Historical World map who discovered what and when?

[Neusdoorn]

Something I came across on FB, thought this would fit here

 

Translation from the Spanish text (there might be some errors)

 

For centuries the English have been commissioned to exaggerate their achievements as a nation. First through literature and then through cinema and television have ensured that people around the world take for certain great historical lies in their favor . An issue in which the English quest for glory at the expense of rewriting history is evident are the geographical discoveries . The English propaganda told us time and again that Cook discovered Australia , New Zealand , Hawaii and many islands in the South Pacific , but delving a little more we realize that all these territories had already been discovered by Spanish and Portuguese centuries before that the English navigated those waters . And no wonder , because by the time Cook reached the Pacific , Spain had two hundred years making the crossing between Acapulco and Manila. Such was the Spanish dominion over the Pacific Australian researcher Oskar Spate calling him Spanish Lake .

 

Google maps link

[BrutishVulgarian]

I think the Polynesians may have covered the Pacific, first.    It might just be a question of who had the best record keeping system.

[Destraex]

lol Brutish. 

Actually I think it was the Dolphins.... give them their land back.

[ImperialLion]

Well the Spaniards were sailing throughout the pacific for quite a while before anyone else from Europe, but they did not take the time to explore, name and map every island they passed, so its likely they spotted some of these places but none were truly looked at until the time of captain cook famous of his 3 (well 2 and a half) circumnavigations of the world, in which he took particular interest in the pacific.    

[thomas aagaard]

 

Google maps link

Well, someone need to read a history book.

There where viking settlements in Greenland 600years before the Portogees discovery that is shown.

The same can be said of North america...

[Flip]

Another side but, a native people here in canada on the east coast called the Mi'kmaq tribe have the same flag as the Templar battle flag and have an oral tradition of meeting people with that flag and hence they adopted it, sometime before Columbus according to their timekeeping. Some people think they may have traversed North America and actually went into the pacific.. Who knows.

[Karnaught]

The issue here is not who discovered or not the land is who put the flag on it and exploit the land. Spanish and Portuguese explore a lot of land early on but they don't colonize every patch of land they see because not always worth it or for political reasons(aka Big Asian Empires until Military Revolution). Both Spaniards and Portuguese never truly implemented a "population colony" like British develop later on. 

 

 

We can found the same issue with Viking discovery of America (Terranova) and Spanish later on. Some historians argue that Columbus was aware that there was land due to Portuguese sailors get lost found Terranova and they arrive finally to Vigo harbor. And some early land indicators from Azores fishers who see birds while fishing on the west. And the last clue supporting that theory was that Columbus itself was married with the daughter of the Governor of Azores so he also had some intel about what’s going on Portuguese exploration.

 

 

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Spanish Crown was so lucky to found Inca and Mexica empire and been able to put under their flag such a big piece of land and people with almost any effort. If we read old books and reports about ”proper population colonization" in Venezuela or Central America they had trouble and never truly developed the potential of America due the demographic problems involved in the Encomienda System and also in Peninsular Spain with low birth-rate.

 

 

Until the early demographic boom of Britain due to British Agricultural Revolution (enclosures) the colonization in a modern way was really demanding on resources and manpower. That is one of the reasons why Portuguese adopt Trading post model to try to ship all the spices from East to Europe, same goes with Spaniards with Gold and Silver. During 1400-1600 Spices and Gold & Silver markets where really restricted and had really high prices.

 

 

Sry if there any mayor mistake, English is my third language. 

[ArlindoBerto]

There is a map from André bianco, genovese i think, that shows an island west of africa that is supposed to be brazil, this map is frim 1448, i believe this map is in london, and is the only thing, anthough not solid proof that the portuguese fist discovered america.

 

Columbus story is a tough story, his sons wiped out all registry, and little to none registry exist about his passage over portugal, but at the time only portugal was capable to make such voyages and sea preparation.

 

About australia, portugal had alrady colonized timor island centuries before...right now there is one australian scholar with one damaged chart trying to prove it was the portuguese who discovered it.

 

karghnout, the portuguese colonization process was based one key fortresses for assuring trade flow, and then population.. so what you said is half true.

[Karnaught]

The only place where a huge Portuguese population move in was Brazil, most of the rest of colonies end being plantation colonies and trading colonies where Portuguese colonist where a minority and most African and Asian colonies where defensive forts, administrative centers, plantation and ports to ships slaves.

