Question

Overall summary of Christopher Columbus's goal to reach the southern tip of Africa and establish a trade route to the far east.

a) Christopher Columbus successfully reached the southern tip of Africa and established a trade route to the far east.
b) Christopher Columbus's goal was to find a western trade route to Asia but instead discovered the Americas.
c) Christopher Columbus's goal was to reach the southern tip of Africa and establish a direct trade route to Asia but failed to do so.
d) Christopher Columbus was primarily focused on discovering new lands and did not have a specific goal related to Africa.

Answer 1

Christopher Columbus aimed to find a western trade route to Asia, thus discovering the Americas instead. He believed to his death that he had reached Asia.

Step-by-step explanation:

Christopher Columbus's main goal was to find a western trade route to Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean, not to reach the southern tip of Africa or to establish a trade route to the Far East. The correct answer is (b) "Christopher Columbus's goal was to find a western trade route to Asia but instead discovered the Americas." While Portuguese mariners, such as Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama, successfully navigated around the southern tip of Africa to establish a route to Asia in 1488 and 1497, Columbus convinced the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella to finance his westward journey, which unexpectedly led to the discovery of the Americas. Despite his four voyages to the 'New World,' Columbus died believing he had reached parts of Asia, unaware of the full scope of his discoveries.