[Sca-cooks] The Spice Route

[Suey]

Kathryn Wood
  wrote:

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Uh, actually, Columbus's exploration of the Americas did set off a rush to exploit them, first focused on gold, then on labor. It was only after the indigenous peoples failed to be a lucrative source of labor that the Europeans turned to the Africans as a source. Honoring Columbus as a symbol of the colonization of the Americas without acknowledging his role in the slave trade is ignoring a big old elephant in the room.

Kate

I think that was secondary. The aim was a spice route. Salt and spices dominated European explorations not gold and other minerals.
I do not find Columbus involved in mineral export. That came later.
Suey