The first European to enter the Caribbean Sea wasChristopher Columbus, who made landfall in the Bahamas in 1492 convinced that he had discovered a new route toAsia. He continued south to found a key Spanish colony on the island ofHispaniola(now divided politically betweenHaitiand theDominican Rep...
of a northwest route toEast Asiain 1497. Five years earlier, Columbus had set out in search of a westward route after conquest of theMiddle Eastby theOttomanTurks in the mid-15th century disruptedEurope’soverland routes to the East. The Portuguese navigatorVasco da Gamasailed south around...