Well you'd need the Silk Road to remain open for the Europeans not to do so, Columbus et al got their backing as the Europeans wanted a direct connection with China and India to trade, something halted by the Ottomans- just turned out the Americas were in the way
Also though I cant speculate all the butterflies from such a POD, I truly doubt Europe or the Chinese or somone wouldn't have discovered the Western Hemisphere by the year 2000!
At best, maybe delayed by a few decades or a century or two, apart from the luck of draw of whoever lands where, itd be quite like OTL just faster due to even more superior weaponry.
I think the more interesting area in TTL would be European development- No global Spanish Empire, no escape for religious dissidents etc. still I just can't even grasp the endless butterflies
Maybe the little ice age comes on faster and gets a bit worse? A lot of pack ice, more storms, unpredictable changes to currents, making long-range ocean travel more risky?
For 500 years?
Yeah, that's not plaussible. Even if technology was delayed, by the time when Columbus arrived the possibilities that someone else discovered America were pretty high.
What would the History of North and South America be like if the Europeans (Or anyone else) didn't discover the new world for an extra 500 years?
There are infinite possibilities, but Atom's "5500 years" TL is a very interesting one:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=69161&highlight=5500+years
Is this better in the ASB thread?
Vert interesting why not split this off into a seperate thread.I think a more interesting question would be: What if Europe discovers the America's 200 year earlier. IMO this would massively increase the survival chances of the ''new world'' states and maybe some would even become a significant power in the 1500's.