Columbus Day marks Christopher Columbus’s 1492 voyage, when he set out to find a sea route to Asia’s lucrative Spice Islands (today’s Maluku Islands in Indonesia). Instead, he landed in the Caribbean (the Bahamas), a place unknown to Europeans at the time. Meanwhile, it was the Portuguese who first successfully reached the Spice Islands by sailing east around Africa, opening new trade routes that shaped global history.
By the time, European powers were competing fiercely for control of spices islands and global trade routes. In 1667, the Treaty of Breda ended a war between England, the Dutch, and others, leading to an unexpected trade: England gave up its claim to the tiny spice-rich island of Rhun (Indonesia) in exchange for Manhattan (New York) from the Dutch.
This swap shows how the quest for spices shaped the map of the modern world, including the future United States. History connects places and stories in surprising ways!
#ColumbusDay #IndigenousPeoplesDay #History #BuriedInOblivion #SpiceIslands #IIPCNY #InvestInIndonesia
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By the time, European powers were competing fiercely for control of spices islands and global trade routes. In 1667, the Treaty of Breda ended a war between England, the Dutch, and others, leading to an unexpected trade: England gave up its claim to the tiny spice-rich island of Rhun (Indonesia) in exchange for Manhattan (New York) from the Dutch.
This swap shows how the quest for spices shaped the map of the modern world, including the future United States. History connects places and stories in surprising ways!
#ColumbusDay #IndigenousPeoplesDay #History #BuriedInOblivion #SpiceIslands #IIPCNY #InvestInIndonesia
View on Instagram