Peace spreads throughout North America as American Indians join one another in trade
and a mutual understanding of respect. The lands of Central America are ravaged by war
as the Aztec and Maya battle for control of the region. The Inca sweep across South America,
extending their empire from the western to the eastern coast of the continent.
If Christopher Columbus had never come to the Americas, would the world be a better place?
Let’s make something very clear right from the start. Christopher Columbus did not discover
anything. When he landed in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492, there were already Lucayan people called
the Guanahani living on the island. No matter what parts of the Americas Columbus went to,
there would have been indigenous peoples who had been living there for a very long time.
In fact, Christopher Columbus wasn’t even the first European to step foot in the Americas.
Sometime around 1,000 C.E., Vikings traveled across the Northern Atlantic
and landed in what became known as New Foundland, Canada. Some even
believe that they made it further south and into what is currently the United States.
Scientists also believe that Polynesians from the Pacific Islands traveled by boat and landed
in South America around 1200 C.E., over 200 years before Columbus made it to the Bahamas.
Therefore, it was not so much a discovery that Columbus made in 1492,
rather he begun a timeline where colonization, destruction of the land, and death became the norm
in the Americas. It’s hypothesized that around 56 million indigenous people lost their lives
during the initial period of European colonization as a result of disease,
wars, and genocide. But what if Columbus never made it to the Americas? What if the peoples
of these continents were allowed to continue on a path that began when humans crossed the
Bering Land Bridge from Siberia to North America sometime between 16,000 and 20,000 years ago?
The sad fact of the matter is that even if Christophe Columbus hadn’t landed in the Americas
in 1492, other European explorers would have within a few years, and the result would have been
the same. Columbus was not the only explorer that was tasked with finding a western route to Asia.
The Age of Discovery for European countries was filled with captains willing to risk it all
just to explore strange new worlds and hopefully become incredibly wealthy from their discoveries.
Christopher Columbus was an Italian sailor who was commissioned by Spain to find a
western route to India, China, and the Spice Islands of the east. It was this expedition
that brought him to the Americas. If he had never set out on this voyage,
the Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral would have stumbled upon the continents around 1500.
This is the same man who claimed Brazil for Portugal during this time.
Hernán Cortés of Spain, who went on to decimate the Maya and Aztec civilizations of Mexico,
is another European explorer who would have reached the Americas even if Columbus hadn’t.
And regardless of what was happening in South and Central America,
Jacques Cartier would have run into Canada while sailing west for France early in the 1500s.
No matter which European explorer reached the Americas first, the result would have been the
same. These men were not looking to learn about indigenous cultures. They were not exploring for
science or for the sake of knowledge. These men set sail with one purpose on their minds:
to become rich. It did not matter that there were already people in the Americas,
every nation who set out to investigate the continents committed countless atrocities
against the indigenous peoples in the name of civilization and exploration.
So, if Columbus hadn’t made it to the Americas, history likely wouldn’t have turned out much
differently. Perhaps the people who lived on the American continents would have been
able to carry on doing business as usual for a decade or two longer,
but the Europeans would come, and when they did, everything would change.
However, what would have happened if Christopher Columbus never made it to the Americas
and everyone else just gave up? Let’s imagine a timeline where Columbus,
the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria all sunk before reaching the New World. In this scenario,
European explorers believed it was much too dangerous to sail west
and just gave up. What would have happened to the civilizations in the Americas?
This is perhaps one of the most intriguing “what if” scenarios in all of human existence.
At the time of European contact, there were several thriving civilizations and countless
cultures and tribes living throughout the Americas. The Inca, Maya, Aztec,
Pueblans, and Mississippian cultures were all building monumental architecture
and had unique belief systems and identities. The larger cities of the Americas at the time,
like Tenochtitlan, Cahokia, and Cuzco, rivaled many in Europe. There are even written accounts
by European explorers who were astonished by what had been created in the Americas.
Yet, due to the rampant spread of disease and the systematic dismantling of indigenous cultures,
we never got to see how history in the Americas would have played out if
Christopher Columbus and the other European explorers had not intervened… until now.
The various tribes of North America have begun to coalesce
into different confederacies and alliances. This has formed some of the most powerful
American Indian nations the world has ever seen. The year is 1500;
the once great Mississippian culture in the middle of the continent is in decline.
This is happening because other, more powerful entities are rising up in the surrounding regions.
The Mississippian culture had once controlled a massive amount of land by unifying people under a
single belief system. They built huge mounds where ceremonies took place, and entire communities of
elites lived. This power vacuum has caused the tribes in the area to begin warring with
one another. In the coming decades, they will unify out of necessity under new leadership,
and the Mississippian nation will once again control the middle of the continent.
