Columbus’s ‘discovery’ of America is seen as one of the most significant episode of our history. Tzvetan Todorov (the conquest of America) wrote “The conquest of America heralds and establishes our present identity” The discovery of America certainly captured the European imagination and Columbus was viewed as a hero explorer. Oviedo in his natural history of the West Indies (1526) viewed Columbus “as a brave and wise sailor, and courageous captain, he showed us to …showed first 75 words of 1075 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1075 total…few perceived truths, for example if the ancients (Ptoremy) got the geography of the world wrong, then perhaps the writings of the ancients could no longer claim absolute authority. Therefore the discovery of America introduces into Europe a more critical perspective, which paved the way for the modern world and modern thinking. The leaders of the enlightenment, Locke, Hume, and Kant, measured Christianity by its reasonableness and judged all other religions by the same criterion.