed Columbus's three ships? It's likely that another explorer would have encountered the Americas at some point. But how soon after 1492 would Europeans have attempted to cross the Atlantic?

  In 1500, Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral landed in Brazil. Cabral wasn't looking for the New World. His fleet had simply swept wide on their journey down the coast of Africa, en route to India. Strong winds landed Cabral in Brazil, instead.

  Cabral easily could have been the first European to reach the Americas. If the Portuguese had claimed the entire New World, it would have poured wealth into the Iberian country, completely changing European history.
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  (#2) The Aztec Empire Would Have Continued To Grow Through Central America

  Over the course of the 15th century, the Aztecs conquered Central Mexico. Their empire successfully subjugated multiple neighboring territories, consolidating their control. However, one territory remained unconquered: Tlaxcala, east of the Aztec capital in Tenochtitlan.

  In 1519, Hernan Cortes allied with the Tlaxcalans to defeat the Aztec Empire. Without their vital support, Cortes almost certainly would have failed to conquer the Aztecs. And without Cortes's presence, which came as a direct result of Columbus's discovery, the Aztecs almost certainly would have continued their conquest of Mexico, expanding throughout Central America.
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  (#3) Portugal Would Have Become The Major European Trading Power

  When Columbus set sail to find a western route to Asia, Portuguese explorers had already shown how promising the eastern route might be. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Just a decade later, Vasco da Gama sailed to India. Over the course of the 16th century, Portugal established numerous ports on the coasts of Africa, India, China, and even Japan.

  Without competition from Spain's New World, Portugal would have dominated Europe's trade networks. While the Ottomans and Italians might have maintained their power in the Mediterranean, Portugal would have benefited from the wealth of Asian trade. Recently, Portuguese President Aníbal Cavaco Silva declared, "The routes that the Portuguese created to connect the continents and oceans are the foundation of the world we inhabit today." In the absense of Spanish competition, Portugal's dominance likely would have been even greater.
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  (#4) The Inca Empire Would Have Conquered South America

  In the 100 years before Spanish contact, the Inca more than doubled the size of their empire. By building alliances with neighbors, the Inca created a strong, sophisticated empire on the Pacific coast of South America. 

  However, Pizarro toppled the empire with the help of superior weapons and ruthless tactics. After capturing the Inca ruler Atahualpa and extracting a ransom worth more than $50 million today, Pizarro executed Atahualpa. Even before the Spaniards reached Inca territory, European diseases had swept through, weakening the empire.

  Without Spanish contact, the Inca would have continued their expansion, creating a massive empire that could have even conquered South America.
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  (#5) North American Tribes Would Have Consolidated Into Multiple Adversarial Native American Nations

  Before European contact with North America, several Native American groups were transforming into confederacies. The Iroquois Confederacy, made up of five nations - the Mohawks, Senecas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Oneidas - dominated from the Great Lakes to New York. They often battled the Algonquin nations for territory in the Northeast.

  Prior to Spanish contact, California was home to 300,000 Native Americans broken into about 100 tribes. While relations between tribes were usually peaceful, the separate groups may have consolidated over the 17th and 18th centuries. Aztec expansion might have even reached into California. 

  Without the massive drop in population due to European diseases, plus displacement, forced labor, and extermination, North American tribes might have consolidated into several dominant confederacies that could have controlled large amounts of territory.
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  (#6) China Would Remain A Powerful State And Control Trade In Asia

  China's dominant Ming Dynasty sent out its own voyages of discovery during the 15th century. Under Admiral Zheng He, the Chinese fleet traveled to India and Africa. However, the Ming quickly took an isolationist turn, declaring China the only civilized part of the world.  

  While European traders had a presence in China, they had to acknowledge Chinese superiority. European powers, which would have been weaker without their New World colonies, would have struggled to break into the Chinese market, likely playing an even smaller role in Chinese trade. As a result, China would have continued its role as the dominant power in Asia. With less competition from European powers, especially Portugal and the Dutch, China would have controlled trade throughout Southeast Asia.
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  (#7) The Ottomans Would Have Continued Their Expansion Into Central Europe

  The Ottomans laid siege to Vienna twice in the early modern period. Both times, the Habsburgs were able to turn back the invaders. But things would have looked different without the Habsburgs' allies in Spain, who controlled a massive empire in the New World. 

  By 1500, the Ottoman Empire dominated much of the international trade flowing into Europe. As the rulers of Istanbul, the Ottomans controlled trade coming from the Black Sea, Asia Minor, and the Near East. Their navy sailed the Mediterranean nearly unchallenged. Without a strong rival in Central Europe, the Ottomans might have continued their march into Central Europe, conquering Vienna much like they conquered Constantinople. 
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  (#8) Spain Would Have Split Into Competing Kingdoms 

  Spain unified a couple decades before Columbus's voyage, when Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon shared their crowns. 