Much of the north and eastern parts of North America are brought together
under the Algonquin culture. It’s their land management practices
that allow them to sustainably farm and hunt while supporting a growing
numbers of people. The Algonquin nation tries its best to stay out of conflict,
but there are parties along their southern border who are becoming more and more powerful.
Alliances form. The Algonquins reach an agreement with the Thule culture to their north.
Now that all of the northern parts of North America are unified, the lands to the south can
become the main focus for the Algonquins. The American Indians do not create strict borders
like in Europe. Mother Earth is for everyone. However, to live within the Algonquin region,
you must pay respect to certain religious centers and monuments.
Freedom to move about the lands is available to all, but only if you respect the culture.
The North-Western tribes decide to join into one cultural group.
There are multiple leaders, and the person who is in charge of the region changes in cycles.
The American Indians of the North West use a potlatch system where gifts and property
are exchanged to solidify social and political alliances. Every cycle,
a different chief hosts the potlatch and tries to outdo the person before them. They give away
huge amounts of food and gifts to all that attend. If everyone is satisfied,
the chief who put on the potlatch is put in charge of the entire North-Western territory.
The system works well and is built on reciprocity and respect of the
different peoples living within the North-Western territory. However,
the tribes to the south in what would have become California decide to hold
tightly onto their independence and maintain their own cultural identity in a unique way.
The Californian tribes make it very clear that they want to remain autonomous.
Although this region contains a large population, no single chief can bring all of the different
tribes together. This has led to conflict in the area. The problem with remaining independent is
that if their neighbors to the east or north decide to invade, no cohesive defensive force
could be put together. For now, the American Indians of the California region are safe,
but in the future, they may have to come together as a single nation to preserve their way of life.
One of the most powerful American Indian nations in North America
is the Iroquois Confederacy. It’s this group that most others have been keeping their eye on.
Although their territory isn’t as expansive as some of the other nations,
they have refined their agricultural practices to feed large numbers of people
using minimal amounts of land. Their warriors are fierce, and they want to expand their borders.
The Iroquois Confederacy launches campaigns into the Missippian region
and moves to conquer the unaffiliated tribes to the south. With the Mississippian culture
recovering from its initial decline, and no unifying power to stop them from moving south,
the Iroquois Confederacy sweeps through the region and triples their territory seemingly overnight.
The peoples brought into the confederacy can maintain their own culture and identity,
but if the Iroquois call on them for aid, there is no choice but to obey.
As time goes on, these American Indian nations consolidate power and create more defined borders.
Eventually, an understanding develops between all of the cultures. North America becomes a
place of peace and solitude. Each nation has its own identity, but free movement across borders
and free access to the resources of the land unifies them all. The land is used sustainably,
and everyone respects Mother Earth as if she were more important than them all.
The events that unfold in Central America are vastly different from
their neighbors to the north. The Maya had been in decline for centuries,
but it seems as if they are starting to gain back some of their former power and prestige.
Chichen Itza had fallen as the capital, but a new Mayan power has risen within the Yucatan
Peninsula. This new group of Mayans re-establishes Chichen Itza as the capital of the empire.
The Maya build new ceremonial centers with gigantic pyramids and observatories to track
the movement of celestial objects in the sky. They use their religion,
knowledge of the cosmos, and resilient warriors to expand their territory south
into what used to be Classic Maya territory. They reclaim old cities that have begun to
crumble and rebuild them. People flock from across the empire to participate in
ceremonies and bear witness to the God-King, who speaks from atop the tallest pyramids.
The Mayas begin trading with cultures further and further south from their main capital.
There is even a tentative partnership between the Maya and Inca. The Inca provide
a source of gold, while the Mayans create masterpieces out of pottery and ceramics.
The Maya conquer anyone who gets in the way of their trade routes or alliances.
Other cultures decide to be assimilated into the empire willingly. The Mayan influence
reaches all the way from the Yucatan to the southern tip of Central America.
The Maya, who were once on the brink of collapse,
are now the main power in this region of Central America. However,
a culture to the north has been threatening their lands constantly. A powerful group of
people who claim that they are the rightful rulers of Central America prepare for invasion.
The Aztecs have been expanding their territory ever since they
rose to power in 1428 and continue to gain influence just north of the Mayan border.
They expand their culture not through trade but through warfare. The Aztec warriors are
some of the most brutal soldiers in this part of the world. It’s not that they crave warfare,
but in order to appease the gods, they need to provide them with human sacrifices.
