The might and
splendour of the Roman Empire had vanished, and the great
kingdoms which we know were still to rise.
All this changed in the five hundred years between the
foundation of the Greenland colony and the voyage of
Christopher Columbus. The discovery of America took place
as a direct result of the advancing civilization and
growing power of Europe. The event itself was, in a sense,
due to pure accident. Columbus was seeking Asia when he
found himself among the tropical islands of the West
Indies. In another sense, however, the discovery marks
in world history a necessary stage, for which the preceding
centuries had already made the preparation. The story of
the voyages of Columbus forms no part of our present
narrative. But we cannot understand the background that
lies behind the history of Canada without knowing why
such men as Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama and
the Cabots began the work of discovery.
First, we have to realize the peculiar relations between
Europe, ancient and mediaeval, and the great empires of
Eastern Asia. The two civilizations had never been in
direct contact. Yet in a sense they were always connected.
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