Final answer:
New technology and navigational tools enabled Columbus to dominate the New World by giving the Spanish military and technological advantages over the indigenous peoples, which was part of a broader European trend during that era.
Step-by-step explanation:
Christopher Columbus's voyages to the New World were greatly facilitated by new technology and advancements in navigational tools. The introduction of metal armor, weaponry, and naval technology allowed Columbus and subsequent Spanish explorers to dominate the indigenous peoples of the Americas. European superiority in technology during the time of conquest was not merely a matter of having better tools but was also a result of the era's constant competition and warfare, which drove innovation.
Columbus's arrival heralded the beginning of the Columbian Exchange, which dramatically altered global economics, agricultural practices, and ecosystems, and resulted in significant cultural exchanges between the Old and New Worlds. This exchange introduced new crops and animals to both continents and was coupled with the deadly import of European diseases to the Americas.