The Aztec population grows and grows until they can no longer support the number of people within
their territory. They begin invading the areas all around them. They know that the Maya to
the south are formidable foes, so they do not enter their territory except to conduct raids
and gather sacrificial victims. Instead, they focus their attention to the north and east.
For a long time, the Tlaxcalan culture has been a thorn in the Aztec's side. However,
after securing substantial land and allies to their north, the Aztecs finally overwhelm the
Tlaxcalans and take control of everything north of the Mayan border and south of the Rio Grande.
There is tentative peace between the American Indians in North America and the Aztecs. Neither
want a war right now, but the Aztecs have been aggressively expanding for decades. Therefore,
it seems like only a matter of time before they cross the river and expand into North America.
But the Aztecs know if they over-extend, the Maya will make them pay for it by invading.
The border between the two empires is heavily guarded,
and there are constant skirmishes along it. The Aztecs build more and more cities. They
decide it’s time to restore the greatest ancient city in all of Central America, Teotihuacan.
The name roughly translates to “the place where the gods were created,”
and the Aztecs believe this is where their ancestors came from. They move their capital
from the island city of Tenochtitlan to Teotihuacan. This symbolic gesture brings
the empire closer together and makes the Aztec rulers seem more like gods than men.
After a century of border expansion and stalemates to the south,
the Aztecs believe they have amassed an army large enough to invade and defeat the Maya.
They launch the largest military force ever gathered in the Americas into Mayan territory.
What they are greeted with sends shivers down the Aztec’s spines. The Maya are ready for
attack. They have created an army just as large as the Aztecs, but they have an advantage. In
preparation for the invasion, the Maya called on their powerful ally to the south for assistance.
The Incas responded to their ally’s pleas for assistance and joined them on the battlefield.
As the Maya and Aztec forces meet on the battlefield, an Incan military force flanks
the main Aztec army from the side. Naval battles are fought along both coasts of Central America.
This disrupts the amount of marine resources coming into the empires. The Aztecs are now
outnumbered and have no allies to come to their aid. Facing the combined might of the
Maya and Inca armies, the Aztecs surrender. The Maya march into the Aztec homeland and
claim each of their cities. The Maya now extend their influence through all of Central America.
They recognize the importance of the Aztec temples and pyramids. They believe that their
ancestors also might have had ties to the city of Teotihuacan. All Aztec rulers are removed
from power and replaced by Mayans or their loyal allies. The former Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan
and the gigantic city of Teotihuacan become important religious centers in this new empire.
The Maya continue their alliance with the Inca and agree to stay out of South America.
Their territory is now massive, and they have no desire to cross
into North America and fight the American Indian nations.
There is a truce along all borders. The Americas are now in a state of stability.
At the same time that the Maya and Aztecs were expanding their borders,
the Inca were also conducting a campaign throughout South America. The Inca people
first began to expand across the Andes during the 12th century, but the empire wasn’t established
until the 1400s. It was at this point the Inca became the dominant force in the region.
As the world enters the 1500s, the Inca are unstoppable. They have roads and a system
of runners who can traverse the seemingly impenetrable landscape of the Andes mountains
with ease. It’s their willingness to build infrastructure and outposts in the most
remote regions that allows them to control such a large amount of territory. But as the kings
become more powerful, they want to incorporate more territory and citizens into their empire.
The Inca build magnificent cities in the high-altitude areas of the Andes like Machu
Picchu. The capital of the Empire is built in Cuzco, where the emperor oversees his vast empire.
Lake Titicaca, a sacred fresh water source for the Incas, is made an important pilgrimage site.
People from around the empire come to visit it, which solidifies a greater sense of unity.
The Incas domesticate llamas and alpaca to help move goods and resources around the empire.
They continue to use their quipu system to record data. This is not
a written form of recording information, rather information is recorded with knots on strings.
The Incas spread further north and south to control the entire western coast of South America.
Now all that’s left is to tame the jungles of the Amazon and harvest vital medicinal and economic
resources so that the empire can continue to grow. As they explore more of the jungle, new plants and
animals are discovered. The Inca’s wealth of knowledge about the natural world and how it
can benefit humanity grows. They develop cures for countless illnesses, which they share with
the rest of the cultures in the Americas. Whenever they need a new remedy, the rainforest provides.
Then it happens. The Inca move through Patagonia and the tip of South America and work their way up
the east coast. In the north Incan explorers break through the perimeter of the Amazon Rainforest
and find themselves on the easter part of the continent. There are indigenous
peoples here but no civilizations that can match the might of the Inca.
