Quote Originally Posted by Irving View Post
Couldn't you apply all of this to just about every old world explorer? "Hey Columbus, don't bother risking your life trying to cross the unknown, we can just go invade France."
No, not at all. Columbus was attempting to establish a more direct and controllable trade route with south east asia for the financial gain of Spain. There was both a monetary and resource benefit from it. The cost was relatively inexpensive for Spain too.