  In 1492, the Catholic Monarchs expelled Spain's Jewish population and conquered Granada, ending the last Muslim kingdom on the Iberian peninsula. With the discovery of the New World, gold and silver poured into Spain, propping up the newly united kingdom. 

  But without wealth from the New World, Spain might easily have crumbled back into competing kingdoms. A poorer Spain might not have successfully pushed out Muslims and Jews from their country, creating a more diverse, less united Iberia.
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  (#9) People In North America Would Speak Dutch Or French

  If Columbus hadn't made it to the Americas, some European voyage would have eventually reached the New World. The Portuguese might have discovered Brazil and concentrated their efforts on colonizing South America. Another European power would have risked the voyage across the North Atlantic to land in North America and found new colonies.

  The most likely European country to colonize North America in the 16th century would have been France. In fact, France did found a massive colony in North America. Instead of competing with the Spanish, France would have colonized much of the East Coast, fighting off Dutch rivals. Instead of winning independence from the British, the United States might have grown out of a French colony, like Canada, or even a Dutch colony. 

  As a result, people in the US would speak French or Dutch instead of English.
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  (#10) West African States Would Have Developed Into Their Own Expansive Imperial Powers

  In the 15th century, West Africa was dominated by the Mali Empire. Before Columbus's voyage, Mali dominated a territory larger than Western Europe, applying a sophisticated political system to control its empire. The Mali Empire enriched itself with trade, including important commodities like gold and salt.

  By around 1500, a new dominant power rose in West Africa: the Songhai Empire, which controlled trans-Saharan trade routes. 

  However, West Africa eventually devolved into competing neighboring states, in part because of a new trade network: the Atlantic slave trade. Without European demand for slaves in the New World, West African states like the Mali and Songhai empires would have continued to grow and consolidate power.
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  (#11) It Would Have Been Decades Before Another Ship Crossed The Atlantic

  Christopher Columbus struggled to find a backer for his voyage. He visited the Portuguese, seeking royal patrons, but they turned him down. Columbus also offered to sail for the French or the English, but both declined. 

  By the time Spain funded Columbus's westward journey, the project was barely still alive. Imagine if Columbus, after pleading with every major court in Europe for money, simply sailed off and never returned. It's very likely that Europeans would have invested their wealth into discovering an eastern route to Asia, as the Portuguese did, instead of sending more fruitless voyages west.

  It might have taken decades for another explorer to convince Europe's royalty to bet on Columbus's failed route. 
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  (#12) The Italian City-States Would Have Continued Their Renaissance

  In the 15th century, Italy's city-states flourished during the Renaissance. They spread cultural, political, and social ideas to the rest of Europe. However, Columbus's voyage and the emphasis on New World colonization eclipsed the Italian Renaissance. None of the Italian city-states could compete in the race for colonies, thanks in part to their smaller size compared with the dominant powers of the Age of Discovery.

  However, without the discovery of the Americas, the Italian Renaissance might have continued. In the early 16th century, Italy may have fought off invasions from France and Spain, extending Italy's Renaissance well into the early modern period. 
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  (#13) The Russian Empire Would Have Become The World's Dominant Power

  The year 1492 was an important one for Russia. The king of Poland passed, and his weak successor eventually ceded his Baltic territory to Ivan the Great. Ivan also conquered the Mongols, transforming Central Asia into ripe territory for Russian conquest.

  Russia's strategic position gave it access to Asian trade without having to pass through hostile Ottoman territories. With less competition from Habsburg rulers, the Russians might have expanded their empire even faster, transforming themselves into a dominant world power. For centuries, Russia fought the Ottomans, but the balance might have tipped in Russia's favor with stronger European trade passing through Russian lands. After all, without the resources of the New World, Europeans would still clamor for Asian trade, which the Russians could provide.
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  (#14) England Would Become The 'Sick Man Of Europe'

  England was slow to colonize the New World in comparison to their European rivals Spain, Portugal, France, and even the Dutch. But without their North American colonies, which made up the vast majority of Britain's overseas empire by 1750, England might not have become a major European power.

  Britain used the North American colonies to fuel their expansion, and the colonies also became an important outlet for religious dissenters. The British might not have established control of India without their experience and the wealth from their American colonies.

  However, by the 18th century, as the Industrial Revolution dawned, Britain's major coal reserves likely would have made the island an attractive resource. It's even possible that another power, like the Russians or the Ottomans, would have colonized England for the coal.

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