They quickly encompass the rest of South America into their empire.
The Incas now have access to two oceans, an endless supply of plants and animals from the
rainforest, and are trading partners with the Maya to their north. They are content.
The people who have been incorporated into the empire maintain their identities
while also adopting the ideas and beliefs of the Incas.
The Americas are split into three distinct regions. North America is an alliance of
different American Indian confederacies. Central America is unified under the Maya, which have
maintained peace by acknowledging that the belief systems in the region are all unique but grounded
in the same history. Using these connections between different cultures as a middle ground,
the people within the Maya Empire now live and work together peacefully.
In South America, the Incas control the entire continent and its vast resources.
Trade networks are set up between North and South America using Central America as a bridge between
the two. Goods flow freely, as every region is diverse and has something to offer.
The coastal provinces are used to gather plenty of fish and marine resources to help
support the growing populations. Since the distribution of wealth and power
is relatively even, there is plenty of land and resources to go around.
Perhaps this is an extremely optimistic view of a future in the Americas without Christopher
Columbus, but one thing is for sure: if Columbus and the European explorers had
never reached the shores of America, there would have been a lot less death due to the spread of
disease and attempted conversion of indigenous peoples to fit the norms of European society.
The beautiful art, cities, and cultures that were created by the indigenous peoples of the
Americas would have continued to grow and evolve. There would absolutely be wars,
and mistakes would have been made as humans are not perfect, but the future
of Indigenous American cultures would be vastly different than what they are today.
Then again, perhaps one of the more powerful empires would try and take
over all of the Americas. This could have led to all-out war,
resulting in the deaths of millions and the destruction of ancient cities and cultures.
This leads to an interesting thought, however. What if the peoples of the
Americas were able to progress and innovate on their own? What might have happened if a
unified group of explorers from the Americas were to “discover” Europe?
A fleet of wooden ships travels east across the Atlantic Ocean. They are made from Sequoias and
the redwoods of western North America. The sails are woven from brilliantly colored
cloths from textile experts in Central America. And the expedition is led by the most brilliant
seafarers of South America. The quest to see what lies across the great ocean is strictly
for scientific and research purposes. The peoples of America have everything they need but their
desire for knowledge and what the rest of the world is like drives them to explore.
The fleet is made up of hundreds of ships, each containing hundreds of sailors, explorers,
and scientists. One of the lookouts sights land on the horizon; it is the coast of Portugal.
The signal is given; the ships adjust their course and head towards this undiscovered
part of the world. As they get closer, they are greeted by European sailors. They are in
decent-sized ships but nothing that can match the sophistication and number of the American vessels.
The legions of American explorers disembark in Lisbon and meet with the governor of the city.
Word has spread throughout Europe that people from across the Atlantic have come to Portugal.
They bring with them unimaginable riches, exotic foods, and knowledge that will launch
Europe into a new era. And what do these Americans want in return? Nothing. They
are there to learn and improve the quality of life for their friends and family back home.
`The expedition gathers more and more information. They exchange goods. At
one point, there is an outbreak of a particularly nasty disease,
but the Americans brought medicinal herbs that, when combined in specific ways, quickly combats
the illness. Both the American explorers and Europeans recover, and a crisis is averted. They
then share the knowledge of their plants with the Europeans to help them cure other diseases.
The exchange of knowledge is staggering. The Americans learn a lot from the Europeans about
their culture, food, and ways of thinking. A trade route is set up between the two continents. Not
everyone trusts this new friendship, but any European who wishes to make the voyage across
the Atlantic is welcome in the Americas. There is peace between these two parts of the world.
Then again, the first contact scenario could have gone very differently. Maybe with the
prosperity happening in the Americas, the expeditionary force would land in Europe,
claim it as their own, displace the Europeans living there, and strip the land of its resources.
Basically, if Christopher Columbus didn’t reach the Americas, the tables might have been turned,
and history would have played out the exact same way, just in reverse. The Americans would be the
colonizers, and the European cultures would be oppressed and almost completely wiped out.
What would have happened if Columbus hadn’t discovered America? We will never know,
but since we are telling the story, we’ll give it a happy ending. If the cultures
in the Americas were left to develop on their own, they would have flourished.
When European contact would be made, the two parts of the world would learn from one another,
and the future would be better for everyone because of it.
Now watch “What If Adolf Hitler Woke Up In The 21st Century?” Or check out
“What If The Earth Stopped Spinning - Minute By Minute.”