day in his honor. (535)Did Columbus "discover" America? Yes - in every important respect. "Although great explorers reached the shores of this continent both before and after Columbus, few have captured the American imagination as he has" (William J. Clinton 1547). This means that Columbus brought America to the attention of the civilized world, i.e., to the growing, scientific civilizations of Western Europe. The result, ultimately, was the United States of America.It was Columbus' discovery for Western Europe that led to the flow of ideas and people on which this nation was founded - and -on which it still rests. The opening of America brought the ideas and achievements of Aristotle, Galileo, Newton and the thousands of thinkers, writers, and inventors who followed. Bill Clintion explains how Columbus improved our world and in time, North America:He made possible the exploration and settlement of N. America and opened the door to our continent for generations to follow-people of every race, culture, and ethnic origin, who have given our Nation its rich and unique diversity. (1547)Prior to 1492, what is now the United States was sparsely inhabited, unused and undeveloped. The inhabitants were primarily hunter/gatherers, wandering across the land, living from hand to mouth and from day to day. There was virtually no change or no growth for thousands of years. With rare exception, life was nasty, brutish and short. There was no wheel, no written language, no division of labor, little agriculture and scant permanent settlement, but there were endless, bloody wars. Whatever the problems it brought, the vilified Western culture also brought enormous, undreamed-of benefits, without which most of today's Native Americans would be infinitely poorer or not even alive."This renowned explorer braved the open sea, so feared by his contemporaries, and revealed the splendors of the New World to Renaissance Europe over 500 years ago" (Willi...
