Columbus land on the East Coast

What if the ships of Columbus's expedition came within the reach of the Antilles Current instead of the Caribbean Current and reached the US East Coast instead of the Antilles? Would this change the history of Spanish colonization in America?

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Considering that the Spaniards got a quick interest in the Americas due to the discovery of precious metals in the regions of the Mexican and Incan empires, I believe that the discovery of a region where the amerindian polities were somewhat less developed might make colonization of the Americas much slower. The Spanish would likely do what the Portuguese did in Brazil: some decades with minor settement, patrolling naval expeditions once other European powers begin competing, and a colonial economy based on exploitation of useful natural goods and crops. If they discover soon the possibility of planting tobacco, then I guess they will have more of an incentive do stay.

P.S. I think there is an active TL about a Spanish colonization of North America, you might want to check it out.
 
Weren't his sailors just about ready to mutiny and try to return home? If they don't land on one of the Antilles, but stay out to sea and go north, it's going to be a rather longer voyage, and they'd probably not arrive at all.

Also. HOW does he get swept north like that? He was trying to go west. His ships sailed faster than the currents. If he ends up too far north, he probably tries to sail SW or WSW to get where he wants to go.
 
Considering that the Spaniards got a quick interest in the Americas due to the discovery of precious metals in the regions of the Mexican and Incan empires, I believe that the discovery of a region where the amerindian polities were somewhat less developed might make colonization of the Americas much slower. The Spanish would likely do what the Portuguese did in Brazil: some decades with minor settement, patrolling naval expeditions once other European powers begin competing, and a colonial economy based on exploitation of useful natural goods and crops. If they discover soon the possibility of planting tobacco, then I guess they will have more of an incentive do stay.

P.S. I think there is an active TL about a Spanish colonization of North America, you might want to check it out.

Well, that TL about Spanish Colonization of North America takes place after Mexico, is conquered. Essentially, the Spanish are still on a gold-hunger kick and start with an initial settlement on the East Coast to support looking for gold but also for proselytizing the natives/enslaving the natives. The investors of the expedition are very much about getting their money's worth.

I think in a scenario like this the Spanish would probably go the minor settlement and outposts route but that this scenario would have a delayed finding of filthy riches it would mean Spanish interests would be slow and sluggish. Though It seems also unlikely that the Spanish would not still discover Mexico and lead to a conquest of the region. Leading to the colonies on the east coast to being a general backwater, like in Spanish North American TL and like Hispaniola and Cuba in OTL until intensive cash crop agriculture (sugar and so forth) takes off which is still a century or two off from the initial discovery date of 1492.
 
Considering that the Spaniards got a quick interest in the Americas due to the discovery of precious metals in the regions of the Mexican and Incan empires, I believe that the discovery of a region where the amerindian polities were somewhat less developed might make colonization of the Americas much slower.
While the interest on precious metals was a real boost, it's still obvious by contemporary texts that a main interest of Spanish settlers was neither gold or silver as such but lands. Spanish (but also Portuguese) colonisation was made along the lines of the plantation economy development, as it existed in southern Spain, then atlantic islands, and eventually Caribbeans : it was mostly about sugar and other cash-crops plantations as wine, wheat, etc.
Again, not that the search for gold didn't represented a first phase of Caribbean exploration, but as it quickly fizzled, you had the establishment of latifundar explotation at such rate that it wiped out natives.

The search for lands didn't just, that said, found its origin in trade production, but as well as an ideological/social happenance : most of conquistadores were poor, or at the very least socially ambitious : in the late Middle-Ages/early Modern period, the marker of nobility and political power was the holding of lands and titles. While societally it evolved from this in Europe, the importance it represented for petty nobility and their hopes of social advancement was a real self-acknowledged interest : Cortés himself can mention gold mining and processing in Mexico in one page, while the description of lands, land-working and farms takes several of these.

Now,back to the point.
What did we have in East Coast at this point? While you had some chiefdoms around, it was still essentially an achrematic and relativelty acephalic ensemble of peoples practicing slash-and-burn agriculture for what matter northern-eastern coast, without important possibility of quick plantation economy : you'd argue that Caribbean territories weren't this much structurate, which is true, but it was eventually bolstered by the close presence of continental holdings.

The southern-eastern coast is more interesting : the Mississipi basin still held develloped structures, even after the decline of the XIVth century in its southern part. IOTL, de Soto witnessed the ensembles builts around Mabila or Cooso.
It's not exactly something imperial and swimming in gold or plantations, but if Iberians settlers first met with southern-eastern Coast, you could see some reedition of what happened in Caribbeans : the contact with Mexican peoples is, IMO, unavoidable would it be only for the rumors of gold, further than these lands (and this time, true rumours).
 
The southern-eastern coast is more interesting : the Mississipi basin still held develloped structures, even after the decline of the XIVth century in its southern part. IOTL, de Soto witnessed the ensembles builts around Mabila or Cooso.
It's not exactly something imperial and swimming in gold or plantations, but if Iberians settlers first met with southern-eastern Coast, you could see some reedition of what happened in Caribbeans : the contact with Mexican peoples is, IMO, unavoidable would it be only for the rumors of gold, further than these lands (and this time, true rumours).

An honest settlement attempt by the Spanish up the Mississippi river would be an interesting development. It would certainly lay the foundations for a very interesting Spanish state up through the heartland of North America. I think the main issue would be the native population vs the Spanish settlers. The native population would shrink extremely fast due to disease and general mistreatment by the Spanish, and many of the Spanish settlers were interested in not just land but specifically having encomiendas rights from local native populations to work the lands for them. Despite its historical establishment by the Spanish crown it did persist for sometime.

So with a Spanish Mississippi one could take two routes.

1. Spain goes for a more settler colony system where they relax migration laws to allow more Spanish settlers into the region.

2. They go full plantation and import a large number of slaves.

Even with the first scenario one is likely to see a lot of slaves imported to the area.
 
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