 

 As far as I know outside Brazil there wasn't big population colonization in Portuguese Empire. In the way that only in Colonial Capitals there was a majority of European population in the rest of villages there was European elite that rule plantation or production facilities with local manpower. That's the main difference between early colonies and late ones; late ones are formed mostly by European population.

 

Spanish model was similar the only difference they had to assimilate big empires. For example in Peru around 1800 there was a 7% of white Spaniard population and around 20-30% of castas ,mixed between white and American natives. The rest 60-70% where native and the whole system was ruled by the 7% Spaniards that mostly works to the crown or the church.

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 Portuguese and Spanish crowns don't have the tools in the early XVI/XVII century to create "population colonies" like British do later on Australia and North America. The most common colony in XVI/XVII century was the trading post in Asia (trading species) or the plantation Caribe(Sugar), South America (Mines), West Africa (Slaves),  --> Triangular trade. 

 

 In other words Spain and Portugal try to grab the best places and leave the huge land masses with low population to the others. Even with that American Spain was most of it “tierras yermas” à barren lands there aren't enough population there to cultivate the soil and made profit of it.

 

North American & Australia population colonies lack:

 

- High value products, (outside fur NA)--> No mining, no species

 

- Manpower + bad climate for tropical plantation* -->Expensive Slaves and no Sugar, no tropical plantation.

 

So they have to create a new kind of colony outside the classical one invented by the Genoese Mediterranean style(s.XIV)  replicated in Madeira, Canarias and later on Caribe Sea.

 

The answer was a population colony where the key feature was to bring a lot of European population and the key factor was the trading between the metropolis and the colonies and taxes/trading fees. That is a total different mindset from classical colonial empires who view the colonies as mere resources pool. And behind it there was two totally opposed economic thought.

 

*The only exception of that could be the South of the 13th Colonies that developed a Caribbean style colony with slaves. 

[Månis]

So the Portuguese discovered Greenland and Newfoundland in 1498 even thou the vikings had colonized thoose areas( they sent christian missionaries there around they year 1000..  That map is sadly full of errors...

 

*oops , i missed  Thomas Aagaard's post

[SueMyChin]

It depends how you define 'discovered', doesn't it?

If I'm out for a walk and find a crashed UFO in a field but when I go home and tell people about it, I can't direct them to the same place.. I can hardly claim to have discovered anything can I?

There were ambiguous maps featuring illustrations of major unknown continents for anything up to a century before any of them were 'discovered'. The fact is they were too inaccurate or unreliable to use for navigation.

What Cook and Columbus did differently was describe these places with enough accuracy so that their 'discoveries' could be tested.

For example, you could argue that the Maori (or Polynesians), Tasman or Cook discovered New Zealand depending on your definition of 'discovered'.

Maori were there first, settled there but never told the wider world. Tasman found it & recorded it but was both unable to land and had no idea of where he was (Tasman named first landfall Staten Landt assuming it was part of South America).

Cook not only landed but he charted the entire coastline with accuracy, as well as knowing accurately where he was on the surface of the earth. The difference here is you could use Cook's directions to find it and have no uncertainty regarding where you were. If you followed Tasman you could be in Argentina or Australia and be non the wiser.

If it can be proven then any of these explorers deserve their credit but let's not pretend what the British did wasn't unique or generally more worthwhile.

[Lusitani]

You guys have to understand one thing. When Portugal started it's overseas expansion in 1415, the total population of the kingdom was between 1 to 1.2 million. Therefore, any effective colonization was a humongous human resources drain. Due to that, many foreign settlers were even used, especially small groups coming from France, german states or what would later became The Netherlands. This became especially important in the atlantic islands (specially in the Madeira Island) when Portugal tried to start a sugar producing industry which, eventually died when Brasil became the main main supplier of that product.

 

Settlement efforts were also made using a mixed marriage policy in order to, establish in the long term, populations that would be loyal to Portugal. The result of that can still be seen today in Malaysia or India.

 

Also the main objective of the overseas expansion was to reach India and other spice producing areas like the Molucca Islands. Everything else was pretty much scenery or small areas where the portuguese fleets could replenish food and water until Brasil started to develop.

[Fluffy Fishy]

I would actually credit most discoveries being made by a mix of the Genoans, Portuguese and the Dutch, with honourable mentions to the Venetians, English/British and Spanish. It was the Genovese explorers that really pushed the Spanish and Portuguese to look for a new trade route to spices to get at their old rivals, which was countered by Venetian Exploration done in partnership with the English and Dutch later on.