LogFAQs > #885217765

Several things had to happen for European colonization. Remember that the first and foremost reason for sailing West was to find a way to the Spice Islands, which is in modern day Indonesia. The markup from importing spice into Europe by Arab traders was the impetus to find an alternate route. So maybe you could say that the Arab traders paved the way for mass colonization.

OK, but that was the spark. What kept the fire going? A bunch of things, but most important are trade goods and religion. If you had to bet on who would reach the Americas first, the odds on favorite must have been Ming China. Zheng He even reached all the west to East Africa in the early 15th century, but China never thought about colonization because a) they were happy being the big dog in East Asia, b) they practiced mostly Confucianism, which was not as wont to spread as Christianity. Yet we all know what happened once the French, Dutch, Portuguese, and English got their hands on Africa. So maybe Jesus was the drive for mass colonization, who knows.

Also, Columbus might have paved the way for mass colonization for Spain, but you could equally argue that Cabral paved the way for Portugal or Hudson did it for England.
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