The Impact of Western Man

Abstract

The importance of Christopher Columbus is not that he discov­ered America. America had been discovered long before 1492.¹ His importance lies in the fact that he began a process whereby western man extended his influence across the entire earth. By the end of the eighteenth century — whether in the cause of God, greed or glory — most of the world’s seas and coastlines had been explored by Europeans; the first stages of western colonialism and global integration had been completed.