Delaying the discovery of America

I don't really buy that nothing will change. Spain was uniquely able to exploit their discovery of the Americas. Kill Columbus and you kill Spanish colonization. Have the Portuguese discover Brazil, or the English discover Newfoundland and you unleash a million butterflies.

Different people, same fate. If it wasn't the Tainos, it would had the Tupis or the Beothuks.
 
Different people, same fate. If it wasn't the Tainos, it would had the Tupis or the Beothuks.

Well, considering the Tainos and the Beothuks suffered a similar fate in OTL...:p. Obviously, any cotanct between the New and Old world will devastate Native populations though diseases. But without the conquistadors, certain cultures like the Aztecs or Maya may be able to survive. I think that in a scenario where contact is postponed, the Inca will survive 9 times out of 10. But I may be optimistic.
 
Well, considering the Tainos and the Beothuks suffered a similar fate in OTL...:p. Obviously, any cotanct between the New and Old world will devastate Native populations though diseases. But without the conquistadors, certain cultures like the Aztecs or Maya may be able to survive. I think that in a scenario where contact is postponed, the Inca will survive 9 times out of 10. But I may be optimistic.

That goes without saying. I do wonder that if the Portuguese discover Brazil, it'll be a long time before they end up contacting the Inca and the Aztecs so of course there might be a continuation of the Reconquista in north Africa by Spain. ;)
 
That goes without saying. I do wonder that if the Portuguese discover Brazil, it'll be a long time before they end up contacting the Inca and the Aztecs so of course there might be a continuation of the Reconquista in north Africa by Spain. ;)

It was the Portuguese who contacted the Incas first actually. Some conquistador with a band of Tupis, IIRC. Didn't have any effect though. It would be extremely difficult for the Portuguese to make any lasting contact with the Incas, what with the Amazon and CApe Horn providing significant barriers. Mesoamerica might be easier to reach, but it took the Spanish some time to make contact, even though they were just to the West.

Interesting scenario this...
 
Didn't the portuguese managed to get an access to Potosi mines trough Brazil? (I even think that Buenos Aires was developped because of silver black market).

We could have a portuguese colonization happening on the Para rivier, until the Andes, directly to the mines, without passing by the case conquistadores and civil war.
 
It was the Portuguese who contacted the Incas first actually. Some conquistador with a band of Tupis, IIRC. Didn't have any effect though. It would be extremely difficult for the Portuguese to make any lasting contact with the Incas, what with the Amazon and CApe Horn providing significant barriers. Mesoamerica might be easier to reach, but it took the Spanish some time to make contact, even though they were just to the West.

Interesting scenario this...

Which one was that? I would be curious to know who it was.
 

Lusitania

Donor
Sail ships sail fastest with the wind directly at their back, as opposed to tacking across the wind. The fastest way from Portugal to South Africa is to sail roughly south west until a ship hits the equator, and then southeast south of the equator. A Portugueses ship bumped into the Amazon within a couple of decades of Columbus, so assuming Columbus entire convoy is lost at sea, we can have a pretty good date for when, where, and by who would find the New World. Also, the Amazon freshens the sea water up to 45 miles or more from its mouth, and the behavior of birds change near land. These and many other factors let an experience captain of the day often detect land even before land can be seen on the horizon.

The Spanish will be much less important than OTL. The Portuguese may even realize Brazil is no where near China, and may not put a lot of effort into colonizing the new world. A lot depends on how fast the news leaks out of Lisbon, how the Portuguese use the information, and how do other European powers react.

When the Portuguese settled the Azores Islands in the middle of the Atlantic in the early part of the 15th century they would notice strange wood washing up on shore. So even before the Columbus voyages they knew something was there.

In 1500 Portuguese explorer Cabral did land on the Brazilian land and rightfully claimed it in the name of the Kingdom of Portugal.

To make my point that the Portuguese already knew something was there I will bring up the following point. Following Columbus' voyage the Spanish and Portuguese decicided to carve up the world. Spain wanted all land west of Azores Portuguese countered with 200 miles west. Spain agreed and when less than 10 years later Portugal arrived in Brazil it was in the Portuguese zone.

What could of happened if the arrival of the Europeans was delayed by even a few years it could of meant the survival of the aztec and/or inca.
 
delaying it is going to be hard, after all there more or less was knowledge about the americas since the vikings went there. If the legend is true there were even earlier travelers to the americas like Saint Brendan in the 600s
 
delaying it is going to be hard, after all there more or less was knowledge about the americas since the viking went there. If the legend is true there were even earlier travelers to the americas like Saint Brendan in the 600s

Monk's peregrination is a great classic of Irish Church and have been applied to many others irish Saints that visited paradisiac's islands, hell, purgatory, sometimes the three in one trip.

The description of Brendan's journey was not original, was used before and after in many variants or almost identical.

I would personally believe more in a Roman expedition to Australia led by a resurected Nero aboard the Kon Tiki than in the veracity of Saint-Brendan exploring America.
 
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